Author: ashwiniamle

Black forest cake

Uncategorized

Black forest cake has always been my favorite. Bitterness of chocolate cuts though the sweet cream and cherries in the center give perfect tangy twist. Now a days I am getting obsessed with baking. My in-laws are here, so I wanted to make something interesting for them. So I made black forest cake for their wedding anniversary. This is the first time I am making complete cake including icing.footer

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 65-80 mins

Recipe type: dessert

Ingredients

For Sponge:

  • 1 ½ cup + 2-3 tablespoon (for dusting) All-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon soda bi carb
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 tablespoon fine sugar
  • ¼ cup unsweetened coco powder
  • 1 can sweetened condensed  milk (around 400 gm)
  • 1 cup melted unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
  • 1 cup water

For Icing and garnishing:

  • 2 cup whipping cream
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 baking chocolate bar
  • 1 Milk chocolate bar
  • Cherries with stem
  • 1 can Pitted Cherries in heavy syrup

Method

  1. In a bowl sift all-purpose flour, coco powder, baking soda and baking powder .Mix all ingredients and set aside.
  2. Now add sugar and wet ingredients (condensed milk, butter). Gently mix all ingredients while gradually adding water. At last add vanilla essence. Mix well using whisk for a minutes so that no lumps are present.poring 1.JPG
  3. Pour half portion of batter into 7.5” cake tin which is greased with melted butter. Bake for 35 min in a preheated oven at 300F. Check if sponge is cooked properly by inserting skewer, it should come out clean. Bake for few more minutes if sponge is uncooked. Let it Rest for few minutes. We want to make sure that the sponge is cool before we start icing.sponge.JPG
  4. Follow same steps for baking second batch of sponge. You can bake both the batches of sponge together in case you have 2 cake tins.
  5. Take unbeaten heavy cream and icing sugar in a deep bowl and beat with an electric/manual beater for 8 to 10 minutes or till the cream is thick. To make sure that cream is whipped perfectly, spoon out the whipped cream and it should not drop off easily.whipped cream.JPG
  6. Place 1 sponge/cake on a serving plate and moisten it with the cherry syrup. With the help of a palette knife spread some whipped cream over the cake. Spread some pitted cherries. Gently place second piece of cake on top of this.
  7. Spread the whipped cream on top of the cake and cover it over the sides as well. Fill rest of the whipped cream in piping bag with icing nozzle. Create flower like structures on the edges of the cake.icing
  8. With the help of a vegetable slicer, slice a bar of chocolate to get chocolate curls. Place some chocolate curls in the center of the cake. Place some mini chocolate curls on the sides of the cake as well. Don’t worry if you are not able to get big enough curls.chocolate curls
  9. Place some cherries on top of the cake to make it even prettier. Refrigerate cake for an hour before slicing.header image

Enjoy!

-Ashwini

 

 

Valentine Cupcakes

dessert, Uncategorized

 

Every year my husband surprises me with something special on Valentines day, so this time I decided to give a sweet treat to him and my little one. Fortunately I got chance to give them a surprise, both of them went out for grocery shopping. So took advantage of this opportunity and baked these red velvet cupcakes for my Valentines.

Both of them Enjoyed these soft and delicious cupcakes so thought of sharing this quick recipe. This time I did not get time to take photos of all the steps as I had limited time. Next time I will be more elaborate.

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Prep time 15 mins

Cook time 40 mins

Total time 55 mins

Recipe type: dessert

Serves: 12-14 large cupcakes/muffins

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cup (320gm) All-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon soda bi carb
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 ½ Cup fine sugar
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened coco powder
  • 1 ½ cup milk
  • 12 tablespoon (3/4) unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 4 ½ teaspoon liquid Red Food color
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla essence
  • ½ cup Water
  • Icing sugar for dusting

Method

  1. In a large bowl sift all-purpose flour, coco powder, soda bi carb and baking powder. Add pinch of salt, mix all ingredients and set aside.
  2. Make sure butter and Milk is at room temperature. In another mixing bowl add butter and sugar. Slowly pour Milk while beating the mixture using whisk. Don’t overbeat this mixture as it can get curdled.
  3. Now Mix all-purpose flour mixture to this liquid. Slowly add water while beating it till mixture is smooth.
  4. Add vanilla essence and food color and mix.
  5. At last add vinegar and mix again.
  6. Preheat oven at 350 F
  7. Pour the mixture in cupcakes mold and bake it for 35-40 minutes.
  8. Cooking time may vary by few minutes, so after 30 minutes check if cupcakes are cooked by inserting the knife, if knife comes out clean that means cupcakes are ready.
  9. Transfer cupcakes into serving plate and sprinkle icing sugar with the help of sifter.

Note: Because of limited time I did not do proper icing, you can use readily available buttercream  frosting for icing these red beauties.

Enjoy !

-Ashwini

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