Coffee cake with coffee whipped cream - Coffee Mug Cake

Eggless coffee sponge

Ingredients

210 gm (1 1/2 cups) plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

125 ml hot water

245 gm (1 1/8 cups) granulated sugar

125 ml (1/2 cup) oil (preferably rice bran)

125 ml (1/2 cup) medium consistency slightly sour yogurt (Indian curd) or sour cream

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee powder

Method:
Lightly grease and flour 2 8" pans

Heat water to almost boiling - add the instant coffee powder

In a large bowl, assemble the dry ingredients- the flour, baking powder and baking soda and sieve together to make the mixture uniform and prevent lumps in the flour mixture.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

In another bowl put in the hot water mixture and sugar and blend with a mixer until the sugar partly melts. Quickly stir in the oil and the yogurt and mix well.

Stir in the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the vanilla extract and mix well using a hand mixer until you get a smooth batter, about 2 minutes until smooth

Bake for about 30 minutes in the middle rack of an oven.
After about 7 minutes lower the heat to 150C/300F and bake until a skewer comes out clean.

Simple coffee syrup:

1/2 cup water
1 tbsp instant coffee
2tbsp raw sugar {or powdered sugar}

Stir together all ingredients, heat gently if required. Cool and reserve in bowl.

Mocha Whipped Cream:

1 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (regular or Dutch processed)

2 teaspoon instant coffee powder or espresso powder, or to taste

1 cup (240 ml) cold heavy whipping cream

Place the cold whipping cream in a bowl, add the cocoa powder and the instant coffee powder.
Whip to stiff peaks

Chocolate ganache

125 g chocolate
125 ml cream
1 tbsp ghee

chop chocolate really fine or grate
heat cream until bubbling
pour cream over chocolate and let it remain for a couple of minutes
then mix chocolate and cream well until smooth and shiny
add the 1 tbsp ghee for additional gloss

white chocolate ganache

125 g white chocolate
125 ml cream
1 tbsp ghee

chop chocolate really fine or grate
heat cream until bubbling
pour cream over chocolate and let it remain for a couple of minutes
then mix chocolate and cream well until smooth and shiny
add the 1 tbsp ghee for additional gloss

confectioners frosting

1 cup of icing sugar
1 tsp or 2 tsp of milk

mix milk and sugar together
add colour of your choice

Assembly

http://www.mycakeschool.com/blog/coffee-cakefathers-tutorial/


Cool the cakes in pan for 10 minutes and then upturn on a wire rack to cool completely.
Cling wrap cooled cakes and put them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours at least
Take the cooled cakes and cut 4 circles from, two from each cake with a 3" cake cutter of some sort
Take a small 8" cake board, place a dollop of whipped cream, layer 1, whipped cream, layer 2 and so on until done.
Smooth out the sides until satisfied.
Wait until it sets for half an hour
Pipe a thin layer of ganache on top of the whipped cream on top of the cake
With a round tip, pipe a border of whipping cream around the edge of the cake
Blend this border with the sides of the cake and be very careful not to drag the frosting into the cake top
Pipe a small spiral on the cake beginning from the centre - just go round a couple of times
make a handle with fondant - roll out a snake in appropriate size to the mug
cut a couple of cake pop sticks into halves, stick them onto the side of the cake

make designs on the side of the cake with confectioner's frosting

Bake Along #38 Basic Marble Loaf

I've been wanting to make a zebra cake for sometime now, so this marble loaf comes at a perfect time.  Although Subha suggested that we make any 2 flavours, I am unable to think beyond vanilla and chocolate as a classic pairing and can't find it in me to try other flavour combos before i do vanilla chocolate and do it well.
I'm choosing to follow the marble cake recipe from Divine Taste and use my new home made vanilla extract for the recipe.  I am going to make the photos the highlight of this recipe as it is such a simple one, no decoration involved and I can allow myself to take more time with it.
The recipe at Divine Taste is a large one - I will be making that and dividing the batter between a 7" round and a 8" by 4" loaf pan that i have.
I also wish to make this as a bundt with chocolate fudge frosting but may be that can be done sometime later.  There is really no end to my wish of baking.  I could keep baking each day and not get bored.  That is how i feel about it.

Ingredients:

• 420 gm (3 cups) plain flour
• 65 gm (1/4 cup +2 tbsp) cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 250 ml +30 ml (1 cup + 2 tbsp) hot water, divided
• 490 gm (2 1/4 cups) granulated sugar
• 250 ml (1 cup) oil (preferably rice bran)
• 250 ml cup medium consistency slightly sour yogurt (Indian curd) or sour cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

 Method:

Lightly grease the 8" by 4" loaf pan as well as the 7" round pan.

Heat about 1 and a 1/2 cups of water

In a large bowl, assemble the dry ingredients- the flour, baking powder and baking soda and sieve together to make the mixture uniform and prevent lumps in the flour mixture.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

In another bowl put in the hot water and sugar and blend with a mixer until the sugar partly melts. Quickly stir in the oil and the yogurt and mix well.

Stir in the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the vanilla extract and mix well using a hand mixer until you get a smooth batter, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Divide the batter into 4 bowls by weight. Put in the cocoa powder (half-half) in two of the bowls and extra water (1 tbsp water + 1/2 tbsp castor sugar in each) into one half. Mix well and beat for a minute until the mixture is smooth.

Now place alternate ladles or spoonfuls of chocolate and vanilla batters in the pan. When all the batter is in the pan, using a knife, make swirling pattern through the batters to get the beautiful marble design. This is quite exciting to do and you might have to stop yourself in order to over do it or else you might have one uniform mixture or batter.

Bake in the middle rack of an oven. After 15 minutes lower the heat to 150C/300F and bake for 45 minutes more or until a skewer comes out clean.  You might need to bake slightly longer (about 10 minutes more or so) for the loaf cake.  As always check before the baking time indicated in the recipe.

Try to take photos like those below, use the point and shoot camera instead of phone camera and see.  Spend some time on the photography as this is a simple bake.
These marble loaf cake photos are taken from Nithya Thirunavukarasu from what was posted in FondBites Bake Along FB group with Subhashini Ramsingh.  Zebra cake is from Treat n trick blog's chocolate banana zebra cake, i think.  The divine taste picture is the individual bundt marble cake slice.

Brownies - from Divya Kudua's EasyCooking

I tried this recipe for an eggless brownie from the easycooking blog.
Brownie was as promised, a little cakey but wonderfully soft and gooey.
A less indulgent brownie, so i've decided to call it the Everyday brownie.
I followed the recipe exactly and have decided to try it as a layer cake recipe next time for a chocolate cake, since it was so soft and delicious.
R and little S made the brownie with my instructions and the brownies disappeared in less than a day.  I could actually fill both of my 7" inch square trays and got about 12 medium sized brownies from each tray.  The brownies were less sweet, so they were a great hit at home, with Sammu and Ani eating even two at a time.  The surprise was R's cousin V, who visited our home when these brownies were there and even he managed to eat two at a time.  R as usual has begun crowing that it's due to the presence of a masterchef like him that the brownies managed to come out this way.

Ingredients

Flour - 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
Chopped walnuts - 1/2 cup
Chocolate chips - 1/4 cup
Fresh curd - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp


Method

Preheat oven to 200C.Grease and line a rectangular baking tray[or a 8' or 9' square baking pan].
Mix together curd and sugar with a whisk till the sugar dissolves.
Add baking powder and baking soda,mix well.Keep aside for 3-4 minutes till bubbles start to appear.
Sift together flour and cocoa and add the walnuts and chocolate chips,reserve.
Add oil and vanilla to the curd mix and whisk well.
Add the flour mix 1 tbsp at a time and mix well to get a thick and smooth batter.[If the batter appears too thick,you can add a tsp or more curd to loosen it].
Pour the mix into the greased pan and level the top with a spatula.
[I added blobs of Dulce de Leche as I had some leftover in the fridge,though it can be skipped completely].
Bake at 200C for about 10 minutes and then lower the temperature to 150C and bake for 20-25 minutes or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the brownie cool in the tray for 5 minutes and then cool in a wire rack for about 30 minutes.

Banana choco hazelnut cake

Eggless banana choco hazelnut cake - this will be a cake with a banana cake base, filling of nutella buttercream, roasted hazelnuts, caramel sauce and frosted with the same nutella buttercream

The frosting design will be very simple, attempt a smooth frosting with a top and bottom border.
Just make a very neat effect altogether and a very tall cake

cake - divine taste
filling - nutella buttercream from veena art of cakes
caramel sauce - brown eyed baker

Eggless banana cake :

Ingredients:

• 140 gm (1 cup) plain flour
• 70 gm (1/2 cup) wholemeal flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 110 gm (1/2 cup) granulated brown sugar
• 110 gm (1/2 cup) granulated white sugar*
• 1/2  vanilla bean, ends trimmed and chopped or 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 100 gm (1/2 cup) butter, melted
• 4 ripe medium sized bananas
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

1. Lightly grease and prepare two 7" pans. Dust them with flour, turn it over and tap on the base to remove excess flour.
2. In a large bowl, mix together both the flours, baking powder and baking soda and sieve once to make the mixture uniform.
3. In a food processor or blender, grind the sugars with the vanilla to a fine powder. Stir in the sugar into the melted butter.
4. In a food processor or blender, grind the bananas into a fine puree. Add the pureed bananas to the sugar and butter mixture. Stir in the flour mixture and beat with a whisk until well blended.
5. Mix in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared pans
6. Bake for an hour at 180 C/ 350 F/ Gas mark 4 in a pre heated oven for about 1 hour or until a skewer or comes out clean.
7. Cling wrap and cool the cakes in refrigerator and torte them to get 4 cakes

Nutella buttercream:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup nutella
• 250 g butter
• 500 g sugar
• 125 ml cream 
• Vanilla extract  1 teaspoon
• 
  

1. Sieve the icing sugar thrice in a fine mesh sieve
2. Put 1/3rd of sugar and all of the cream in the bowl and beat for 7-8 minutes until stickly and light.
3. Continue adding sugar in 1/3rds until all the sugar is gone.  Add additional cream only if absolutely necessary to beat.  Add extract before you add the cream.
4. Once the sugar is added, put the butter in, in about 2 - 3 additions and beat on medium speed for about 4-5 minutes until you see stiff peaks.

Ganache - from KitchenKemistry blog:

Ingredients:

• 125 g dark chocolate
• 1/2 cup of amul cream
• 1 tablespoon ghee

1. Chop or grate dark chocolate finely
2. Heat cream until almost boiling
3. Pour cream all over the chocolate and allow to stand for a minute
4. Mix the chocolate and cream well together adding the tablespoon of ghee\
5. Mix clockwise 10-15 times and do the same anticlockwise.  Your ganache should now look shiny and smooth.

Caramel sauce from BEB

Ingredients:

• 1 cups granulated sugar
• 45 g salted butter
• 1/2 cup amul cream, at room temperature

Method:

1. Add the sugar in an even layer over the bottom of a heavy saucepan, with a capacity of at least 2 or 3 quarts. Heat the sugar over medium-high heat, whisking it as it begins to melt. You'll see that the sugar will begin to form clumps, but that's okay. Just keep whisking and as it continues to cook, they will melt back down.

Add a tablespoon of sugar and make sure to have medium high heat

Stop whisking once all of the sugar has melted, and swirl the pan occasionally while the sugar cooks.

2. Continue cooking until the sugar has reached a deep amber color. It should look almost a reddish-brown, and have a slight toasted aroma. This is the point where caramel can go from perfect to burnt in a matter of seconds, so keep a close eye. 

3. Add the butter all at once. Be careful, as the caramel will bubble up when the butter is added. Whisk the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted.

4. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour the cream into the caramel. Again, be careful because the mixture will once again bubble up ferociously.

Whisk until all of the cream has been incorporated and you have a smooth sauce. Add the fleur de sel and whisk to incorporate.

5. Set the sauce aside to cool for 10 to 15 minutes and then pour into your favorite glass jar and let cool to room temperature. You can refrigerate the sauce for up to 2 weeks. You'll want to warm the sauce up before using.

Assembly:

To assemble, torte chilled cake layers into 2 each to have 4 cake layers.

Layer 1 - cake

Layer 2 - wet with sugar syrup, fill with nutella buttercream and toasted hazelnuts or praline

Layer 3 - cake layer 2

Layer 4 - wet with sugar syrup, fill with nutella buttercream and drizzle of caramel sauce

Layer 5 - cake layer 3 

Layer 5: wet with sugar syrup, fill with nutella buttercream and toasted hazelnuts

Layer 6 - cake layer 4 

Layer 7: we with sugar syrup, fill with nutella buttercream and frost all along sides as well.

Pipe a border with the large meringue nozzles holding 90 degrees upright angle.

Make rustic swirls with paletter knife. 

Paste hazelnuts or peanuts on bottom of cake.

Inspiration pic from the cake blogs

In laws wedding anniv cake

wedding anniv cake

Edited to add the following updates:
I made a few changes to the cake.  Made the cake as chocolate mud cake from Gayathri's cookspot. The cake was crumbly and it sank a little in the centre.  I halved the recipe and may be the baking powder quantity should be little less than half.  I froze the cake this time as opposed to my last time with mud cake.  Cling wrapped and put in freezer for the daytime.  The cake texture was fabulous, it was rich and dense and moist and easy to frost even for a frosting novice as me.  Ganache goes very very well with this kind of cake.
I made the filling with ganache as mentioned in the notes below, 125 g of chocolate for 125 ml of cream.
Frosting was 1 cup for the base coat and 1/2 cup for the rosettes on top.
I tinted the cake pale pink and slightly dark shade of pink but the photos don't show the cake to justice. The cake was much pinker than shown on the photo.
I also had leftover frosting but can't take the risk of making lesser frosting until a while yet.
The cake was very yummy and it could be well worth it to make it again with a wee bit of lesser baking powder.  Anyway it does not matter if the cake sinks a little cos the frosting is there to cover it up anyway.
I did not make the saree-dhothi topper because i ended up having no time for it.
But I did my best job at having a smooth top and sides.  The cake looked almost like Linu's edges, especially after i went around with the spatula dipped in hot water.  That was a great tip.  Unfortunately i screwed up by trying to attempt a heart in the center of the cake after i put the border and all on it.  And then removed the heart and piped 3 rosettes which then expanded to cover the top of the cake.  But let this blog and my heart and eyes be a record to the fact that yes, i succeeded in making a smooth frosting, and the cake looked oh my God, good when i finished.  I need to have more patience and absolutely need to follow a template when frosting.  No going off what is on the plan.

brownie cake from divya's easycooking
1 recipe in two 7" pans

ganache for filling in the cake
1/2 recipe for one cup of ganache from kitchen kemistry

buttercream frosting as below:
250g butter
500g icing sugar
amul cream 75 to 100 ml

divide the icing into two parts and can add another 50ml of cream for spreading consistency to cover the cake

to the part with less cream (to be used for piping), divide into two parts, color with two shades of the same color.  whichever color you will use on the fondant saree.

inspiration picture is from linus kitchen.

Pineapple Whipped Cream Cake

Cake:  Eggless vanilla cake 1 recipe from Sailu's blog
Filling: Whipping cream (Rich Premium non dairy) with pineapple crush from can
Frosting - Whipping cream

Cake was made in two 7" pans from Sailu's blog recipe, followed to the T.
Frosting was 2 cups of whipping cream but i have about 1/2 cup left over even with the ruffles design, so 1 1/2 cups whipping cream would be good even for a cake with filling and frosting with rosettes or ruffles.
The pineapple flavour was not dominant enough, when i do a pineapple fresh cream next time, i would use pineapple essence in the cake and frosting.  I would also use pineapple juice to wet the cake along with the sweet sugar syrup from the pineapple can.
Making the ruffles were easy but you have to decide before hand on the number of vertical ruffles you will make as well as ensure you make the horizontal ruffles also line up well.
Inspiration and my pics below:

inspiration pic is from indulge cupcakes, coimbatore.

Bake Along 36 - Chocolate Orange Mousse cake

Chocolate Orange Mousse Cake for Fond Bites Bake Along #36

Components with inspiration sources:

1.  Eggless chocolate mud cake from michelle cake designs

Ingredients

250g butter, chopped
1 1/2 cup (375ml) water
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder
2/3 cup (100g) dark chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon bi-carbonate of soda (bi-carb soda)

Baking Temperature

The oven should be preheated to 160oC (325oF)

Method

Combine the butter, water, sugar, cocoa powder and chocolate together in a medium sized saucepan.
Place over gentle heat. Bring to the boil whilst stirring. You need to stir until everything has dissolved to stop the mix from burning. Be careful that the mix does not boil over.
Simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat. Cover with a lid and leave to cool to room temperature.
Whisk in gently the flour and bi-carb soda into the cooled liquid. Whisk until all lumps are removed. Do not over whisk; you are not trying to add air into the batter just remove any flour lumps.
Pour batter into the prepared baking pan. Remember the baking pan must be lined with non-stick baking paper. The batter will be quite liquid and will level naturally. Tap the tin on the kitchen bench three times to remove any large air bubbles.
Bake in a preheated oven set at 160oC (325oF) for 80 mins. The top of the cake will crack. The cake in the photo is just starting to crack, this was taken at 50mins. Dont worry the cracks will settle and be hidden when you turn the cake out of the tin.
Remove from the oven. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins. Gently turn out onto a cake plate or a cake board lined with non stick baking paper and leave to cool. This cake is quite soft whilst still warm which is why I suggest you do not turn out onto a cake wire to cool.

Bake this in two 8 inch round pans

Orange Mousse from gastronomy

Ingredients
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
½ tsp orange zest
70g sugar (60g or less if you prefer a more tart curd as oranges are pretty sweet)
2 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 1tbsp of water
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp sunflower oil
Instructions
Place ingredients into a medium saucepan and stir over low heat to dissolve.
Add cornflour/water mixture and almond milk.
Heat mixture on medium heat and whisk continuously until bubbling, for five minutes.
Trickle olive oil slowly into mixture while still whisking.
Pour mixture into sterilised jars (if wanting to keep for a few weeks) or into a bowl. Mixture will thicken as it cools. Curd should be stored in the fridge but will need a gentle whisk before serving.

Bring 1/2 cup whipping cream to stiff peaks and fold in the cooled orange curd

Orange Dark Chocolate Ganache from fond bites recipe

300g dark chocolate
amul fresh cream 150g
orange rind 1 teaspoon

Chop chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Add the orange rind. Microwave on high powder in 30 seconds interval until chocolate melts fully. Add the cream and keep mixing vigorously until the mixture combines well and no trace of lumps or cream. Set aside until use.

Chocolate Mousse from kitchen kemistry

Since we are making for filling only one layer, we can halve this recipe

65 g dark chocolate
60 g fresh cream

Heat cream until it bubbles
pour over chopped dark chocolate
Allow to stand for a minute and then mix it up until smooth and leave aside for a couple of hours

Soften 1/2 cup ganache by whisking with an electric mixer. Add 1/4 cup powdered sugar and mix well.
Whip 1/2 cup whipping cream. Fold in whipped cream into the softened ganache. The bowl and the beater should be kept cold while whipping.
Chocolate mousse is ready.
Spoon it into serving glasses. Chill before serving and garnish with whatever you like, a cherry or raspberry.
This mousse can be used as a filling for layered cakes.

Assembly:
Bake the cake in two 8 inch pans
Torte the cakes into two layers each
Watch videos before torting
Bake cakes, allow to cool, wrap in cling wrap and keep in freezer before torting
Brush cakes with sugar syrup barely before layering with mousse

Place a dollop of ganache on the cake board
Put one layer of cake on the ganache
brush with syrup
put 1/4 cup of orange mousse
Make a dam of chocolate ganache before you put the mousse in
put one layer of cake on the orange mousse
brush the second chocolate layer with syrup
put chocolate mousse on the second layer; remember the ganache dam
put the third layer of cake
brush with sugar syrup
top with orange mousse
put the last fourth layer
frost with chocolate ganache
make a smooth coating
put a shell on top and a shell on bottom
rustic swipes with the spatula on the sides - refer old cheryl's chocolate cake pic

steps to make the cake in:
check the amount of whipping cream in fridge - you need 1 cup of whipping cream
buy oranges
day 1
1. make orange curd and refrigerate
need to buy oranges
2. make dark chocolate ganache
day 2
3. bake cakes and refrigereate
day 3
4. whip 1/2 cup cream to peaks and fold into curd to make orange mousse
5. whip 1/2 cup cream to peaks and fold into chocolate ganache to make chocolate mousse
6. whisk the ganache and keep it ready for crumb coat etc
6. remove cakes from refrigerator and torte to make 4
7. dam and fill cakes.  make a crumb coating of ganache
1/2 hour rest
8. smooth coating of ganache
1/2 hour rest
9. make final piping of ganache - rustic swiping on sides, top and bottom shell border

I did not taste this cake as I made it for my husband's team.  But a few comments and learnings from assembling the cake:
1. The orange mousse - I whipped cream to stiff peaks and used the hand beater to add the orange curd to the cream.  This was a mistake.  It deflated the cream.  I should have carefully folded in the orange curd instead.  But this mistake did not matter much as I was only going to use the mousse for filling and not as a seperate serve.
2. The orange flavored chocolate ganache - The orange flavour shone through in the ganache due to the addition of the orange rind but I was not satisfied with the feel of the orange rind in my mouth.  Ganache should be silky smooth to taste really good - just my opinion.
3. The chocolate mousse that i made was almost a chocolate whipped cream but there was not much of a problem making this one.
4. The chocolate mud cake itself.. this was very crumbly.  I overturned the cake too soon and almost broke the cake.  Also very difficult to frost this cake as it was so crumbly.  I patched it up and made the orange mousse cake.
5. The quantity of ganache - I feel I needed a bit more ganache than was specified in the recipe, next time would make 400 g chocolate + 200 g cream for a safer effort and that is just to cover the cake.  If any piping is required, I would need more ganache.
6. The change to the chocolate mud cake recipe would be to add 1/2 cup of curd to this recipe to make it more moist instead of 1 and 1/2 cups water, remove 1/2 cup water and add curd instead.
Need to try the recipe.  Also could try gayathri's cookspot recipe as well instead of this.  But this cake was melt in mouth - that was definitely a good thing in it's favour.
7. This cake should have been soaked with some sugar syrup.  Might have helped to hold it together better.

Now for the cake's picture.  I was quite satisfied with my ganache finish.  Loads to improve of course but still.