A trio of chocolate teacakes

Spring is here and chocolate is still on the table. What better way to enjoy it than with three delicious cakes topped with equally delicious garnishes. You can’t go wrong.

Using two favorite cake bases that have been in my repertoire for some time now, plus a new-for-me chocolate olive oil cake thanks to Melissa Clark, I created this trio for a spring family gathering. Each cake’s topping has its own flavor profile and involves ganache in some way.

I admit this is a lengthy post so here are the links to the recipe PDFs so you can go directly to them if you’d rather not scan through all the steps and photos of preparation: Chocolate olive oil cake; chocolate financier; Easter cake.

Mister Steve made a great observation in that regard - I include all this information not only for you but also for my own records. How cool to go back over the years and see how I described and carried out various baking projects.

I baked each recipe in a different silicone flexi-mold for a nice variation of shapes and looks - square savarin, mini-Kugelhopf and simple round mini-muffin. My chocolate of choice is Guittard’s 61% lever du soleil discs. When cocoa powder is called for I use Bensdorp Dutch process. Delicious stuff.

First up: chocolate financiers in the simple round muffin molds. Let me tell you there are tons of financier recipes out there. As a matter of fact, the one I used for years was the one we learned at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, always delicious, tried and true. As the years have gone by I’ve adjusted the ratios of ingredients and reduced the sugar content. The basics are butter, egg whites, almond flour, all purpose flour, cocoa powder for this chocolate version and sugar. You’ll see choices for granulated or confectioner’s from recipe to recipe - I typically go with confectioner’s.

The big difference in this chocolate recipe is melting the butter, not browning it, as is true for classic financiers.

In a medium-large bowl whisk confectioner’s sugar, almond flour, all purpose or whole wheat pastry flour and unsweetened cocoa powder together; in a smaller bowl lightly whisk the egg whites until frothing a bit; melt butter and let cool slightly.

Blend the whites into the dry ingredients in two additions then blend in the butter. Contact cover and fridge for a few hours or a couple of days.

When ready to bake, heat the oven to 375ºF and fill your chosen wells about 3/4 full.

Bake about 15 minutes, check for doneness (no center goo; set). Bake an additional 5 minutes if needed.

After a 10 minute cool down pop them out of the molds and set aside until ready to garnish. For these I used a small melon baller, scooped out the top center and filled that with a 1:1 ganache. A sprinkle of toasted coconut gave them the “almond joy” sense I was looking for.

Then a swirl of chocolate almond butter Swiss meringue buttercream, an additional sprinkle of toasted coconut and some candied sliced almonds - voila! NOTE: for 2/3 of the base SMBC recipe I added 227 g /8 oz dark chocolate, melted and cooled but still liquid and 1/2 cup of almond butter. So tasty!

The next cake is from a recipe I’ve had for many years but, for the life of me, I can’t recall where exactly I found it. It’s a gateau de Pâques or Easter cake, made with the basics - chocolate, butter, egg, sugar and flour.

The fussiest part is separating the yolks and whites, the whites being whipped separately to be gently folded in at the end. Remember - eggs separate best when cold!

Over a bain-marie melt the butter and chocolate gently - once things get melty, turn off the heat and let the melt continue over the still warm water. Chocolate loves that.

Separate the yolks and whites then whisk the yolks with the sugar for several minutes until thickened, pale and ribbon-y.

Blend in the chocolate butter mixture then sift the flour in and blend.

In a separate clean bowl whip the egg whites to soft peaks . . . . .

then blend them into the batter in three additions, folding gently.

Fill your chosen molds 3/4 full and bake at 325º about 20-25 minutes.

You want them set but note that a slightly shorter bake will give a more fudge-y result.

For the finish I filled the wells with a basic 1:1 ganache, let it set and then topped ‘em off with a swirl of caramel mascarpone cream and some sesame brittle. Yum.

Cake number three is a chocolate olive oil cake from Melissa Clark written for a 9” round cake. Oh so moist. I made this one twice, each time making 2/3 recipe using Earl Grey tea as the liquid. Liquid options include coffee, red wine, orange juice or water.

You create a paste by bringing already brewed tea to boil in a small saucepan, turn the heat off and whisk in Dutch-process cocoa powder, spices of choice (I used a mix of cinnamon, coriander and ginger) and salt. Let it cool.

Once the paste is made, the steps are basic cake simple - beat sugar, olive oil, eggs and vanilla for a few minutes, then add the tea-cocoa mixture followed by flour and baking soda.

Fill your chosen molds about 3/4 full and bake at 325ºF for about 20 minutes. My yield using 2/3 recipe was 19 lovely Kugelhopf treats.

These baked 8 minutes, rotated, another 8 minutes then an additional 4 to be sure they were set with a tester holding a scant few crumbs.

Let sit 10 minutes or so then gently turn out of the molds. Once cool, I filled the little top cavity with basic ganache and let that set.

These received a top dunk in Earl Grey lavender ganache which I had allowed to set enough so the ganache would coat nicely with some holding power on the top.

It’s made by infusing 3 teaspoons of loose Earl Grey tea plus 1/4 teaspoon dried culinary lavender buds in 160 g / 2/3 cup heavy cream then straining the infused cream into 130 g / 4.6 ounces melted chocolate. Blend it up until smooth, then blend in 18 g / 4 teaspoons unsalted butter. There you go.

This cake is deelish, so moist and delectable with the perfect hint of spice. I’m intrigued by the red wine or orange juice options for next time. Hmmmmm.

As for the ganache, the taste of lavender has never really grabbed me, but I’ll admit this Earl Grey ganache grew on me. I adore versions of herbes de provence that have lavender in the mix (not all do), but have always shied away from using lavender on its own.

A brief review reminded me that lavender is actually part of the mint family and I could sense that light minty floral flavor which was not at all overbearing. I much prefer my flavors on the mellow side. Just ask Steve.

Wow! That seemed to go on forever. I hope you give these three cakes a try and create your own garnishes and flavors.

Happy spring!

Chocolate babka buns

These are NOT the prettiest pastry in the case BUT! They are dee-licious. Mmmmmm!!

I was on a mental chocolate bun kick, trying to decide what chocolate-y goodness I might create for “Pastry Friday” at a nearby assisted/independent living facility. Thinking of something twisty or swirled, babka came to mind as the basic idea but this time in individual bun form.

I wrote a series of babka posts during the spring of 2017 but haven’t returned to that particular pastry for awhile now. It’s time.

I had a chocolate babka recipe in my files from Sur La Table teaching days - it was one we never ended up making in class, but I saved it nonetheless. The filling looked very intriguing but different from other filling iterations I’ve seen. The ingredient portions had me wondering so I went to the “trusty” internet to google “best chocolate babka filling”. And what to my wondering eyes did appear? A NYT article/recipe on chocolate babka by Melissa Clark that was EXACTLY the same as this particular SLT version. My oh my, how intriguing is that?

At any rate, I decided to go for it and go for it I did.

The dough is a brioche like number that gets a first rise and then an overnight in the fridge - gotta develop that flavor! Compared to my usual brioche recipe in which I keep ingredients cold, Melissa’s is less enriched with half the milk (slightly warmed), one less egg and about half the butter (egg and butter at room temperature.) Vanilla and nutmeg add some wonderful flavor too.

Here’s the dough after initial mixing;

and after a 2 hour rise.

Gently deflate, form a ball then wrap and refrigerate overnight.

There are three more things that have to be prepared for assembly and final garnishing. They can all be prepared the day before and refrigerated, but I found it easiest to do it the day of baking.

The filling is fudge-y and oh so tasty. Make it 30 or 40 minutes ahead of taking the dough out of the fridge, since it has to set up a bit to make it perfectly spreadable. I reduced the sugar in Melissa’s recipe from 100 g to 50 g. Here’s how it goes: medium saucepan; 50 g sugar, 180 ml heavy cream, pinch kosher salt; simmer, stirring on and off for 5 minutes to dissolve sugar; scrape into a bowl and blend in 170 g chopped dark chocolate (66% is nice), 113 g unsalted butter (cubed and at room temp) and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract until smooth; cool to room temp.

The chocolate streusel is for final garnishing just before the bake so you can put that together easily during the proof. Here’s how it goes: stir 60 g all purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry if you have some), 45 g granulated sugar, 11 g cocoa powder (Dutch processed is my go to) and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt together in a bowl; stir in 64 g melted butter with a fork to form large moist clumps. Melissa adds 50 g mini chocolate chips too but I left those out. Set aside.

Next is a simple syrup that will be brushed on after the bake. Here’s how it goes: combine 2/3 cup granulated sugar with 2/3 cup water in a small saucepan; bring to a simmer and simmer a few minutes to dissolve the sugar. Set aside.

When ready to proceed with roll out and assembly, remove the dough from the fridge and divide it in half (it won’t have risen much). Going for a yield of 18 portions, I had my 3” Fat Daddio cake pans buttered and coated with raw sugar standing by. P.S. I have only 12 Fat Daddio pans and used 6 ramekins in addition.

The next few steps are the same as if you were making classic babka in loaf pans. Work with one half at a time, keeping the other half in the fridge until ready.

Roll each half into a 9”x18” rectangle.

Spread half the chocolate fudge mixture on each. Heaven.

Roll into a tight coil then place on parchment and into the freezer for 15 minutes or so.

Rolling, rolling, rolling . . .

Place the chilled log on your work surface, seam side down, and slit it right down the middle, turning the pieces outward to expose the filling. I used my trusty bench scraper.

Now twist the 2 pieces around each other, keeping the filling facing up.

I gave the twist a good final snugging up before dividing.

Here’s where I veer away from the classic loaf babka. I cut each twist into nine 2” lengths for a total yield of 18 portions. Tuck each piece into the prepared pans.

Cover with lightly buttered film wrap and let rise for 1 to 1.5 hours. At about an hour in, heat the oven to 350ºF.

They won’t achieve a significant doming and filling the pan type of rise but you should appreciate puffiness.

Just before going into the oven, divide the streusel over the tops of the buns using a fork and your fingers to separate clumps a bit.

Bake about 20-25 minutes, rotating the trays half way through. NOTE: if you’re making two full size loaf babkas, baking time is 40-50 minutes.

I look for browning of the dough edges and a tester coming out clean. It’s a bit messy with the chocolate and streusel so aim the tester into dough (rather than chocolate goo) as much as possible.

Just out of the oven, brush with simple syrup as best you can. The streusel and chocolate on top makes it a bit tricky, but I tried to focus the syrup on the obvious browned dough edges.

Let sit about 10 minutes then ease out of the pans/ramekins with a small offset spatula, running it around the edges to loosen the crunchy bits.

At first I was afraid these would fall apart like a pull-apart roll but as I gently released them and placed them on a cooling grid, they held their shape just fine.

Once fully cooled they maintained their integrity very nicely. Whew!

Taste test time!!

Based on the exterior appearance, I thought I’d find more chocolate inside. Not so, but the subtle swirls in the oh so tenderly textured dough, the hint of saltiness in the streusel and the all around delicious flavor of the whole are a winner in my book - and Steve agrees!!

You can use the same approach with your own favorite brioche or cinnamon roll type dough. Just go for it!

Meanwhile, autumn colors are finally appearing much later than usual. Here are a few images from some of the colorful inside displays at nearby Meijer Gardens.

Enjoy and I’ll “see” you next time around.

Crème fraiche pound cake à la Melissa Clark

Rum crème fraiche version

After my last post on baguette this one was a piece of cake. Hah! Get it?

Here’s another great contribution to the baking world from NYT food writer Melissa Clark. This one caught my eye partly because of the rum (which I’m starting to appreciate more and more) and crème fraiche (which I’m finally making myself!) in the ingredient list, but also because I’ve made my share of tasty pound cakes over the years and am always up for a new one. If you love pound cake, you MUST try this one.

Pound cake is typically butter, sugar, egg and flour in fairly equal weights, sometimes with cream cheese or sour cream added in. As Melissa notes, pound cake recipes don’t often contain any leavening like baking powder, but it’s the creaming of the butter and sugar to aerate and the eggs to add substance and binding to create the signature texture of these traditional cakes.

I made this recipe twice, the second time swapping the rum for a smooth Kentucky peach bourbon that we recently received from cousin Harve. Just had to try it don’t ya know. I added some orange zest to the batter and used a bourbon butter variant of the crème fraiche glaze, topping it with chopped toasted pecans. Mmmm good.

Bourbon glazed orange pecan version

I’ve become very attached to my mom’s old Mirro brand loaf pan that is a bit longer and narrower than a standard loaf. I love the way the cake comes out in a sleek and less stodgy sort of way. Prep the pan, including the edges, by buttering and sugaring it.

Bake at 350ºF for about an hour until golden and a tester comes out clean.

Mmmmm . . . . doesn’t that look delicious!

The main take home point that Melissa makes is the fact that if you vary the amount of baking powder you add to the batter, you’ll achieve either a lighter (more baking powder) or more dense and creamy texture (less baking powder).

For my first go I used the higher amount of baking powder (1 teaspoon) as well as the rum, crème fraiche (she gives sour cream as an option) and vanilla called for in the recipe. Check out the sliced image - looks like a lovely pound cake to these eyes! And it was deeeeeelicious! Light yet dense if that makes any sense at all. I also loved the slight crunch in the crème fraiche rum glaze - and our neighbors enjoyed it too.

For my second go I used the lower amount of baking powder (1/2 teaspoon) and swapped Kentucky peach bourbon for the rum. I zipped some orange zest into the batter while I was at it. Another lovely crumb experience to be sure.

For the bourbon butter glaze: heat 60 ml/1/4 cup bourbon and 49 g/3.5 tablespoons unsalted butter to melt the butter, then add in 100 g/1/2 cup granulated sugar, stir to dissolve and boil one minute. When the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes in the top with a toothpick, brush on about 1/4 of the glaze, wait 5 minutes then brush on another 1/4 of the glaze. Reserve the remaining glaze.

Once the cake has cooled, run a small offset spatula around the edges and pop it out of the pan. Blend the reserved bourbon butter glaze with 50 g/1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar and two tablespoons crème fraiche and pour it over the top and sides of the cake. In my case I added the pecans as the pièce de resistance but you can leave them off if you prefer.

Both of these cakes are buttery, luscious and dense as pound cake should be. Could I tell a lot of difference between the two? Not really, but both were superb in flavor and texture. Go either way with the baking powder and you’ll be happy no matter which one you choose. Thanks Melissa!

Remain calm and stay safe. We’re already deep into the first week of November and even though many of the leaves are now off the trees, here’s a mini photo album of what I’ve been enjoying during my walks this past month. I love autumn.