Chocolat Surprise

A rich Secret Recipe-alike Ganache covering a cake with luxurious chocolate cream and chocolate sponge cake. Within it hides fresh seasonal mango cubes. What's there not to like? This was baked for Adrian as a secret surprise birthday gift which I delivered to his office in church. 

This recipe takes about 3 hours in all to put together and I'd rate it a 3 out of 5 in terms of difficulty. 

Mango Temptation

I was working on the Chantilly Chocolat when I decided to experiment with something new. Inspired from many of the cookbooks I have, I decided to do a mousse-type cake combined with a soft fluffy sponge and a tangy mango topping. So with some experimentation, I present to you my Mango Temptation! 

This cake is so much fun to bake and of course, being the mango addict I am, how am I to pass up on a lovely cake like this? 

This takes about 2 hours to bake and assemble, excluding time for the mango topping to set towards the end. I'd rate it a difficulty level 3 out of 5. 

Black Forest Cake

This recipe is wayyyyyy over-due! That's what happens when I bake and cook a lot.. I tend to accumulate many recipes and not all of them make it here on this blog! XD Nevertheless, I'm proud to share this recipe I adapted from Richard Goh. 

I made 3 versions of this cake..

1) a huge Domo-Kun for Joey, my bf's bro's, for his 22nd birthday

2) A 8" one for the cell group and

3) 5 mini ones for the family as well as Richard!

This is one classic recipe and is favourited by many! I love how good the cherries taste in this cake in contrast with the chocolate sponge cake! As always, practice makes perfect.. this cake wasn't as pretty as my usual cakes cos' I placed so much focus on the Domo-Kun version instead. Nevertheless, the cake was still good.. still good.. I took about 2 hours to put this cake together. Once again, practice makes perfect.. If you're a beginner, it'll probably take you 3-4 hours, just like how my first attempt was (:

These were the mini ones that I baked too!

Black Forest Cake Recipe

This recipe yields a 9" round cake

Ingredients:

4 eggs (60g medium sized eggs)

100g fine sugar

90g plain flour

10g cocoa powder

85g melted butter

250g whipping cream

130g chocolate cream or 130g melted coverture chocolate, cooled

200g dark sweet pitted cherries

2 tsp rum

Some cocoa powder for dusting

Chocolate Layered Cake with Toasted Almonds

And so, I've always had a penchant for chocolate cakes and so I wanted to try something new.. I did this Chocolate Layered Cake with Toasted Almonds last Tuesday.. Boy is this one recipe I'd always keep and tweak! I simply love the rich chocolate taste in this cake! This is also the cake used in Chocolate Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache (: This took me about 3 hours to bake but of course, if you have more time allowance, allow the cake to chill for a longer time in between so that it sets better! (: 

Chocolate Layered Cake with Toasted Almonds Recipe

This recipe yields one 9-inch cake

Ingredients: 

CHOCOLATE CHIFFON CAKE (A)

30g cocoa powder mixed with 120ml water

4 egg yolks

130g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

60ml corn oil

1 tsp vanilla paste/essence

CHOCOLATE CHIFFON CAKE (B)

4 egg whites

60g castor sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

CHOCOLATE GANACHE FILLING

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

225g dark coverture chocolate

85g unsalted butter

3 eggs, separated

250ml whipping cream

3tbsp castor sugar

4 bananas, sliced

CHOCOLATE GANACHE FROSTING

140ml whipping cream

350g dark coverture chocolate

1 tbsp butter

DECORATION

50ml whipping cream

30g toasted almonds (diced)

Some leftover chocolate ganache filling

Some leftover chocolate ganache frosting