How to Bake a Perfectly Moist Chocolate Cake

Related post: Frequently Asked Questions for the Chocolate Cake, posted here.

title #2: The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe

title #3: Just Like How Ma Used to Make: The Chocolate Cake

title #4: The Great Chocolate Cake

Decisions, decisions.

I have been deep in thought. I don't know what title pick for this post. I have several choices and all them fit to a "T" because this cake... it's definitely the bestest.

This is my Ma's recipe. She got it from Auntie Fely, who is the best baker on earth. The recipe is written in an old Merit notebook that I will treasure forever. It has the best cake recipes. I'm telling  you, the book is magic. Everything from this notebook turns out wonderful. I wonder where she got it from? The Cake Fairy maybe.

I cannot begin to tell you how heavenly this cake is. For me, it doesn't even need a frosting. It is chocolatey enough on its own. This is the recipe I used here, here, here and oh.. here as well.

The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (all purpose flour is okay, but you can find cake flour, it would be better)

1 ½ cup sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 ½ cup water

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure
1. In a bowl, mix mayonnaise and sugar until smooth

2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder. It's up to you if you'd like to sift or dry whisk. Just make sure all four ingredients are well mixed. Both works for me.

3. Add a third of the flour mixture to the mayonnaise mixture

4. Add 1/2 of the water required. Now don't be discouraged if it looks sloppy once the water is added. It'll come together, pinky swear.

5. Repeat #3 and #4 until the flour mixture and water has been added to the mayonnaise mixture. Add the vanilla extract last.

6. Pour into a well greased pan and bake at 350F for 40-50 mins for cakes and 12-15 minutes for cupcakes. Make sure to tap the pans used to let the air out before baking, okay?

I know I said this cake doesn't need frosting. But what's a cake without frosting? (read: someone had a fork ready and took a big chunk of the cake so I had to do a cover up)

So, in case someone can't wait to take a bite out of your chocolate cake. Here's the perfect cover-up.

Whipped Chocolate Ganache

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract (if you're feeling fancy, you can add Kahlua, too)

1. Chop chocolate and transfer into a heat proof bowl.

2. Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream through strainer, over the chocolate.

3. Let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.

4. Add butter stir until combined.

5. Cool ganache in the refrigerator overnight. Then beat/whip until fluffy. 

Happy Cupcaking, 

Aikko

Rosewater Pistachio Cupcakes

I have fifty sticks of cinnamon to my name. Does that make me cool? In a baker kind of way, that is. I put it next to the television, a reminder that I have to use it sometime.

If it doesn’t make me cool, I also have a handful of cardamom pods. I’m one lucky lady. Recipes call only for the powder form but I got the real deal. Now if only I know how to substitute the pods for the powder. Or is the powder for pods? Now I'm confused. 

If cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods don't up my coolness level, I hope this one does. Want some Rosewater Pistachio Cupcakes?

I got this recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World. A book that's been sitting in my shelf for 3 or so years and never had the chance to try the recipes in it. Perhaps because I'm not sure where to find soy yogurt here in Manila or even non hydrogenated margarine. Maybe I'm just lazy to dust off the cobwebs of the book. So for these babies, I substituted the vegan ingredients for the regular ones.

Rosewater Pistachio Cupcakes (non-vegan version)

Adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World

Makes 22 Cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup canola oil

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 to 2 tablespoons rosewater

1 cup plus 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 tablespoon cornstarch

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Generous pinch of cardamom

1/3 cup finely chopped pistachios/ lightly toasted if desired

For assembly

1 tablespoon pink sugar

¼ cup chopped pistachios

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pans with 12 cupcake liners
(2) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together yogurt, milk, oil, sugar and rosewater. 

(3) Sift in flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, cardamom and salt. 

(4) Fold in pistachios. 

(5) Fill liners three quarters of the way. Bake 20-22 minutes. 

(6) Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting

Rosewater Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter

4 cups icing sugar

1tsp rosewater

2 tablespoon milk

a drop of soft pink food coloring (optional)

(1) Beat butter until smooth. Add icing sugar gradually for about 3 minutes. Add rosewater and 

milk. Beat for another 5 – 7 minutes until fluffy.

Assembling the cupcakes
(1) Let  the cupcakes cool

(2) Place frosting in a piping bag with a big tip (I used Ateco # 846 Closed Star Tip). Pipe swirls into each cupcake

(3) Sprinkle with pink sugar and pistachios.


Happy Cupcaking, 
Aikko

Thank you, Daphne!

Dear Daphne, 


Happy Mother's Day! 
Thank you so much for posting my cupcakes in your blog. :) 

Wishing you the best Mother's Day ever,
Aikko

How to Make the Daphne Cupcake Toppers

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers, first time and would-be Mothers! How will you celebrate Mother's day?


As mentioned in my previous post, here is the tutorial for the Daphne Cupcakes I made for Mother's Day. 


The cupcakes are inspired by the chairs from Daphne's furniture line.

One look was all it took for me to want to see it in cupcake form. After all, the chairs come in yummy colors. And in cupcake form they should be yummier, right?


What you'll need:
- Oval Fondant cutters. I got a set from Gourdo's. You can get one online as well

- fondant in chocolate brown, pink, purple, teal, ivory and robin's egg
- royal icing
- luster dust in silver and gold
- paint brush used for cake decorating
- vodka or gin

Here's how - 


(1) Roll out brown fondant and cut out ovals using the largest from the set

(2) Roll out the pink, purple, teal, ivory and robin's egg and do the same only this time, using the mid sized oval, cut a hold in the center. Use water to glue the pastel colored fondant to the brown fondant.

(3) Using royal icing placed in a piping bag with a #3 tip, pipe the design in the middle. I practiced piping in a baking sheet first so I'd get the hang of it. It's a bit intricate swirly design, you see.

(4) Scoop out a small amount of gold luster dust and add gin/vodka to it. There isn't an exact measure. Rule is, the less gin added the more it brings out the color but it's a bit thicker and not so easy to handle. I chose to go that path instead of a thin mixture. Using a paint brush, paint gold into the purple, ivory and pink toppers. Do the same with the silver duster and paint it into the robin's egg and teal toppers.

Ta- dahhh! Here are the toppers on top of the swirly green frosting :)

The Daphne Cupcakes

Happy Cupcaking, 

Aikko

The Daphne Cupcakes: A Mother's Day Post

Daphne reminds me so much of my Ma. I am an avid follower of her blog and I love reading her stories about her girls. Her love for her kids shines in her blog. One of my favorite posts of hers was the time she prepared snack packs for Sophia's classmates to enjoy when she celebrated her birthday at school. She says she's no Martha Stewart but I think she's Martha Stewart and Wonder Woman rolled into one. Just like my Ma. 

Daphne has three girls, my Ma has two. Boy, we were a handful when we were kids. I don't know where she got all the energy to take care of two energetic girls!

So for Mother's Day, I made these cupcakes. I call them The Daphne Cupcakes.

Inspired by chic chairs from Daphne's furniture line.

I made them in all of the yummy Daphne Chair colors - 

Robin's Egg

Teal

Cotton Candy

Purple

And Ivory - my favorite

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms!

Happy Cupcaking, 

Aikko

ps: Tutorial on how to make the cupcake topper up next

Dear Summer: A Strawberry Shortcake Post

Dear Summer, 

What I feel for you is a bundle of contradictions. I always await your return but when you're here, I can't wait to see you go. I love that everything about you is sunny, pretty and bright but at the same time you make me feel sticky, sweaty and fussy. I love that you produce the best dessert, the halo-halo but I don't like the fact that I have to chew ice to get to the banana, ube, macapuno.

Hey Summer, don't get me wrong. You're my all time favorite season (Just ignore the fact that there's just that two you in the Philippines). But I just hope for once... don't be too passionate about your job, okay? It's just way too hot in this part of the globe. Remember, balance is the key.


So while you ponder on my request, I made you some diner-style Strawberry Shortcake. Here's a slice.

Rock on, Summer!

Love, 

Aikko

For Summer's Strawberry Shortcake, I didn't follow a particular recipe, though I would love to get a hold of Mrs Yulo's recipe. I haven't tasted her Strawberry Shortcake yet but I heard it's to die for. Don't worry Mrs Yulo, if you decide to give me your secret recipe, I won't give it away, I'll just use it everytime I feel the beginnings of a Strawberry Shortcake craving.

I digress. Anyway, for this diner style shortcake, I used Alton Brown's Chiffon Cupcakes recipe then smothered the cake with whipped cream with blended strawberries (so the cream will turn a lovely.. okay... cute shade of pink) topped with the most luscious strawberries I can find.

Chiffon Cake

adapted from Alton Brown's recipe

Ingredients

5 1/4 ounces cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

5 large eggs, separated

6 ounces sugar, divided

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions: 

Line a 10-inch tube pan, set aside. 

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Place the egg yolks and 5 ounces of the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on high for 2 minutes or until the mixture becomes pale yellow and 'ribbons' when lifted. 

Add the water, vegetable oil and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients and whisk just to combine. Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl while you whisk the egg whites.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar into a clean bowl and whisk on high using the whisk attachment, until it becomes foamy. Decrease the speed to low and gradually add the remaining ounce of sugar. Increase speed to high and continue whisking until stiff peaks form, approximately 2 minutes.

Transfer 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter and whisk until well combined. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in gently. 

Transfer batter into the tube pan and set on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or the cupcakes reach an internal temperature of 205 to 210 degrees F. 

Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.