make life sweeter!

Daring Baker time! This month Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts was our hostess and she put Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake on the menu. The original recipe is for a lemon flavoured white cake that is filled with vanilla lemon buttercream and raspberry preserves, and decorated with sweetened shredded coconut. But Morven allowed us a lot of freedom in flavour and looks.
I had to thoroughly plan making this cake because of two exams, one I did last week and one I'll do in 4 days. So no waiting till the last minute for this one ;) I was planning on making it the 14th and 15th but I became ill on the night I wanted to start. So I had to postpone making it. I did make the cake part a few days afterwards but the rest had to wait until the Easter weekend. A's family was visiting for Easter and this was the cake they got.
When I was reading the original recipe the idea of using raspberries sounded so delicious that they became my starting point for brainstorming about the flavour and look of the cake. The idea of trying to recreate the flavours Pierre Hermé uses for his signature Ispahan was born very soon after reading the original recipe. Not that I ever had Ispahan before but the combination of flavours was sort of stuck in my mind for a long time. The basis is rose macaron filled with rose petal buttercream, litchee and raspberries.
The hardest part about making the Perfect Party Cake into Ispahan Perfect Party Cake was to decide where to put which flavour. My initial idea was to do a rose syrup flavoured buttercream but I was afraid it would be too overwhelming. Second idea was to flavour the cakes with rosewater and flavour the buttercream with raspberry puree. I fell in love with the thought of a beautiful raspberry pink buttercream. Only how to incorporate the litchee? Cutting them and adding them to the buttercream too was a possibility but I thought it just wouldn't look pretty. Raspberries would look pretty, litchee's wouldn't.
Wasn't too sure I would get the amount of rosewater right in the cake batter so I changed this idea to using rose syrup to brush the cake layers with. That way there would be a good rose flavour in at least part of the cake but not a taste that would overwhelm the entire cake.
Since I fell in love with the thought of having a pink buttercream I had to choose between a naturally coloured raspberry buttercream with ugly pieces of litchee or an artificially pink coloured litchee buttercream without ugly pieces of litchee. The decision was simple, appearances are everything ;) and I went with the litchee buttercream. The raspberries got to be their pretty selves on top of the cake. To cover up the (somewhat messy) buttercream layer I threw some chopped pistachio's on the sides of the cakes, and also because I love the colour combination with the pink raspberries.
And how did it taste? It tasted very good, a bit on the sweet side but very good. Hermé sure nows how to combine flavours, they were very good together. The only two things I'd do differently is to add a layer of raspberries to the filling of the middle layer to compensate for the sweetness a bit (also because it will look prettier). And I'd only brush the cut sides of the cakes with the rose syrup, now I brushed every layer on one side (so this included a top of a cake as well).
The only thing I wasn't too excited about was the white cake, I thought it tasted quite heavy and was a bit dense. Maybe it tasted heavier because I didn't add the zest, and the denseness could have been due to my baking. Next time I would use a genoise.
In case your wondering why my layers are so uneven yet straight....it's the fault of my cake cutter, not mine :D It just cut higher than it was supposed to. But at least it was straight ;)



Things I changed in the recipe:

1. I omitted the lemon zest and lemon extract from the cake and used vanilla instead;
2. I omitted the preserves and brushed the layers with store bought rose syrup (the very pink kind);
3. I omitted the lemon juice and vanilla from the buttercream and added litchee puree (I used 3 tbs for half the buttercream recipe);
4. I used used meringue powder instead of egg whites to make the buttercream because my son and A's grandmother were to eat the cake too and the egg white is not heated high enough to get rid of for example salmonella. I think the meringue powder was the reason that the buttercream wasn't completely smooth, it had a slight powdered sugar feel to it;
5. I omitted the coconut and decorated with raspberries and chopped pistachio's instead.

Oh, and maybe you already noticed but I made a mini cake. I used 6 inch cake pans and just halved the recipe. It was enough for 8 people, no seconds.
The family and even A loved the cake btw. My son didn't too much but that was maybe due to the fact that he just ate 6 chocolate Easter eggs for breakfast ;)

Check out how Morven herself did. You'll also find the recipe there.
And to see how all of the 'millions' of Daring Bakers did, check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll.

I'm proud to present to you the round-up of the entries for this edition of Go Ahead Honey, it's Gluten Free! An event created by the lovely Naomi of Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried. This month's theme was birthday baking for kids...gluten-free birthday baking that is. I received a lot of chocolate recipes (made a chocolate recipe myself :) But that's to be expected when kids are concerned, pretty much all of them love chocolate...well mine do at least :) Even though I never thought about savoury baking myself somehow, I did get a delicious savoury entry as well. Kids can't live on sweet stuff alone ;) All the contributors did such a wonderful job with their entries. Without further ado here are the entries (in order of admission):


Sheltie Girl from Gluten A Go Go made this beautiful marble cake with chocolate frosting & marzipan filling for her daughter's 9th birthday. It's such a pretty cake with the beautiful marzipan flowers, too bad her daughter didn't like the marzipan.


Laura from shut up & eat has sent me these delicious and pretty looking dark chocolate-chocolate cupcakes. They would do especially well on a girl's birthday party with the pink sugar.


Jill from hey, that tastes good! made this comforting steamed chocolate pudding cake, who can resist chocolate pudding?


Caroline aka Cookbad from cooking up a storm made this delicious looking chocolate espresso torte, something that would be excellent for a birthday party, maybe for a kids birthday party it would be better to skip the espresso part though.


Aran from Cannelle Et Vanille doesn't just bring us a gluten-free treat. Her chocolate molten cake is also diary and soy free! And since it has been tested by her 4 year old neighbor it can't be anything than delicious!


Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl sent me the first non-chocolate treat: vanilla sandies, a melt in your mouth yet sandy cookie, delicious!


Stef of Cupcake Project made these yummy quinoa cupcakes with a frosting of penuche and filled with apple. Need to get me some quinoa flour...


A special welcome to our first (and last) savoury entry: polenta pizza tart with zucchini. Made by Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe Blog for her gluten-free 3 year old niece.


Naomi (aka the mother of this event) from Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried sent this delicious girly pink rosewater ice cream lolly.


Liz of Food Snobbery is my Hobbery made this yummy and pretty rice crispycake with a filling of rice crisps and frosted with ricemellow frosting. Not only gluten-free but vegan too btw.


Emilia of A Gluten-free day has sent this beautiful and colourful spring cake covered with marzipan and with a filling of kiwi's and banana's. Another treat that's both gluten-free and vegan.


And last but not least is my own entry: chocolate octopus cookies.

Thanks everyone for your entries!

A quick reminder that the deadline for Go Ahead Honey, it's Gluten Free! is coming Monday 24rd of March. So there is still some time to enter your gluten-free baked children's birthday treat!
Even though the truffles above are gluten-free they are not baked and not eligible for the event. However...they are eligible for this month's SHF hosted by Danielle of Habeas Brûlée. I made these orange truffles a while back as birthday presents for two girlfriends of mine. I was too quick trying to roll the ganache into truffles but I was pressed for time so it had to be done anyway. I used a round spoon to scoop out balls and dipped them into melted chocolate. The fact that the melted chocolate was warm (I know, this is logical) made the ganache balls turn into 'shape shifters'. So halfway dipping I stopped and just threw the truffles into the cocoa powder without dipping. At the time I already knew that it was a short-term solution. Not dipping and rolling in cocoa powder makes for cocoa powder saturated with fat and that makes for less appetizing looking truffles. So I made one plate with dipped 'free form' truffles. Their appearance wasn't great but at least they were covered in chocolate which gave them a bit of a bite and the cocoa powder stayed fresh. The non-dipped truffles went onto a second plate. At first the non-dipped truffles looked better but of course by the time I gave the truffles away the cocoa powder started getting saturated with fat and became dark. The ones in the picture are fresh undipped ones btw. The 'shape shifters' were less photogenic ;)
Although the truffle making didn't go all that well, they did taste good! I mean, what can go wrong with a combination of bittersweet chocolate, whipping cream, butter, orange and honey?

Also wanted to let you know that I have two exams in the near future so I won't be baking and posting a lot from now till 4th April.



Orange ganache

250 g (8 oz) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
30 g butter
1 tbs honey
250 ml (1 cup) whipping cream
zest of 1 orange

Place the chocolate, butter and honey in a heat-proof bowl.
Heat the cream with the orange until just simmering. Let it steep for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine meshed sieve into a measuring cup. Press onto the orange with the back of a spoon to get more flavour out of it.
Fill up the measuring cup until you have 250 (1 cup) again. Reheat the cream. Pour the cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for a few minutes. Stir until smooth. Allow to come to room temperature for a several hours until firm enough to roll. Chill for some time if necessary.

Making truffles

cocoa powder, sifted
orange ganache
400 g (14 oz) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Put a piece of baking paper on your working surface to put the truffles on.
Put the cocoa powder in a bowl.
Scoop out balls with a melon baller. Roll between your hands to make a smoother ball. Place on the baking paper.
Melt the chocolate au bain marie (or in the microwave). Allow it to cool down (if necessary) to 40°C (104°F). Place a ganache ball on a fork, submerge the ball in the chocolate. Use a spoon to cover the top with chocolate. Tap the fork a few times on the bowl and slide the bottom of the fork over the lip of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. Tip the truffle in the cocoa powder and use your hand to move it around covering it completely with cocoa powder. Place the truffle onto the baking paper. Repeat with all the truffles.

The birdnest is made out of ganache that I squeezed through a garlic press. It's not the easiest of jobs to do, but someone has to do it ;) I could have opted for either tempering chocolate and using that to make a nest or by making modeling chocolate (adding a little corn syrup to melted chocolate). The first option would have made for a less 'real' looking nest, not to mention the hassle of tempering the chocolate. The second option would have looked like a 'real' nest but wouldn't have such a great taste (at least my experience with white modeling chocolate was that it just wasn't nice to eat). So ganache it was. It is a bit nerve wracking to use a garlic press to 'pipe' the ganache because only a little fits in there. Because of that the ganache 'threads' are not very long, making the nest look less stylised but also less neat. All in all I was happy enough with the end result. Now that I'm thinking about it, I should have used a spaghetti maker! But unfortunately I don't own one so the garlic press was my only real option...or if I wanted to make an ostrichs nest I could have used a potato ricer ;)
I've had my eye on Sherry Yard's caramel ganache for a while and in my imagination I had tasted it many times already. So when I finally did taste it in real life it disappointed a little bit. It was a little bit bitter. Maybe I let it become too hot. The thermometer was still going up when I took the saucepan off the heat at 348°F (175°). So maybe it was already over and my thermometer was a bit slow. But judging by the colour it wasn't far over because it wasn't even dark amber yet. It was by the time the bubbles subsides. Colour wise it looked like a perfect caramel. I'm recovering from a minor flue so maybe that changed the way the ganache tasted too (also I'm very sensitive to bitter). Let's just say that it wasn't as delicious as I had imagined it would be. It did have an intense caramel taste and wasn't overly sweet.
I'm entering my birdnest to Art you can eat #2, co-hosted by Holly of Phe/MOM/enon and Inge of African Vanielje. The theme this month being eggs or egg shapes.



Ganache birdnest

200 g (7 oz) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
100 ml (3 ⅓ fl oz) whipping cream

Brush a small half round bowl (where three eggs will fit into) with oil. Stick some plastic wrap on it. Place it upside down onto a glass that more or less snuggly fits (this will be easier to work with later on). Put it in the frigde for at least an hour.
Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl.
Bring the cream to a boil. Pour over the chocolate. Tap the bowl on the counter a few times and allow to stand for a few minutes. Stir with a spatula until the chocolate is melted. Allow to cool down to room temperature. Fill a garlic press with ganache and squeeze the ganache onto the chilled bowl, trying to work in a circular motion, working from the top. (The garlic press will need to be refilled and refilled.) If the ganache doesn't stick to the ganache already on the bowl, help it by pressing it slightly with your fingers.

Caramel ganache filled eggs (from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard)

enough for filling 3 eggs and rolling enough truffles for tea

4 oz (115 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz (115 g) milk chocolate, chopped
½ cup (120 ml) sugar
2 tbs water
1 tbs light corn syrup
1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
3 empty and clean egg shells
sprinkles (I used a combo of small pearl and golden sprinkles)

Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl.
Combine the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium saucepan and stir them together.
Heat the mixture without stirring on medium heat during 4 minutes with the lid on the pan. Slowly Take the lid off and continue cooking until the mixture reaches 350°F (177°C). The mixture will be deep amber. Remove from heat and let the bubbles subside for about 30 seconds. Meanwhile bring the cream to a boil. Pour the cream over the caramel (watch out, it will bubble!) and stir until the caramel is dissolved. Pour the mixture onto the chocolate. Tap the bowl on the counter a few times and allow to stand for a few minutes. Stir with a spatula until the chocolate is melted.
Allow to cool down before piping the ganache. It should be cool enough to pipe at about 70°F. Pipe the ganache into the egg shells and sprinkle with some sprinkles.
The remaining ganache can be rolled into truffles or cookie filling. If not used immediately, store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Here is my own entry to Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free! You still have one week to enter with your gluten free birthday treat for kids. So be creative and step out of your comfort zone and bake something gluten free....it isn't difficult at all. If you need some inspiration, check out this post.
Instead of baking something that is naturally gluten free like macaroons or meringue I thought I'd step out of my comfort zone and try one of the gluten free flour mix that are out there. I bought an organic gluten-free flour mix that consisted of wholemeal rice flour, corn flour, millet flour, buckwheat flour and carob gum. The recipe I used was one that used wheat flour, I just used the gluten free flour mix instead. Didn't make the recipe before so I don't know if the workability was affected by the flour or not. The chilled dough was ok to work with but warmed up very quickly when I made the required log form. But despite this I was able to shape the octopusses without too much trouble.
I was very curious how the cookies would bake because I still remembered the way my experiment with rice flour went a couple of years ago, but I should add that those cookies didn't contain any sugar either.
I was sure the taste would be alright with the ingredients used. But my expectations for texture were not too high because I just didn't know what to expect from a gluten free flour mix. But I must say that they had a good texture, the arms were crunchy and the body was softer. Not bad at all! The only downside was they were a little bit gritty. Something that could probably be avoided by using a different flour mix.
If it wasn't for this month's theme I would have made something that was naturally gluten-free. As a gluten eater this seems like the easier option. But I wanted to make something that was fun for kids and thought this cookie would be perfect. A great birthday treat for school.
I used nonpareils for eyes but I'm not sure if they are gluten free, if not you can always opt to bake the cookies without them and use some melted white chocolate to make eyes after the cookies have cooled down.




Chocolate octopus cookies (recipe adapted from this one)

makes 10 big cookies

125 g (4 ½ oz) butter, diced and at room temperature
125 g (4 ½ oz) soft brown sugar
1 medium egg
3 tbs cocoa powder
175 g (6 ¼ oz) gluten-free flour mix
(20 nonpareils (sugar balls / sprinkles))

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the flour a spoonful at a time and mix until combined. Divide the dough in 10 balls and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to chill for 30 minutes. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F)
Take one ball at a time from the fridge. Shape it into a log of about 10 cm (4 in) long. Flatten the log with a spatula until about 1 cm (⅓ in) thick. Make 4 or 5 slits into the bottom half of the log to make the arms. Shape the arms. Press two sugar balls to create eyes. Transfer the octopus to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
Bake the cookies for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.