Monday 24 September 2012

The 8 Texture Chocolate Cake



Sweet 16 months –that’s how old my darling angel has turned today. It has been 16 of the most beautiful and sweetest months of our lives. Vaanya is becoming adorable day by day and is such a blessing to us as parents.
It is also time of the month to whip up something sweet in my kitchen to celebrate our ‘Sweet day’.




If you are a masterchef fan and have been watching it regularly, you’ll remember the pressure test where the 8 texture Chocolate cake was made. You must have experienced  the magical heartbeat-skipping moment when the hot chocolate sauce makes an indent in the centre of that beautifully rich chocolate cake. Its almost like the entire mountain of chocolate melting away. It was such an amazing moment just watching the contestants pouring the hot chocolate sauce and praying for the cake to sink in.

You may call me a Big Maniac, but from that moment on I have been wanting to recreate the same magic in our little kitchen. And my partner-in-crime has been my partner-in-life, my husband Vishal without whose encouragement and support I would have never thought of lest attempt this beautiful cake. No wonder he was the one who had the maximum portion of the cake!!


Well, the stage was set having decided on the occasion. Vishal got me a three page printout of the recipe from the Masterchef website. And the final push came from these three incredible bloggers Zoe@Bake for Happy KidsAnuja@Simple Baking and BabySumo@Eat Your Heart Out who are hosting my most favorite event-Cook like a Star-Masterchef series

It was time to finally take out the recipe and read over and over (and over) again. There are so many elements that you go crazy and tired just looking at them. First, I quartered the entire recipe and decided to divide the elements in day1 and 2. (Whew!! What a task it was). Each element on its own is not very difficult if you are a regular baker but you need lots of free time because you need to devote all your attention into each element (which I obviously did not have as I have recently shifted to a new place, into an unfamiliar kitchen where half of my stuff still needs unpacking. And to top it all my daughter requires regular attention as she is in her exploratory stage where each and every thing starts from her hands and ends up in her mouth !!)


I must consider myself no less than a Braveheart for 
just attempting this recipe (just to feel good) as ,to confess, almost everything went wrong. My cake was dense, mousse not set, dacquoise not crisp, top chocolate disk unevenly set and to top it all my hot chocolate sauce got burnt while I was busy trying to take some decent pictures of the cake!! But may I also confess that nothing reduced that amazing moment when my cake sank in. Me and Vishal were jumping like kids screaming ‘It works. It really does!!’ And the best part is that nothing takes away its dizzying chocolatey taste. Me, a self confessed Chocolate freak could not take more than 2-3 bites (maybe because I had already polished off quite a lot while making!!)


It is a ‘Beyond Death-by-Chocolate cake’, extremely rich but also extremely satisfying (if you are crazy like me to even think of making it)
Do not try this at home before reading the recipe a hundred times over and gathering all the equipments required. 



You can find the recipe here
I am not posting the recipe as it is very extensive. I have quartered the entire recipe and increased the size of the cake from 8 cm to 10 cm (as that is the size of the ring I had!!)



After tasting Vishal was quick to ask when will I try it again. I showed him the most horrid face as if are you asking for real! 
But on second thoughts I would love to recreate the magic once more with my own modifications. I think I can make a better cake base, a better mousse and reduce the number of layers. 
All I can say is, it was definitely worth all that effort to see happy smiley chocolate-smothered faces at home.
Happy Birthday my darling angel.




Here is a video of that Nail-biting and fingers crossed moment. How we waited with bated breath. 
Hope you enjoy our magical moment too.


Happy crazy-experimenting
Amrita

16 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness!! You have done a wonderful job on this. I looked at this recipe but did not have the courage to even attempt it. Great job, you should be so proud of yourself.

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    1. Hey Mich, thanks for your lovely comments. And yes I do feel proud reading your generous comments.

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  2. OMG Amrita you are a super hero!! Bravo girl you really rock!! A big cyber hug to you dear for that nail biting finger-crossed moment!! Even I was biting my nails by the end of video and appealing to the "baking gods", urging the top disc to melt and after actually seeing the indent in the middle at the end, I cried out so loudly that my MIL (who was sitting next to me reading her morning paper) spilled her tea. Amrita take a bow !!
    Even I have this recipe from Peter Gilmore but somehow (thanx to the "bad viruses)never got around to making it. After seeing your post m now itching to give it a try, but my schedule is so jam packed that I wont be able to make this for our blog hop. But m so glad that you made it. I really wanted a nice Peter Gilmore or Zumbo's creation included in our blog hop. Thanx a lot dear for attempting this "asuri" task. You really are a great baker and m so glad to have found you :D.
    Happy "sweet 16" bday to your darling daughter! Mwaaaah.
    Oh and do tell Vishal he is one lucky guy :D
    Have a nice day!
    Anuja

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    1. OMG Anuja, thanks for your lovely generous comments and the big hug!! I am so glad my feeble attempt has been appreciated so much. And you know what, I was just telling Vishal that I feel some connection with Anuja from the moment we found each other. Am so so glad myself to have found you. I feel we are some lost 'baker' sisters!!:):)
      Hope you get well really soon and whip up yet another amazing dish.

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  3. Hi Amrita,

    You are so BRAVE baking this cake!!! This cake is so highly technical that I wouldn't dare to bake this at all.

    So happy for you that your cake "sank" at the last stage!

    Zoe

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    Replies
    1. Hi Zoe, thanks for your sweet comments. This cake is truly very technical and needs a 'Do not try this at home' tag!! But the crazy baker in me wanted to do it so badly. Glad it has been appreciated with all the flaws.

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  4. You did a wonderful job, kudos to your effort, happy 16th month wishes your princess. Love the video.

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    1. Thanks Swathi for your lovely wishes and comments.

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  5. Hi Amrita, I have to say well done to you. I saw this recipe on MasterChef website and thought, wow what a difficult cake to make. You should be proud of yourself for attempting it!

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    1. Thanks Yen, all my hard work has paid of reading all these amazing comments.

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  6. Wow! Thats a complex recipe! Try it without changing the measurements. Sometimes I find that the ratio proportions dont hold true when you halve or quarter a cake recipe.

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    1. Hi hetal, very true..but the recipe is very extensive and technical..not possible to recreate in a home kitchen . This was just an attempt.

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  7. Absolutely jaw dropping :)

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    1. Thanks Pallavi...still waiting to gather all my strength to try this again!!

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  8. Hi Amrita,
    This masterchef episode came out, in Portugal, just a few weeks ago. And now it seams as the recipe on MasterChef's website has disappeared! :(
    Can you please (please please) send me the recipe? (carolina.macedo.reis@gmail.com)
    Thanks a lot.
    Your version looks delish!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Carolina, it is such a shame that the recipe is not to be found anymore. I wish I had copied the recipe here on the blog.

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