Chocolate Raspberry Mille Crepe Cake

Two of my favourite people came to visit today, under the pretense of wanting to watch me bake. Really, they came to nap, watch telly with my siblings, and eat whatever I baked while they did the above. I love them anyway though, and perhaps a little bit more now as they made the effort to trek all the way over to where I live safely ensconced in the suburbs.

I've been thinking of what to make while they were here all week; banana butterscotch cake, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, or mille crepe cake? I've wanted to try my hand at a mille crepe cake since Jessica first had me try one years ago, but have always been a bit put off by what I thought was the difficulty of making crepes. Pfffffttt. Once I found the perfect recipe (ie easy), it all comes down to testing the consistency and my own ability to swirl and flip a crepe in the pan.

So, Jess and Angie came by to spend their day off with me, and while they ate Sarawak Laksa with my family, watching The Avengers (Hollllaaaaa, Thor!), and I mixed and made crepes 5 feet away. It was actually really fun, and I think I can get used to being watched while I bake. (hello, tv people, Nigella wannabe #394 standing right here?)

Let's just get on with the recipe, and trust me, you don't need a fancy crepe pan and spreader (though I imagine it would definitely make perfect crepes). I just used a regular frying pan (not even sure if it's non-stick), and a silicone spatula. Just flip as you would a normal pancake.

Chocolate Crepes:

• 200g all purpose flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 600ml milk
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp melted butter

In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and sugar, then make a well in the middle to pour in the eggs, vanilla, milk, honey, and butter. Whisk the mixture together by hand, or with your electric stand mixer if you have one. Leave the batter to rest for 30 minutes, then heat your pan, drop a smidge of butter on and use a ladle to scoop up the batter for the crepe. I used around 1/4 cup of the batter for each crepe. Swirl the pan to get the batter all around the pan, leave for 1-2 minutes, then flip over and cook for another 1 minute. Remove to a cooling rack, where you have to let the crepes cool completely before you stack them. I find that it takes the duration to make 2 crepes for 1 to cool completely. Anyway, I'm sure you're smart enough to figure this out on your own. 

I then used leftover chocolate sour cream frosting from this cake to spread in between each crepe. You can use whipped cream (200ml whipping cream, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup icing sugar, whisk until soft peaks form), drizzled with chocolate sauce (100g choc, 15g butter, 1 1/2 tbsp honey, 70ml milk, whisked together in a bain marie) instead.

Then I topped the entire thing with fresh raspberries, and sifted confectioners sugar over the lot.

Cover and chill the cake for an hour in the fridge before serving. Or whatever, eat it right then and there, as we did.

Happy Holiday Cake!

Holidaaay~!

It's been a very, very long time since I've taken a good break from work; with TWO public holidays falling on Tuesday and Thursday of this week, I did what any sane person with too much annual leave left over and took the three other days off for a total of 9 days to do whatever I want to do (or not do, rather).

So in addition to all the pampering and self indulgence I've been doing, catching up with my friends and family, I have obviously been taking this opportunity to try out recipes I've shelved for a while now. This particular recipe I'm about to share with you is of the cake I made for my sister's birthday earlier this year but was unable to snap pictures of. I finally have the time to revisit this cake, for no other reason than the fact that I want to eat it and take pictures of it.
I came across this recipe in Smitten Kitchen's blog years ago when browsing for classic birthday cake recipes, and it remains one of my top 5 cakes to bake for friends and family. Or really, just days off. Let's quit pretending to have reasons for cake. 

Here we go, according to Deb (Smitten Kitchen) the best birthday cake ever:

Yellow Cake

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 225 g unsalted butter
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 2 tsp mexican vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, grease and line 2 8-inch pans with butter and parchment paper then set aside
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside
3. In the large mixing bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter until light and creamy with paddle, then toss in the sugar and continue to beat until mixture turns white and fluffy
4. Beat in eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla. Be sure to scrape down the side of the bowl to ensure the entire mixture is incorporated well
5. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter and beat shortly, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, and continue adding the flour and buttermilk alternately and end with the flour
6. Divide the batter in between the two pans and bake for 35-45 minutes at 160C, until a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean. Take the cakes out and cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to cool completely on a wire rack

Chocolate Sour Cream frosting

• 450g good quality dark baking chocolate
• 2 tsp instant espresso
• 2 1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 tsp mexican vanilla extract

1. Melt the chocolate and espresso in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Once the chocolate has melted completely, remove from heat and allow to cool til tepid (basically just slightly warmer than room temperature)
2. Whisk the sour cream, light corn syrup, and vanilla, then slowly pour in the melted chocolate while whisking to ensure the mixture is fully incorporated
3. If you need to, pop the frosting in the fridge until it solidifies enough to spreading consistency (think, Nutella)
4. To assemble cake, dollop a good 1/2 cup - 1 cup of frosting on top of one layer of cake, then smooth it out before putting the other layer on top. Use an offset spatula to spread the frosting around and over the cake, then decorate as you please. I just used my spatula and went around, then dropped silver dragees around the edge of the top

2 am Water Baths

I have made approximately two cheesecakes in my life, with one successful biscuit crumb base, and the other turning a little too toasty (as I wasn't even supposed to set the base in the oven for that recipe). Last week I received an order from a colleague for a classic cheesecake for her sister's birthday, an order I couldn't refuse  as I've had this other recipe on hold for a few weeks now. 

New York Cheesecake, one of my favourite cakes, and definitely one of the most beautifully decadent desserts one could order. What makes New York Cheesecake different from other non-regionally-tied cheesecakes? According to the ever trusty (LOL, right) Wikipedia, New York cheesecake relies upon heavy cream or sour cream. In my case, it was sour cream. 

The only problem with the recipe I'm about to share with you is that it's meant for to produce a very tall, 9-inch cake. The order I received was for a 6-inch cake, which left me with enough batter for an identical 6-inch cake AND an 8-inch square cake! 

Two cheesecakes at home during the weekend does a body good. Not. Forget munching on toast and honey for my movie-watching snack! I just gave up and cut myself a massive wedge of cake, digging into it throughout a rerun of Hancock. I also told myself I'd make it up with an extra lap in the pool... which would have been great had I even gone to the pool... 

Alright, enough of the guilt-ridden soliloquy, let's get on to the recipe and slightly complicated process of making a New York cheesecake.

First of all, before you get excited and start mixing up ingredients, here are a few tips from seasoned bakers on producing the perfect cheesecake:

• Ensure all wet ingredients are at room temperature, so take everything out of the fridge 30 minutes earlier
• If you didn't heed the above advice and now find yourself with too-hard cream cheese, place the unwrapped cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 15 seconds
• Do not over mix the filling, just mix until combined
• Use a springform pan
• Butter the sides of the pan, or run a butter knife around the edges of the cake immediately after removal from the oven
• Prepare a water bath to keep the oven (and therefore your cake!) moist. You do this by wrapping the springform pan in tin foil (under and around the sides), then placing the pan into a bigger pan which you will then fill with boiling water halfway up the sides of the springform pan
• Do not open the oven door at any point, if you want to check if it's set, then shake the oven door gently to see if the cake jiggles
• Perfectly baked cheesecake should be puffy around the edges (try to avoid it turning brown and hard), and then you shake the oven, only the very centre of the cake should jiggle slightly (gawd, I love saying jiggle)
• When the above point happens, switch off the oven, but don't open the door, and leave it in until the oven has cooled (or for roughly another hour)
• Cool completely on a wire rack before popping in the fridge to set overnight 

And now, my dear friends, on to the amazing recipe! 

New York Cheesecake

by ouncesandgrams.tumblr.com

First, preheat the oven to 175C, and prepare your springform pan and create a seal for the water bath (ie foil)

Crust

• 200g cookie crumbs
• 1/4 c caster sugar
• 114g melted butter

1. Blend the cookies - I used McVites plain digestives - into fine crumbs, then combine all ingredients in a bowl
2. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan, bake for 10 minutes or chill in the fridge while preparing the filling

Cake filling

• 900g cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1. Cream the cheese and sugar until smooth
2. Beat in milk
3. Then add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition
4. Beat in sour cream, vanilla and flour until just incorporated. Do not overmix
5. Pour the filling over the prepared crust, fill the roasting pan (the larger pan which you place the springform pan in) with hot water about 1/2 way up the sides of the springform pan
6. Bake for an hour or until just barely set
7. Turn off the oven, leave the cheesecake in until the oven is cool, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack, after which you refrigerate overnight so it's completely set