Friday, September 3, 2010

Chocolate Cream Cake

 'Its great to have a son, but to have a daughter is to be in heaven'.

I had read this somewhere, yeah at a maternity hospital.  This was firmly etched in my mind and I had actually believed this when I was carrying my daughter and was desperately hoping and praying that it should be a baby girl this time around. My son Anirudh was quite a handful for me when was a toddler and I had had a tough time with him. Back then, I was not working and I had all the time in the world to take him to the park every single evening. I would really enjoy meeting other mothers there, but would dread the moment when I would see a kid coming running towards me- for sure, with a complaint about my son!! "Aunty, Anirudh took away my ball', or' He poured sand on someone's head' were the common ones I recall.  In retrospect,  it was my inability as a first time mother, that had stressed me out:-))

But we had always wanted to have a daughter too, a sweet cutie pie, who would be easy to look after, not climb windows or pour sand on others' heads. A docile daughter, like my niece and my cousin's daughters. We were so happy when Aditi was born, sweet, chubby and angelic. By the time, she turned one, the halo around her head had started disappearing.... and I now have one feisty, extremely naughty, totally unrestrained daughter who is anything but docile...lol!


Sorry, I got a little carried away!! I meant to write a post about the birthday cake I had made for her birthday in May. Well, I had not posted it so far as I thought it did not look good enough, though it had tasted good. Witnessing sibling rivalry in its nascent stages, am sure Aditi will not forgive me later if I don't post her birthday cake ,as I have posted Anirudh's birthday cakes, Helicopter Cake and Mocha Chocolate Gateaux. So here comes Aditi's Chocolate Cream Cake.

She had actually wanted a Dora cake and I did try to make it with my home-made piping gel. But I had not realized that drawing a human face was much different from drawing things. My Dora looked like she had been crying:-))) And I had very little time to do a repeat. My chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse was ready and frosted. I could think of only doing something with fondant. I remembered seeing a cheerful cake on the Wilton site and tried something similar. Though not a great looking one, it was indeed yummy and  made my daughter very happy. A chocolate sponge, soaked in simple sugar syrup, filled and frosted with gooey chocolate cream.

Here comes the recipe.

Chocolate Sponge, from Deeba.
Ingredients:
Eggs -3
Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup
Flour - 1/2 cup minus 2 tbsps
Cocoa powder- 2 tbspns
Method:
  • Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Line and grease a 9 inch round cake tin
  • Sift flour and cocoa.
  • Beat eggs with sugar till thick mousse like, for about 10 minutes. Fold in flour, gently, so that the beaten air is not released.
  • Pour batter into a lined, greased and  floured tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes till done; lightly colored.
  • Turn out to cool on rack, immediately removing the lining.
  • Slice the cake horizontally into 2 slices.
Sugar Syrup
 1 Cup water
 1 1/4 tablespoon powdered sugar(adjust to taste)
 Mix both together and refrigerate till needed .
 For the Chocolate Cream: I serve this as a dessert sometimes - Mock Chocolate Mousse, recipe adapted from a Tarla Dalal book.

1 Cup dark chocolate chips
1 Cup whipping cream(I use sweetened whipping cream,Rich's)
1 tablespoon milk

Whip the cream till it reaches the soft peak stage. Keep aside, let the whipped cream come to room temperature. Do not refrigerate as the cream will become cold.  Melt the chocolate with the milk in a double boiler or in a microwave. Cool . Fold the melted chocolate into the whipped cream, making sure the air in the cream is retained.

Please Note: When melted chocolate is mixed into something cold, it will seize up and become lumpy. So ensure the whipped cream is not cold when you fold in the chocolate. Same thing when hot chocolate is mixed into cream. Right temperature of the two ingredients is imperative.

To assemble:

Place one cake slice on the cake platter and soak well with the syrup using a spoon. (Do not over do this as the cake will become soggy). Use the bottom layer (with the parchment) for the top of the cake as it will be smooth and gives a neat and flat finish to the cake.
Spread some of the chocolate cream evenly using an offset spatula. Place the second layer on the cream and soak with sugar syrup. Frost with the cream. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

I have used fondant cut into shapes and some licorice to make the "party' picture. With this one posted, I now feel less guilty:-)).

This cake is on its way to Champa's weekly  Bake Off .

25 comments:

ann low said...

That's a beautiful birthday cake! I love it! Great Job!

Champa said...

Lovely cake for a lovely baby. She is adorable. Thanks for the entry and don't worry about the logo. It is just optional.

Priya Suresh said...

Adorable baby, beautfiful looking cake, just love it..

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

Very cute baby...:)
Awesome cake and the click is excellent...!

Rachana said...

Thats a lovely Chocolate cake for an adorable little princess :-)

Unknown said...

I so believe in that statement you mentioned at the top. And, now, you made me sad as I have 2 boys and I so wanted girls on both times :(

Anyways, I am happy and in heaven with my boys too :)

I loved the cake and bookmarking. Tell me something (please email or leave comment @ my blog). Can I do it without the sugar syrup and will it still turn out good?

Satya said...

beautiful cake ...looks awesome ...ur little prince is so cute ...

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Akila said...

looks so good...

http://akilaskitchen.blogspot.com

Sushma Mallya said...

Beautiful cake for a cute little angel....

Padhu Sankar said...

That a lovely birthday cake!! baby looks adorable

Rekha said...

What an adorable cutie pie...you are right abt daughters...life is incomplete without them. Lovely cake...

Hey Suma, we have a design related September blog carnival happening at our blog, I would be glad if you can make it..

- rekha

priya seshadri said...

cake looks tempting as always :) but d best part is aditi's picture :):) she is cute,pretty,charming,adorable :)

Anonymous said...

Awwww, look at that little one...cutie cutums! She's definitely a darling. Love her picture here Suma...her eyes are glinting with a naughty spirit. Uber cute! :)

My oh my, and what a delectable cake to celebrate the princess' b'day. I repeat, please adopt me too :) I wont be as naughty, and I wont pour sand on other kids' heads or take away their balls...I promise! :) :)

notyet100 said...

cake looks too good,..and u r so right about daughters

Unknown said...

Suma, yes, my khara prasad is also a version of aata ka halwa, but in aata ka halwa, we don't usually use all same proportions, it is only in this case that of prasad that we use these proportions.

About the sugar syrup, it is not that I don't want to use it, I was just wondering how important that step is, that's all. Thanks for clarifying :)

Unknown said...

Suma, yes, my khara prasad is also a version of aata ka halwa, but in aata ka halwa, we don't usually use all same proportions, it is only in this case that of prasad that we use these proportions.

About the sugar syrup, it is not that I don't want to use it, I was just wondering how important that step is, that's all. Thanks for clarifying :)

Aparna S Mallya said...

Aww, that is such a cute post. I can totally relate to your discomformt abt receiving complaints because I'nmgrowing through it right now! My 20 month old has already been lovingly nicknamed 'goonda' by his friends' mommies!

Yr cake sure looks delicious and yr daughter is a real cutie pie!

Urmi said...

Very beautifully decorated cake. Looks delicious and tempting. Convey my Birthday wishes to your sweet little baby.

Shubha said...

decoration is looking good suma,cake looks yummy too

Shubha said...

decoration is looking good suma,cake looks yummy too

Radhika said...

Your daughter looks like an angel. So adorable she is. Hugs to the little one.
Ok, let me go back and drool at that lovely cake now.

Spice said...

SO cute, your lil angel & o'course cake too....yeap girls have something special.....and about the Halo around the head, it disappeared in case of mine lil one too...right now when i'm writing this she's trying to reach top of the window climbing two tables(don't worry Dad is standing on hand's reach)....btw if i'm reading right no butter/oil in this cake right.....

A CaT Production said...

Hi suma....I arrived at ur blog by chance but i quite loved ur blog since we share many things in common...esp ur posts abt ur son n daughter---the park story of ur son reminded me of mine!!!and my daughter's halo disappeared as soon as she started walking LOL!!!and finally i too love baking...the baking bug bit me a few yrs back but became serious just few motnhs back:-)

A CaT Production said...

and suma,btw have a look at my blog too wen u have time...cakesandtales.blogspot.com....
luv,CJ

Shri said...

Hi Suma, I baked this for a friend's birthday today and it came out so well that my friends washed it off in matter of minutes. Thanks for a yummy recipe. I had to do a small change for the frosting, 1Tbsp of milk was not enough, I added close to 6 Tbsp to get the right consistency to fold it into the whipped cream...ofcourse with tensed moments at 1a.m in the morning :) when the whole house was asleep !!

I am still curious how to get the curvy chocolate shavings...your inputs pl....