It’s the end of the month and time for a Daring Baker’s post again! In the spirit of Valentine’s Day we were instructed to make a flourless chocolate cake and accompany it with an ice cream of our choice. Having missed the last two challenges cause I’m a total lame-o, I was mega excited about doing this challenge. In fact, I actually didn’t procrastinate like I usually do and made it ahead of time! High five, Rebecca!

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. They have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

This cake is extremelyyy chocolatey, which is perfect for all you chocolate lovers out there. I used a huge block of dark chocolate so the ice cream was definitely needed to tone down the extreme richness of this cake. Seriously, it’s so rich that it’s hard to eat it plain, but I’m sure there are some chocolate loving people out there that would have no problem with it. I also covered my cake in brown sugar whip cream to assist in toning down the chocolateyness.

Some of the things that they told us to keep in mind while making this cake is that you should use your favorite chocolate. This cake will taste EXACTLY like the chocolate you use. This cake also has a high cocoa percentage, which increases the bitterness of a cake. If you want a sweeter cake, then use milk chocolate. Also, some people were able to make this cake with white chocolate, but it isn’t the easiest thing to accomplish because white chocolate is not the same as real chocolate. If you do produce a cake with white chocolate it won’t be the prettiest thing in the world, but I’m sure it’ll taste great.

Note on recipe – the recipe consists of 3 simple
ingredients and how you interpret them is part of the challenge. The
simplicity of this recipe gives credit to the ingredients much in the
same way of French baguette.
-This recipe comes together very quickly with a hand mixer.
-This is a very decadent cake that will sink a little as it cools but will still hold its shape.
-Very dense and fudgy cake that tastes divine.
-The top forms a light crust kind of like a brownie

Chocolate Valentino

(Recipe from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy)
I used a 6 inch pan and got two cakes out of this recipe.

• 16 oz/1 pound/454 grams of chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) + 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 5 large eggs, separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.  Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. 10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

As seen in my previous post, Brown Sugar Toffee Ice Cream with a Dulce de Leche Swirl is my current ice cream obsession so it was obvious that I’d choose to make that to go along with this cake. I decided to follow the theme of my ice cream and made brown sugar whip cream to cover the cake. I felt like a frosting would have been too much so a light whip cream was perfect. I also sprinkled toffee bits along the top and covered the sides of one of the cakes completely in toffee bits. I also added dark chocolate curls for decoration and tried to make white chocolate curls, but they turned more into flakes so I just scattered them on top too. 

This cake was good, but again not quite my tastes. I’m not a major chocolate lover and I also only like my cakes chilled, but that sort of hardened the cake too much. I think I might have also baked it too long (considering it’s hard to tell when it’s done) because my cake came out pretty dry. It was still good for a new treat to enjoy, but I think my cakes actually got thrown out in the end because no one wanted to eat them. Oh well!

Once again it’s time for Tuesdays with Dorie and this week Clara of I Heart Food4Thought chose the Chocolate, Chocolate Cupcakes! These cupcakes are extra chocolatey because they are made with cocoa and melted chocolate, then covered in a luscious bittersweet chocolate glaze. I apparently missed the part where Clara urged us to decorate them in spirit of Halloween, but I guess that’s alright. Having never been a fan of Halloween, I secretly wouldn’t have wanted to do that anyways. Instead my double chocolate cupcakes were filled with toffee sauce (courtsey of Harry and David), covered in the chocolate glaze, frosted with white chocolate buttercream infused with a bit of toffee sauce, and then finally finished off with a drizzle of the sauce and mini chocolate chips.

As you can see here, there was a trend in the comments about the cake coming out dry, so I decided to alter the recipe a little bit. I didn’t exactly have time to make the original recipe in order to figure out what needed to be changed, so instead I blindly modified ingredients, crossing my fingers all the way. Luckily for me, my alterations proved to be a success because the cake came out fluffy and moist! However, I think if I ever planned to make this again, then I’d probably tweak a few more parts because it still wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for it to be.

I decided to post my cupcake recipe because I altered it quite a bit, but for the chocolate glaze you will need to visit Clara’s website. Also, the toffee sauce I bought was premade from Harry and David, but I am sure that making something like Nigella’s Sticky Toffee Sauce would be just as good. I’d also assume that butterscotch would also work because it is so very similiar to toffee (the only difference is that the sugar is boiled to the soft crack stage for butterscotch and the hard crack stage for toffee). Then again, if you’re feeling extra lazy, then why not use caramel syrup?

Chocolate, Chocolate Cupcakes

(Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours)
Makes 12 cupcakes (I got around 16)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Valrhona)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup strong coffee or water

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin pan with muffin cups or by greasing the pan.
   
2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until soft and creamy.
   
4. Add the sugars and beat for about 2 minutes, until it is blended into the butter. Add the egg, then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
5. Beat in the vanilla, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear. Scrap down the bowl and add the sour cream and coffee, mixing until incorporated, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.
6. Scrape down the bowl, add the melted chocolate and mix it in with the rubber spatula. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin molds.
7. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes (mine took 15-17), or until the tops of the cakes are dry and springy to the touch and a knife inserted into their centers comes out clean. Transfer the muffin pan to a rack and let cake cool for a minute or two before removing from the pan. Cool to room temperature on the rack before glazing.
   

White Chocolate Buttercream

(Adapted from Em’s Buttercream Dream Icing)

• 4 oz white chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons half and half
• 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
• Toffee sauce (optional)

1. In a heat proof bowl, over a pan of simmering water, gently melt the white chocolate. Allow to cool for 2 minutes or so.
2. In an electric or stand mixer, cream the butter and shortening, then beat in white chocolate. Add the vanilla extract and half and half until well combined.
3. Begin adding the powdered sugar, a little at a time, mixing thoroughly and scraping down the bowl after each addition. Continuing adding until you’ve reach the desired consistency.
4. If desired, add in a bit of toffee sauce for added flavor.
   

Complete Assembly

This is just a little summary of what you should have done:

1. Using the cone method, cut out the center of each cupcake and fill with toffee sauce.
   
2. With an icing spatula spread chocolate glaze over tops of cupcakes.
   
3. Pipe on frosting, then drizzle with toffee sauce and add mini chocolate chips.
   

That’s all, folks! Now go and start making these cupcakes for yourself! I even encourage you to try out the original recipe and see how it works for you!