The Truffle Cake Trilogy Part 3 - Chili Truffle Cake

I should rename this blog Chocolate Happy, Or Bake Chocolate Happy... or should it be Bake Happy Chocolate?

Because...

The first post ever is about chocolate...

And somewhere in between, I have made countless chocolate cakes, cupcakes, flourless chocolate cakes.

And guess what?! You wouldn't believe this, but the latest post is about Chocolate! The third and most probably the last of the Truffle Cake Trilogy.

This time, I didn’t strictly follow the recipe. I am so familiar with it, it’s like I know the procedure like the back of my hand and bake it with my eyes closed (but that would be dangerous, so children, please ignore this paragraph).

So just to rock the boat a bit, I used Lindt’s Chili this time. 

And instead of just covering the spring form pan with aluminum foil, I placed it in a round glass cover before placing the whole contraption in a water bath.

Finally, this is the Truffle cake I have been waiting for! It rose beautifully, but as it cools, note that it will shrink. But that’s okay, it gives the cake the denseness it deserves.

I brought some for my friends to enjoy last week. Care to see what they said?

Thanks a lot, Aikko!  Ang sarap!

Sarap sarap!! Thanks Aikko!

Thank you, Aikko. Super duper yummy!

Naduling ako sa sarrrap, Aikko! 

Sarap is delicious/tasty/delectable in English. The last comment made me smile – big time.

I used 100g bar of Lindt Chili and 240g of Hershey's semisweet Chocolate. I call this a "wine cake" not because it's fortified with booze but it gets better as it ages. (ages seems to be a long time... make that after a few days). And oh, this cake is best enjoyed when chilled. 

I had a feeling using just one bar wouldn't bring out the chiliness enough so I added 1/2 teaspoon of chili. But as soon as I tasted it, I should have added 1 teaspoon or 1 1/2 sp. Or used 200 g Chili and 140 semi. Chili and Chocolate seems to be a good combination. Could Curry and Chocolate be a good combination too?

Truffle Cake
adapted from The Whimsical Bakehouse: Fun-to-Make Cakes That Taste as Good as They Look

Ingredients:
8 ounces unsalted butter
100 g Lindt Chili
240 g semi sweet chocolate
1 tsp chili powder
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
5 large eggs1 cup sugar (divided into two)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup light corn syrup

Procedure:

1. Grease and flour one 9X2 inch round pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Pre-heat oven to 350F
2. Combine butter, chocolate, cocoa and chili in a heatproof bowl placed over hot water. Stir until melted then cool 5 to 10 minutes.
3. In a bowl of an electric mixer at high speed, use a whisk attachment to beat the eggs, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla extract.
4. Continue beating until triple in volume and the batter forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted.
5. Meanwhile,  in a saucepan, heat 1/2 cup sugar and corn syrup to a boil.
6. Remove from heat and slowly beat the hot syrup into the eggs with the mixer a slow speed. 7.
7. Beat at medium speed for about 8 minutes, then decrease the speed to low and beat in half of the chocolate mixture. Before it is fully inforporated, take the whisk attachment and fold in the remaining chocolate by hand.
8. Pour batter into the pan. Place pan in a larger pan and fill the larger pan halfway with hot water.
9. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool the cake in the wire rack for 15 to 20 minutes then turn it out of the pan onto a cake round. Chill before serving.

Happy Cupcaking, 
Aikko

PS: Will you scream if the next baking adventure I'll post is about chocolate again? Chill… I’m kust kidding.

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The Truffle Cake Trilogy Part 2

Okay, moving on. Here is my second attempt. After the first attempt's disaster I made sure I covered my springform pan with aluminum foil - twice. I didn't tweak the recipe. I followed it to a tee.

So what went wrong this time? The water seeped into the batter again! Aargh!!! 


A certain baker I know got obsessed with tapping out the air bubbles from the batter, she must have tapped it sooo hard that the aluminum foil got squished. Uh oh.


This is the final result. Better than the first one, don't you think? But since I baked it again for more than an hour, it got burnt again. At least this time, the dark bits are only on the side and the bottom... see? 

Getting there...


Happy Cupcaking, 
Aikko

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The Truffle Cake Trilogy Part 1

This is what happens when someone (read: me) forgets to put aluminum foil to a spring form pan before placing it in a larger pan with hot water. I'm not sure why I forgot, I have done this before with this cheesecake. 

By the name alone, it sounds promising. Who can resist a cake enticingly called Truffle Cake? I certainly can't. Let's just say I didn't pass the marshmallow test when I was a kid. 

Apparently, no matter how tight the lock of the spring form pan is, water is still guaranteed to seep into the pan and eventually into the cake batter. So, what happens when a certain someone forgets to put aluminum foil to a spring form pan?

• She waits to check after 40 minutes, only to find out the cake is still jiggly.
• And ends up baking the cake for an hour and a half
• She would have baked it for a lot longer if she didn't smell something burning... oh dear...
• And looking at the cake, the top part of the is burnt and the rest looks like it fell apart as if it doesn't have eggs in it. 

So why I am making this post a trilogy? You thought only Spider Man, Pirates of the Carribean or Transformers have trilogies, don't you? Well, this Truffle Cake does, too. Because it took three times before I replicated the marvelous Truffle Cake I first made a few weeks back. I just have to do this cake justice - 

• so I can make Liv and Kaye proud
• I just can't forget one of my friend's delight when she tasted the Truffle Cake... she said it was the melt-in-your-mouth kind of cake
• well, it's a cake totally worth making over and over (and over) again. Rich, dense, simply sinful and totally worth the extra .001 of an inch you will hardly notice on your waist.

Truffle Cake

from The Whimsical Bakehouse: Fun-to-Make Cakes That Taste as Good as They Look

Ingredients:

8 ounces unsalted butter

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

6 ounces dark chocolate

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

5 large eggs

1 cup sugar (divided into two)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup light corn syrup

Procedure: 

1. Grease one 9X2 inch round pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Pre-heat oven to 350F

2. Combine butter, chocolate and cocoa in a heatproof bowl placed over hot water. Stir until melted then cool 5 to 10 minutes.

Peekaboo! Just realized I can see myself in the chocolate mixture. An unusual self-portrait. Hi!

3. In a bowl of an electric mixer at high speed, use a whisk attachment to beat the eggs, 1/2 cup sugar.

and vanilla extract.

4. Continue beating until triple in volume and the batter forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted.
5. Meanwhile,  in a saucepan, heat 1/2 cup sugar and corn syrup to a boil.

6. Remove from heat and slowly beat the hot syrup into the eggs with the mixer a slow speed. 7. 

7. Beat at medium speed for about 8 minutes, then decrease the speed to low and beat in half of the chocolate mixture. Before it is fully inforporated, take the whisk attachment and fold in the remaining chocolate by hand. 

8. Pour batter into the pan. Place pan in a larger pan and fill the larger pan halfway with hot water. 

9. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool the cake in the wire rack for 15 to 20 minutes then turn it out of the pan onto a cake round. Chill before serving. 

Happy Cupcaking,
Aikko

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