All posts tagged Chocolate

Boston Cream Pie

Happy Father’s Day! This week, in honor of the man who has somehow managed to put up with me for the past twenty-five years, I decided to make my dad’s favorite: Boston Cream Pie. I remember my mother making this on several occasions for my dad, whether it be the classic recipe or one made with chocolate cake instead. Once I got older, there were a few times she helped me make a Boston Cream pie of my own for dad’s birthday or Father’s day.

I was so excited about making this cake, because for the first time ever I managed not to burn or ruin the pastry cream that fills the middle. But then I was a bit let down by how terribly it photographed. There’s something about shiny chocolate ganache that (while it is absolutely DELICIOUS) just doesn’t photograph well. Eventually I’ll figure it out, but until then you all will have to deal with my not-so-pretty ganache shots.

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart, but with a few minor adaptations. The cake is wonderfully dense and moist, and I’m told the cream in the middle is delicious (I don’t care for pastry cream or custards, so I’m going off the general opinion here). The key is to not overbeat the mixture – my batter had tons of little bubbles in it when I put it into the oven. However, Martha uses a 2-inch deep pan and cuts the cake in half. I used two 9-inch round tins instead to make it a bit more foolproof in case the cake didn’t rise a full 2 inches.

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 2 Tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 eggs yolks
  • 3/4 whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
For the pastry cream:
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
For the chocolate ganache:
  • 3 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 7 Tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (approx 175°C). Grease your cake tins with butter then line the bottom with baking paper. Grease the baking paper, then coat the entire pan with sugar. Tap out the excess sugar and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then set aside. In your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs and egg yolks on medium speed for about 1 minute. Gradually add in the sugar and continue to whisk until light and fluffy – about 3 minutes.

3. Gently heat the butter and milk in a small saucepan, being careful not to let the milk boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. With the mixer continually running, slowly pour in the milk mixture into the egg mixture.

4. Add the flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time until fully incorporated. Once everything is mixed together, transfer into your prepared pans, being sure to keep the batter as even as possible.

5. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes until the cake is a light golden color. Halfway through the baking time, it would also be a good idea to rotate the pans so that everything is baking evenly. Once the cake is done, cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. The cakes should be a bit sticky on the sides and bottom from the sugar coating on the pan.

6. While the cakes are cooling, prep the pastry cream (this is the tricky part!): bring the milk and 1/4 sugar to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar together, followed by the vanilla and salt. Whisk in the cornstarch, 1 Tablespoon at a time. While continuing to whisk, slowly pour 1 cup of the milk mixture into the egg mixture.  Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the mixture back into the remaining milk mixture in your saucepan. Continue to cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil (about 4-5 minutes).

7. Transfer the pastry cream to a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap, gently pressing the plastic onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Place in the fridge and allow to chill for at least 3 hours.

8. Once the pastry cream has chilled, and the cakes are completely cool, it’s time to assemble. Place your bottom tier, bottom-side up, onto your cake board. Coat with a generously thick layer of your pastry cream, followed by the other cake layer, also bottom-side up.

9. To make your chocolate ganache, heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Place the chocolate into a medium heat-proof bowl, then pour the heated cream over it. Stir until the chocolate completely melts, then let cool for a few minutes before pouring over the cake. To make a runnier ganache (like mine), just use a bit more cream. Otherwise, you’ll need to use a spatula to spread the ganache a bit.

10. Chill the cake in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before serving.

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by Ashley on June 17, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Cakes
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Posted by Ashley on June 17, 2012

https://pajamabaker.com/2012/06/17/boston-cream-pie/

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Last week Ben and I went to the Channel Islands for his cousin’s wedding, which was the second of three weddings we’re attending this spring, and the reason why I didn’t post last week. What I’ve come to learn is that the traditional British wedding cake is fruit cake. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, and I agree.

So this week I was at the pub with some colleagues from work, following a trip to the Bauhaus exhibition at the Barbican. I asked them if there were any requests for something they wanted me to make, and one of them asked about American traditional cakes. Instantly I thought of Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese frosting. There is nothing more Southern and more delicious than Red Velvet.

When you look at the list of ingredients, it seems like a strange concoction – buttermilk, cocoa powder, vinegar – but trust me, it all comes together to make a wonderful chocolate-y cake.

This recipe works well for cupcakes, but if you’d like to make a layer cake instead, double the amount of butter and leave out the water. Also, this batter rises a lot so you don’t really need to fill the cupcake tins more than halfway.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 one-ounce bottle of red food coloring
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 Tablespoons water
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar
  • 1 1/2 baking soda
For the frosting:
  • 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, just barely softened
  • 1 1/4 cups icing sugar
  • 1/3 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (approx 175°C). Place cupcake liners into the pan.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, then set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add in the eggs, red food coloring, and vanilla.

4. Add the flour mixture into the butter and sugar mixture, alternating it with the buttermilk. Add about 1/3 of each part at a time, waiting until each part is fully incorporated before adding the other. After everything is combined, add the water.

5. In a small bowl or ramekin, mix together the vinegar and baking soda. Once the reaction begins, quickly fold it into the batter. Fill each of the cupcake tins with a couple spoonfuls of the batter until they are filled just over halfway – leaving plenty of room for them to rise!

6. Bake the cakes for approximately 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese until it is light and smooth. Gradually mix in the icing sugar and milk until it reaches the desired consistency. Spread onto your cupcakes with a spatula. If you’d like to pipe the frosting onto your cupcakes, adjust the icing sugar to milk ratio so that you add less liquid and get a stiffer frosting. It also helps if the cream cheese is still pretty chilled.

For this batch of cupcakes, I made a runnier icing and let it completely cover the top and run over the sides but these look amazing when they’re piped!

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by Ashley on May 27, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Cupcakes
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Posted by Ashley on May 27, 2012

https://pajamabaker.com/2012/05/27/red-velvet-cupcakes/

Coca Cola Cupcakes

Ben had purchased a bottle of Coke for the weekend, as we thought a friend as joining us for dinner. Turns out he had to cancel, and since I’ve been trying to be really good about not drinking soda I had to find a way to use up a good bit of it. Then I remembered when I made these cupcakes a few years ago and I set out on making them again, only better.

For the frosting on these, I swirled a mix of cherry and vanilla buttercream so that I ended up with two separate colors. One day I’ll do a tutorial on it, but for now I’d suggest Google. But these will taste just as good with only one flavor of frosting!

Big thanks to A Cozy Kitchen for the cake recipe. These tasted amazing, especially with the Coke glaze and frosting on top.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

  • 2 cups Coca-Cola
  • 1 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2  eggs
For the glaze:
These measurements are approximate, because I just do these by feel/consistency.
  • 3/4 cup icing sugar
  • 4 teaspoons Coca-Cola
For the frosting:
  • 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened (you want it just a tiny bit firm still so that the icing will be stiffer for piping)
  • 4 cups icing sugar (sifted)
  • Maraschino cherries
  • red food coloring
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F (approx 160°C). Place cupcake liners into the pan.

2. Stir the butter, cocoa powder, and Coca-Cola in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts, then whisk in the sugars until smooth. Remove the mixture from the heat and set aside to cool.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda. In a small bowl, beat the two eggs, then whisk them into the cooled chocolate mixture.

4. Pour the chocolate mixture to the large bowl with your flour mixture, then gently fold it in. The batter should still have a few lumps in it – but that’s okay as long as everything is mixed together.

5. Pour about 1/3 cup of batter into each of your prepared cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. To make the glaze, mix the icing sugar with the Coca-Cola to get a thick, but runny icing (similar to the consistency I used for my cinnamon buns). Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the tops of the cupcakes. Don’t worry about covering the entire surface, just let it run off where it wants to. Oh, and this is best done while they’re still on the wire rack with a baking sheet underneath to catch the extra drizzle.

7. Now it’s time for the frosting. In a large bowl, use a mixer to cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Then gradually mix in the icing sugar. To make the cherry flavor, add in some of the syrup from the jar of Maraschino cherries as well as the red food coloring to give it a pink hue. To make the vanilla flavor, just add in the vanilla and leave the frosting white. If you’d like to make both flavors and try swirling the frosting, be sure to divide the frosting into two separate bowls before adding any flavorings. Continue to mix on a high speed for approximately 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

8. Pipe your frosting onto the cupcakes in a swirl. Then top each one with a Maraschino cherry. If you’d like to do both flavors, mix the frosting in your piping bag by filling the left half of the bag with one flavor and the right half with the other. I find this is a lot easier if you put the piping bag into a glass and place a spatula or large spreading knife down the center to keep the frostings on their respective sides. Once both flavors are in there, remove the spatula and pipe as normal!

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by Ashley on April 29, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Cupcakes
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Posted by Ashley on April 29, 2012

https://pajamabaker.com/2012/04/29/coca-cola-cupcakes/

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Awhile ago, I entered a contest on Food Network UK for their cupcake month competition. I ended up winning a set of large cupcake piping tips, but along with that I ended up getting added to their email list. This week, they sent me two emails saying “make the gooiest chocolate brownies” as the main story – alright Food Network, I got the hint. This week’s baking adventure must be brownies.

But I didn’t want to make any sort of brownie. I’ve grown up on classic chocolate brownies. I’ve indulged on cheesecake brownies. But what else could I try? That’s when I came across this recipe over at Evil Shenanigans. I knew it had to be good because (A) the site includes the word ‘shenanigans’ which is always an awesome word and (B) it combines two of my favorite classic treats: the brownie and the chocolate chip cookie. How could I go wrong?

Well. It did go wrong. Sort of. The recipe called for using a square baking tin, but I only have rectangular ones – that was my first mistake. What resulted was the edges of the pan being perfectly done while the middle remained gooey. And not the gooey that Food Network had been boasting about; it was a mess. When I cut into them, the entire middle oozed out like warm uncooked brownie magma out of a fault line of chocolate chip cookie.

My second mistake wasn’t really a mistake at all, but just a realization that could have made them turn out a bit better. Next time, rather than just dotting the surface with the chocolate chip cookie dough, I’m going to swirl it in a bit, so you get more of a surprise as to what your brownie to cookie ratio will be with each bite.

Despite the improvements that need to be made, this recipe is GOOD. Like, really good. And we’ll just hope they turn out better next time.

Ingredients

For the brownies:

  • 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 ounce plain or dark chocolate, chopped
  • 3 Tablespoons Nutella
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the chocolate chop cookies:
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 egg, cold
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (approx 175°C). Grease a SQUARE baking pan and line with baking parchment, the grease the baking parchment.

2. In a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water, combine the 3 Tablespoons butter, chocolate, and Nutella. Stir until the chocolate is melted and everything is smoothly combined. Be sure not to let any water drop into your bowl, or else your chocolate will seize and it will be ruined. Once melted, set the bowl aside to cool.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the other 3 Tablespoons of butter, sugar, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and whisk until smooth.

4. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the medium bowl and stir until smooth. Then sift in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Stir until there are no more lumps left, then pour into the prepared baking pan. Set aside.

5. Prepare the chocolate chip cookie dough by creaming the butter, brown sugar, and sugar together in a clean medium-sized bowl. Blend in the egg and the vanilla.

6. Sift in the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir until combined, then mix in the chocolate chips.

7. Dot the surface of the brownie batter with the cookie dough, then gently swirl together, being careful not to mix the two doughs together too much.

8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges are done and the middle is set and doesn’t wiggle. Let them cool in the pan for at least one hour before slicing.

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by Ashley on April 21, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Ashley on April 21, 2012

https://pajamabaker.com/2012/04/21/chocolate-chip-cookie-brownies/

Double Chocolate and Marshmallow Cookies

This recipe is from a Patrick Cox cookbook I got from a co-worker as a Secret Santa gift. They have a great texture, and I love the bitterness that comes with all of the dark chocolate. According to the recipe, it’s only supposed to make 24 cookies, but I easily got three dozen out of it using my cookie dough baller.

Yes, this is a UK recipe, so everything is done by weight. So all of you back in the States, come to the dark side – get a set of scales (mine was pretty cheap). Or, you can have a go at converting the measurements using the Weight Conversions pages I’ve started compiling – the links are in the menu at the top of the page.

Ingredients

  • 75 grams plain (dark) chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 125 grams butter, softened
  • 200 grams brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 4 Tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 150 grams flour
  • 100 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 150 grams dark chocolate chips
  • 75 grams marhmallows
  • 2 teaspoons water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C), and line two baking sheets with baking paper.

2. Melt the plain (dark) chocolate in a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water. Be sure not to let the water boil, or let any water drip into the chocolate, or it will seize and be ruined. Stir the chocolate pretty constantly to avoid burning it. Once the chocolate is melted, set it aside to cool.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Then add the egg, milk, and vanilla. Continue to mix until combined.

4. Add the melted chocolate, and mix until everything is combined. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Finally, mix in the chocolate chips. The resulting dough will have a really gooey, paste-like consistency.

5. Using a cookie dough baller, place balls of dough onto your prepared baking trays. Bake for 12 minutes, until firm to the touch. I would recommend rotating the trays halfway through baking so that they all bake evenly.

6. Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the marshmallows and water. Stir constantly until the mixture is melted. Once melted, drizzle the marshmallow over the cooled cookies. If it starts to set up in the pan, return to the heat and add a few more drops of water until it reaches a drizzling consistency again.

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by Ashley on April 15, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Cookies
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Posted by Ashley on April 15, 2012

https://pajamabaker.com/2012/04/15/double-chocolate-and-marshmallow-cookies/

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