Malted Chocolate Cake

Frosted layered cake is seldom on my list of cakes to bake.... it's just time consuming. The planning, baking & assembling of the cake is just too much. Furthermore, I'm often intimidated by the assembling process as I'm not good at decorating & yet I want my cake to turn out as perfect & professional as the ones displayed in cafes & cake shops. I know.... I need to be more realistic...

Recently, I saw Annie Rigg's book Make, Bake & Celebrate! (yes, I still buy baking books.... just can't resist it.....) What I like about her book is the cake decorations are beautiful & yet they don't require me to be perfect! The decorations for the Chocolate Malted Cake that I made yesterday is very close to the one done by Annie. It's simple, elegant & yet it's imperfect. I like that!

Since my family & I are not really great fans of  frosted cakes, I decided to make only half the recipe. So what you see here is a 4 layered-4 1/2-inch  cake instead of the 3 layered-8-inch cake found in the book. Before assembling the cake, I managed to taste the scraps of the cake. Yummy! .......it must be the Horlicks added to the cake! But with the chocolate frosting, that special taste seems to disappear into the bittersweet frosting. Don't get me wrong....the cake is still delicious but I want the taste of Horlicks more.... So next time, I'll try this cake with white frosting instead & see what happens.

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #18: Layers of Love (April 2012) hosted by Sam of Sweet Samsations.

Malted Chocolate Cake

Recipe by Annie Rigg from her book Make,Bake & Celebrate!

Cake:

250g / 2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

a pinch of salt

150g /10 tbsps unsalted butter, soft

225g / 1 big cup (caster) sugar

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract ( I used vanilla paste.)

175ml / 2/3cup buttemilk

2 tbsp malted milk powder (I used Horlicks.)

150g / 5oz milk chocolate- coated malted milk balls (Maltesers / Whoppers)

assorted chocolate sprinkles / nonpareils

three 20cm / 8-inch round cake pans, greased & baselined with greased baking parchment

1. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C (350 deg F).

2. Sift together flour, baking powder,baking soda & salt.

3. Cream butter & sugar in the bowl of a  stand mixer until really pale & light - at least 3-4 minutes. Gradually add beaten eggs to the creamed butter in 4 or 5 additions, mixing well between each addition & scraping down the bowl from time to time with a rubber spatula. Add the vanilla & mix to incorporate.

4. Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients to the cake mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Mix until smooth, the fold in the malted milk powder. Divide mixture evenly between the prepared cake pans. Spread level & bake on middle shelf for about 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle come out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 3-4 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

(I made only 1/2 recipe & baked the cake in a 10-inch swiss roll pan. Then, using a round 4 1/2 inch-cookie cutter, I cut the cake into four pieces & used them to assemble my 4-layered cake.)

Malted chocolate frosting:

200g / 6 1/2 oz dark / semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

150g / 5 oz milk chocolate, finely chopped

250ml / 1 cup double / heavy cream

50g / 1/3 cup malted milk powder

2 tbsp golden syrup

175g / 1 1/2 stick butter, soft

1. Place chopped chocolates into a medium heatproof bowl.

2. Put cream, malted milk powder & syrup in a small, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat & whisk until combine. Stir occasionally until the cream just comes to the boil. Pour into the bowl of chocolate, stir & set aside to allow chocolate to melt. Once melted, stir until silky smooth & leave until cold & starting to firm up. Gradually beat in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until glossy & smooth.

(I made only 1/2 recipe for the frosting. I replaced the bittersweet & milk chocolate with  1/2 Valrhona Manjari 64% & 1/2 Equatoriale 55% chocolate.)

To assemble cake:

1. Lighltly crush about 100g / 3 1/2 oz, of the milk chocolate-coated malted milk balls.

2. Place one of the cake layer on a serving dish & spread 3-4 tbsps of the malted chocolate frosting over it, then scatter half the malted milk balls on top. Cover with a second cake layer. Repeat this process, finishing with the last  cake layer. Spread all but 3 tbsps of the remaining frosting evenly over the top & side of the cake using a palette knife. Spoon the reseved 3 tbsps malted  chocolate frosting into the piping bag & snip the end to a fine point. Pipe dots aroung the bottom edge of the cake & around the top edge tool if you like .

3. Arrange the whole malted milk balls (I didn't use.)  & chocolate srpinkles / nonpareils on top of the cake just before serving.

Bingka Ambon

On Friday, my cousin's son  got married. The solemnization ceremony was held at the Sultan Mosque after which we all proceeded to my cousin's place for a feast. Then last night, we attended the sit-down wedding dinner in a hall. We, the relatives,  didn't have to do much....  just sat & ate & mingled a little bit while the singers & dancers entertained the guests.

It was different when the groom's mother got married 30 years ago. Back then, the spirit of gotong-royong was so alive! All the relatives were busy helping out with the preparations...  decor, food & all...  & both the solemnization ceremomy & wedding dinner were held at my consin's place. They were held on a  wet Christmas night... we were all drenched as we helped to serve the guests. That was one unforgettable wedding.......

In the spirit of gotong-royong, I made kuih bingka ambon, an Indonesian kuih, for the feast on Friday. Recently, Ayu of Curlybabe's Satisfaction made this kuih & when I saw her picture, I couldn't wait to make it myself. So last week, I tested the recipe & was very happy the kuih turned out beautifully. That inspired me to make some for the gathering. Just look at the beautiful honeycomb texture.......

Some things to take note of... When I first tested the recipe, I used instant coconut milk from the box (200ml & added water). For the second atttempt, I used thick freshly-squeezed coconut milk (300ml). I like the ones using fresh coconut milk better as the bingka is richer & shinier, as you can see in the pictures. I also added 60g more sugar for my second attempt as I like my kuih slightly sweeter. If you want to try this kuih, you may want to try half recipe first as one recipe can make about 100 pieces.

Bingka Ambon

Inspired by Curlybabe's Satisfaction

Original recipe from Majalah Sedap Bil 18 Vol 2 2009

For yeast mixture:

100g plain flour

125 ml water

1 packet instant yeast

Other ingredients:

300 ml coconut milk from 1 coconut - I used thick, freshly-squeezed coconut milk.

1/2 tsp tumeric powder - I used yellow colouring.

15 kafir lime leaves, aka daun limau purut (torn)

2 lemon grass (cushed) - I didn't use

2 pandan leaves

1 tsp salt

300g sugar (I added 60g more.)

225g tapioca flour

25g glutinous rice flour

7 whole eggs

Method.

1. Combine all ingredients for yeast mixture. Mix thoroughly & leave aside for 15 minutes.
2. Combine coconut milk, tumeric powder, kafir leaves, lemongrass, pandan leaves, salt & sugar in a pot & cook, stirring continuously, until mixture boils. Remove from fire & strain mixture. Set aside 450ml.
3. Combine tapioca & glutinous rice flour. Add in yeast mixture & mix using hand whisk or cake mixer.
4. Add in egg one at a time & continue mixing.
5. Add in warm coconut mixture in several additions. Continue mixing for about 15 minutes. Leave mixture aside for 2 hours.
6. Heat up Kuih Lumpur mould (I used Kuih Bahulu mould.) on  a stove using low fire & grease it by rubbing it with fresh coconut until the mould is oily. Then remove the coconut & wipe the mould clean with  a cloth. (I just greased it using cooking oil.)
7. Pour mixture into the mould until 3/4 full. (Stir mixture thoroughly before pouring.)
8. Once  little holes start to form on the surface of the bingka, cover the mould. Leave to cook for few  minutes.
9. Remove bingka from mould & repeat process.

Read here for my Bingka Ambon Durian recipe.

Semolina Cake

It's a cool & wet morning here in Singapore....  Where traffic is concerned, it was also quite a chaotic morning  as the rain started to pour and continued to pound just as many of us were getting ready to head for school or work. As I was driving my son to school at 6.30 on the ECP, there was already an accident involving 4 or 5 cars....Good thing it just occured so we were not stuck there. But as I was driving back, the traffic backup on the other side was quite bad.....  

The roads in my neighbourhood were bustling with activities too especially since there are a few schools in the area.  Traffic was typically slow as there were students crossing the roads & parents waiting to enter & leave the school compound to drop off their children. Good thing there were security guards, school staff & parent volunteers to mend the roads outside the schools. That really helped a lot to ensure the safety of the school kids. So we drivers just have to be more patient & careful......

I baked Semolina Cake last week. I love it. It's rich yet not oily or too sweet.... However, as you can see, my cake turned out slightly dry... but it's not supposed to be like that.... I had to bake my cake twice. Since I was using my small oven, I thought I didn't have to bake for 45 minutes. So after 30 minutes, I inserted my metal skewer & was surprised that it came out clean.... so I took the cake out of the pan sliced a thin piece & ate it right away as I couldn't resist the smell & wait any longer... It was moist & yummy! Two hours later, after the whole cake is cool, as I was slicing it,  the uncooked batter from the center part oozed out........ So I put it back into the  pan & bake it for another 15 minutes or so.... Because of that, the sides also turned out darker....

This recipe is from The Temptation of Chocolate by Alex Goh. There, Chef Alex poured chocolate ganache over the  whole cake. I decided to do without the ganache.

Semolina Cake
Recipe from Alex Goh's Temptation of Chocolate

150g butter (I used unsalted.)
160g semolina
Melt butter & add in semolina. Mix until well blended & set aside for 1 hour. (I left it aside for 3 hours.)

150g butter (I used unsalted.)
120g sugar
3/4 tsp salt (I added.)
1 tsp vanilla paste (I added.)

8 egg yolk

5 egg white
120g sugar

120g flour (sifted together with baking powder)
1/4 tsp baking powder (I used double-acting.)
80 g ground almond
(I combined all above 3 ingredients & mixed thoroughly before adding to egg mixture.)

1. Combine butter, sugar, salt & vanilla paste in a mixing bowl & cream until light.
2. Add in egg yolk & cream until light & smooth. 
3. Add in semolina & butter mixture & mix until well combined.
4. In another clean & dry mixing bowl, whisk egg white until foamy. Then add in  sugar & continue whisking  until stiff.
5. Fold in egg white into egg yolk mixture & gently mix using a hand whisk  until well combined.
6. Finally, fold in flour & almond  & mix gently until well blended.
7. Pour mixture into a lined baking pan ( I used 2 loaf pans, each measuring 22 x 11.5 x 4.5 cm) & bake on bottom rack at 180 deg C for 45 minutes.
8. Remove cake from pan & leave to cool.