Rocky Road Tart
Ingredients
Crust
170g digestive biscuits
1 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Ganache and filling
425 g semisweet chocolate (I used 55%), coarsely chopped
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup whole toasted salted almonds
Topping
3/4 cup mini marshmallows
1/4 cup whole toasted salted almonds, coarsely chopped
57 g semisweet chocolate (again I used 55%), coarsely chopped
1. Make the crust: Preheat oven to 170 deg C. Pulse digestive biscuits, sugar, salt in a food processor until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl, stir in butter until combined.
2. Press mixture into a 9 inch springfield pan or cake ring set on a parchment lined baking sheet. Press mixture evenly into bottom and up sides of pan. Bake until crust just starts to turn golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cook completely on sheet on a wire rack.
3. Make ganache: Coarsely chop 283 g semisweet chocolate. In a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water, melt chocolate. Keep warm. Meanwhile, bring cream just to a simmer in a medium saucepan; remove from heat. Whisk about 1/4 cup hot cream into beaten yolks, then whisk yolk mixture into remaining cream in saucepan. Whisk mixture into melted chocolate, and remove from heat.
4. Coarsely chop remaining semisweet chocolate, and transfer to a large bowl. Toss in 2 cups mini marshmallows and 1 cup whole toasted almonds. Scatter mixture over bottom of cooled crust. Reserve 1 cup chocolate-egg mixture for topping, and PR the rest everly into crust (do not overfill). Refrigerate tart, uncovered, until firm, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, cover reserved chocolate-egg mixture with plastic wrap, set aside at room temperature.
5. Make the topping: toss together mini marshmallows, chopped almonds and sprinkle over filling. Drizzle reserved 1 cup chocolate-egg mixture over tart, and refrigerate 30 minutes before unmoulding and slicing. Tart can be refrigerated, covered, up to 3 days.
Note: the eggs in this recipe are not fully cooked; it should not be served to pregnant women, babies, young children, the elderly, or anyone whose health is compromised. Alternatively, you may substitute 1/2 cup of silken tofu. Tofu can be eaten raw.
Adapted from: Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts
Labels: Cakes, Pastries, Recipe
Thursday, January 24, 2013 | 7:48 AM
2 comments
Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Frosting and Ganache
Ingredients:
Chocolate Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp corn starch
2/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup hot water
Buttercream Frosting:
1 1/2 cups butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 cups powdered sugar
4-8 Tablespoons milk
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels, if desired
Chocolate Ganache:
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
12 kitkat bars
Directions:
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 1. Grease the bottom of two 9-inch cake pans.
2. Sift dry ingredients together and place in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, oil, milk and vanilla and beat for a couple of minutes until combined.
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add hot water and mix together.
4. Pour into prepared pans and bake for about 28-30 minutes. Batter will be very liquid. Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Frosting:
1. Beat the butter in a mixer until smooth. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Add the powdered sugar in several additions, scraping down the sides after each addition.
2. Add milk a tablespoon at a time and mix together until you achieve a smooth consistency. Note: If you want your frosting whiter without using shortening, add a little white icing color to tint.
For the ganache:
1. Heat cream and butter in a saucepan until melted and remove before it starts to boil.
2. Place chocolate morsels in a small bowl and pour cream on top. Let sit for a few seconds and whisk by hand until completely incorporated and smooth.
3. Let cool until thick and pourable. The ganache can take a bit to thicken, about 20 mins. You can make it before the buttercream, to save time. Just use a wire whisk to stir it every few minutes and keep it smooth
To assemble:
trim tops off of cake layers with a long serrated knife so they have a nice, flat top.
Place one layer bottom side up on cake stand.
Spread frosting on top of bottom layer. Place second layer on top. It helps to have a crumb coat on the outside of your cake first. Simply apply a thin coat of frosting to the entire cake to catch andy excess crumbs.
Then place cake in freezer for a few minutes to firm up frosting and cover the entire cake again with a thick layer of buttercream.
This will help you keep all those crumbs from getting caught in your pretty work.
Stick the kitkats around the cake evenly.
Slowly, pour ganache over center of cake. Pour just enough to start dripping down the sides. Using a flat surface, create the twirls. :)
Adapted from:
bakerella
Labels: Cakes, Recipes
Thursday, January 10, 2013 | 11:26 PM
0 comments
I'm a big fan of Amanda at Crumbs and Cookies and I secretly wish I can try all her recipes. Here's one.
Japanese Tofu Cheesecake makes 6 glasses
If you like your cheesecake more tangy, up the amount of yogurt but be sure to subtract the equivalent from the cream cheese and/or tofu. Similarly, feel free to increase the amount of cream cheese if you like your cheesecake cheesier, but be sure to decrease the equal weight of from the other two ingredients.
135g digestive biscuits, crushed finely 62g melted butter 150g silken tofu 100g cream cheese 50g yogurt (I used sour cream- yogurt was MIA at the moment) 50g whipping cream 50g sugar 1 tbsp lemon juice 5g powdered gelatin 50ml hot water
Mix the crushed digestives and melted butter together in a bowl. Divide the mixture equally amongst the 6 glasses.
Pour the hot water into a small bowl and sprinkle over the powdered gelatin evenly.
In a blender, combine the tofu, cream cheese, yogurt, whipping cream, sugar and lemon juice and blend until completely smooth and combined. When the gelatin has softened, pour it into the blender and blend until combined. Pour the cheesecake batter in equal amounts into the glasses. Refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours.
Credit: Crumbs and Cookies
Labels: Cakes, Recipe