Coconut chocolate tart

Sunday I had some time to bake again – a dense coconut cake with a thick dark chocolate glaze. The texture of the cake reminds me of a bounty bar, just less sweet. This tart is rich and decadent. And very easy to make. There is not even butter or flour in this cake. Note the time that the coconut flakes and the egg and sugar base mixture need to rest so that the coconut flakes can absorb the mixture. I did not wait long enough, just 10min instead of 30min. The cake is supposed to rise more.


Coconut Chocolate Cake
(for a 9-10 inch spring form)

• 3 large eggs
• 120 g sugar
• 1/2 ts vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 85ml unsweetened condensed milk (almost a small can)
• 100ml heavy cream
• 200g coconut flakes (I used unsweetened)
• 1 TB baking powder

Glaze:

• 1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Lindt couverture, a bulk product for pastry chefs, often found at Lindt Stores)
• 1 TB butter

Preparation:
In a kitchen standmixer with a paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract on medium-high for at least 5min (best 5-10min) until the mixture is really thick and creamy, and changes its color to a buttery white (from a initially more yellowish color). Mix in the salt, cream and the condensed milk until well-combined, and now gentle mix in the coconut flakes. Let the mixture rest for 30 min (don’t omit this step!). The cake dough changes from a more liquid texture (photo below) to a soaked up texture.



Preheat the oven to 360F and spray the springform with a baking spray.

Once the dough is ready, pour it into the springform and bake for 60min. If the top gets too dark, cover with alu foil for the remaining baking time. Remove from oven and cool.



Pour the chocolate chips (or couverture) in a microwave-safe dish and microwave for 30sec on high. Stir, and microwave for 30sec, and stir. Repeat until the chocolate is melted (if you don’t do it in step, and stir, the chocolate will burn).

Pour the melted chocolate on the cake, distributed with the backside of a spoon evenly. Let cool until firm. Serve!

Chocolate Amaretto Cake

This is one of the first cakes that I ever made when I taught myself cooking (by my wonderful teacher, Giada Di Laurentiis on food network TV), and it is still one of my go-to cakes when I need a cake for a potluck (or any other cake) fast. Giada originally discovered it in a cafe in Venice, and ‘reengineered’ it. I love the simplicity of crushed amaretti cookies, melted chocolate, grated orange peel and then just a bit of sugar, butter and eggs, and that’s it. I typically make the entire dough right in the food processor and it does not take more than 10 min to prepare. It has the texture of a dense brownie but with an exotic, surprising taste of amaretto. It is simply elegant – like made in Italy by an Italian…. Best eaten with some strong Italian coffee.



Chocolate Amaretto Cake:

• Butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray  
• 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips  
• 1 cup whole almonds
• 2 oz baby amaretti cookies
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons fresh grated orange peel
• 4 large eggs
• Unsweetened cocoa powder, for sifting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a 9-inch springform pan the nonstick spray. Refrigerate. Microwave the chocolate in 20 second intervals, and stir, repeat until melted (might take up to 5-6 repeats but if you don’t stir it it will burn).
Add the almonds to a large food processor. Pulse until the almonds are a fine meal, and add the amaretto cookies, pulse until they are finely ground, too. Place the butter stick from the fridge with the wrapping paper into the microwave and microwave for 20 sec. This will make it almost liquid and very good to add to the almond/cookie mix. Also add the sugar to the processor and blend until creamy and smooth. Add the grated orange peel and pulse briefly, until incorporated. Add the eggs 1 at a time. Blend until the eggs are incorporated. Clean the sides of the mixing bowl and blend again. Add the melted chocolate. Pulse until blended. Clean the sides of the bowl. Blend again.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the center puffs and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes.
Transfer the cake to a platter. Sift the cocoa powder over and serve.

Streuselkuchen (German crumb cake)

It was my late great aunt Jenny’s 100th birthday yesterday, and in her honor and to remember her I baked one of her most famous cakes (famous across generations in our family) – the streuselkuchen. When it was baked, everyone came to her house ‘zum Kaffee trinken’ (come over for a cup of coffee). It is a German custom, much like the British make time for tea and pastries in the afternoon, Germans make time for coffee and cake. Typically, since only the stay at home moms have time to do this, it is a way to meet up with girlfriends, let your kids play together, and hang out, knit, gossip, solve the life’s latest problems, and spend a few hours. On the weekends or for birthdays everyone came. This cake was a staple in my family when we all still lived close together, and it is fabulous not only because it tastes fantastic but also because it only gets better after a few days, less crumbly, more dense and the best thing to bite into when having the hot coffee. 

No one could make this cake like my great aunt. It is involved, you have to have patience, nurture it, and it richly rewards you. Just like my great aunt was, one of the best cooks and bakers and gardeners I’ve ever known. Aunt Jenny, this is for you!



Streuselkuchen (German Crumb Cake)

This recipe is for a 10-12 inch square or round spring form.

Special equipment: standmixer with dough hook (can also be kneaded manually).

Base layer:

• 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
• 3 TB warm milk
• 1 ts fast rising yeast
• 40  g sugar (divided, 1 ts for yeast + milk)
• 1 TB bakers milk powder (optional, but helps the yeast to rise)
• 5 TB (40 g) unsalted sweet cream butter, room temperature
• 1/2 egg (reserve other half for the crumbs)
• pinch of salt

Mix the yeast, 1 ts of sugar and the lukewarm milk in a small bowl, and wait until yeast starts to get bubbly (ca. 15min). 

In the bowl of a standmixer with the dough hook attachment, add the flour, 3 ts sugar and the bakers milk powder, and mix all three ingredients. Make a well in the flour, and pour the milk yeast mixture in it. Turn on the standmixer, and on slow mix the dry ingredients with the yeast mixture (do not yet add: butter, egg or salt since it interferes with the yeast). Once the yeast is well incorporated and distributed in the flour mix, add the butter, 1/2 egg and salt. Knead the dough on medium speed until it comes together as a ball (it will be crumbly for quite a while, ca. 10 min). If it does not come together after 15min of kneading, add 1 TB of warm milk.  Once the dough forms a ball around the hook, continue kneading for another 15min on medium speed. 



Now, remove dough from bowl of standmixer, and place in a metal, glass or ceramic bowl, and let rise for ca. 30min at a warm place. Time to make the crumbs!

Streusel (crumbs):

• 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
• 125 g sugar
• 125 g unsalted sweet cream butter, room temperature
• 1/2 egg (reserve other half for the crumbs)
• 1/2 ts bitter almond extract
• 1 pouch Dr. Oetker Vanille sugar (or 1/2 ts liquid vanilla extract)
• pinch of salt

In the bowl of a standmixer with the dough hook attachment, add the flour, sugar, and the butter, cut into small cubes. Start the mixer on low speed, until the flour/sugar and the butter start to incorporate. Add all the other ingredients, and let the mixer run for about 10-15 minutes until uniform-sized crumbs are form. At the beginning, the butter will be large lumps, and the flour has only tiny crumbs, but over time the butter distributes over the flour more evenly, all crumbs are about equal in size. When it doubt, just let it run a little longer. Patience!

Stop the mixer, when the crumbs are at equal size.



Preheat the oven to 50-80F (warm). Spray a spring form with baking spray, and distribute the base dough into the pan.



Take a fork, and gently poke the dough all over the pan. Once done, brush lightly with some warm milk.



Now, distribute all the streusel on the cake evenly.




Place in the oven at 50F for about 45min for the yeast-based base layer to rise to about 0.5-1 inch thickness. After that, remove cake from oven, and preheat to 425F, and bake the cake for ca. 20-25min.

Before serving, sprinkle wit granulated sugar.

Marbled bundt cake

It was cold, dark, rainy and a Saturday afternoon. ….. time to bake a delicious, simple cake.
 


Marbled Bundt Cake

• 3 cups all0purp0se flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided into a 1/2 cup and a 2 cup portion
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 TB espresso powder
• 1/2 cup bittersweet mini chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter (cold from the fridge warm for 20 sec in microwave)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 5 large organic free-range eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350 (F). Spray the baking pan with baking spray, and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour, the baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a separate medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder and 2 TB milk. Whisk until mixture is smooth. Set aside.

Place the 2 sticks of melted butter and 2 cups sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high until the mixture is blended, about 1 minute. Add in vanilla extract and continue beating until combined. Add the 5 eggs, one at a time, beating each egg until it has been incorporated. Now, turn mixer down to its lowest speed and add the flour mixture (from the first step) in three additions, alternating with the whole milk in two additions and mixing just until blended.

Add 2 cups of batter (from the fourth step) to the cocoa mixture and stir until blended.
Using a spatula, pour enough vanilla batter into the pan to fill the bottom. Now the chocolate batter on top of the vanilla mixture and distributed well. Finish with the vanilla layer. Use a chop stick and draw it once through the cake better to get the marbling.

Bake for 55 - 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes, before turning out to cool completely.

Small marbled bundt cake

What better to do on a rainy, cold October evening than to warm and sweeten it up with a small marbled bundt cake!

Small marbled bundt cake (for small, 6 cup bundt cake pan)

• 10 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar (135 grams)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 free-range organic eggs
• 1 2/3 c. (185 grams) all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 ts baking soda
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream butter, sugar and salt together for several minutes until light and fluffy (best in a standmixer). Add vanilla extract and one egg at a time. Mix well, and add in second egg.

Sift flour with baking powder and baking soda. Add flour in two parts, alternating with half of the buttermilk each time. Divide batter equally into two bowls.Sift cocoa over the batter in one bowl and mix well. Add 1 tablespoon of milk to cocoa batter to thin.

Spray the bundt form with a baking spray. Place half of the “white” batter in the form or pan. Add all of the dark/chocolate batter on top and distributed around the form with a spatula. Finish with the remaining white batter. Place a spatula vertically in the batter and draw it around the form once to swirl. Smooth the top.

Place the cake in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out cleanly. Remove from oven, cool slightly and then turn out on a cake rack to cool further.

Home-made chocolate glaze:

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 TB unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 tablespoons warm milk
• 1 ts rum extract
• 1 ts vanilla

Pour the chocolate chips in a glass bowl or a ceramic bowl, and set it over a pot with boiling water on the stove (the bowl should not touch the water). Stir continuously until the chocolate chips start to melt. Add in the butter, and melt it with the chocolate chips. Once it is all a creamy, lump-free consistency, add in the milk, the rum and vanilla extract. Once incorporated, take the bowl off the pot, and continue to stir while adding in the confectioners sugar. Keep stirring. Brush the cake with the chocolate glaze. The glaze will thicken when cooled, and it is great to have a 1/4 of an inch thick glaze on the cake. (Leftover chocolate glaze is great on graham crackers… )
Let cool and dry for about 4-5h before serving. The cake actually tastes better with time; at the beginning it is dry and light and slightly crumbly, and after a week it becomes moist with an intense nutty flavor. It should be stored cool and airtight. 

 

Mini bread loaves

Fall was definitely in the air today. Walking around with a tee shirt with no jacket made me sneeze and catch a cold. When I came home I started the winter migration of the deck: the plants came inside the house, and it was time to light a fire in the wood stove.  To add to the comfort, I baked off the mini bread loaves which had been rising since noon (I used this recipe, just split the dough into 2 parts and let the dough rise in the mini bread baskets). The rest of the comfort meal was half-clean eating dinner --- a can of 50th anniversary of Andy Warhol’s Campbell tomato soup with kale from the garden, pasta and some cannellini beans.

Russian Chocolate, Date and Walnut Torte

These are the days of world wide culinary social networks and recipes and…. google translate. Which means with some fantasy (and baking wisdom) I can make a Russian cake which had me at “hello”. Or is it a Bulgarian recipe? As Russian grad student said it is not Russian, more likely Bulgarian, cyrillic and all. With some fingers crossed it came out just fine. The raw dough tasted marvelous, the torte even better: light, fluffy, rich, not too sweet and one would not suspect dates I think.


Russian Chocolate, Date and Walnut Torte
a 10 inch non-stick springform pan.

• 2 cups medjol dates
• 1 1/2 cup strong hot coffee
• 10 TB butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• decorate with powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 370F. Spray or butter a 10 inch springform, and set aside.
Prepare 1.5 cups hot, strong coffee (best in a French press with ca 3 TB of fresh ground espresso). De-pit the dates, and cut them into small dice. Place them in a large coffee cup and cover with the hot coffee. Soak for 5 minutes.
Now, mix the flour with the baking soda, salt and cocoa and set aside.
In a standmixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add one egg at a time, and incorporate well. Add vanilla.
Turn speed to low, and slowly add the flour mixture to the cake batter. Mix well. With a large spoon, retrieve the dates from the hot coffee, and add to the cake batter (add a bit of coffee at a time). You should only have about a 1/2 cup of coffee let in the pot after the figs are removed. Incorporate well.
Pour the mixture into the prepared form and sprinkle top with chocolate chips.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until ready by checking with a stick if you spend dry then the cake is ready. Cool before removing from the form.