Sachertorte

I have been missing on daring the challenges at the Daring Bakers but have never failed to check on them every month. For the month of October we were challenged to put our hands on an Austrian Sachertorte by Korena. The moment I saw the challenge I knew I had to kick my off late lazy self and make this beauty. After all who can ever say a no to a chocolate cake.

Sachertorte is one elegant cake which is filled with apricot jam and is covered with a fudge like chocolate glaze and has the word 'Sacher' written across it. Ideally served with a generous dollop of schlag (unsweetened whipped cream), this cake is on every baker's must-try list. 

The Sachertorte was first created in Austria when Prince Metternich requested for a fancy dessert for his guests. With the pastry chef being ill that night, the task fell on an apprentice called Franz Sacher who created the historical cake. Franz's son later opened the Sacher hotel in Vienna where the closely guarded secret recipe of the cake is served to this day. 

With its amazing history and world wide repertoire, there was no way I could miss attempting this cake in my humble kitchen and there was no other occasion befitting for it than my Sweet day today. Vaanya turns 3 1/2 years today. This month had also blessed us with a baby boy in my brothers house. There is someone smaller than Vaanya now :) It is such a joy to relive those moments and cherish the time when she was this small and would fit in our arms. A time when every piece of clothing was still big for her. A time when she had no hair on her head and I would wait for them to grow. A time when I would wait for her to speak to me and demand little things from me. 

Time flies and today I have a new set of wishes for her. Parenting is such a never ending thing and such a joy. 

Recipe source : Korena from Korena in the kitchen

Ingredients : 

Cake : 

• 60 gms butter, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 90 gms dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Apricot glaze : 

• 15 dried apricots, soaked in water overnight
• 3 tbsp sugar

Chocolate glaze : 

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 50 gms chopped dark chocolate

Writing chocolate : 

• 2 tbsp chopped chocolate
• 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

Procedure : 

Cake : 

Preheat oven to 190 degree Celsius.

Grease and line a 7" square baking tray.

Melt chocolate on a double boiler or in the microwave and set aside to cool.

Take butter in a large bowl and beat till creamy and light.

Add powdered sugar and beat.

Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.

Add in the cooled chocolate and vanilla extract.

In another clean bowl, beat the egg whites with a tbsp of granulated sugar. Gradually add in the rest of the sugar and continue beating till they form shiny peaks. 

Now stir in 1/3 of the egg whites mixture into the chocolate mixture. Gradually mix in the remaining. 

Sift flour and add in the mixture in two additions with gentle hands.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool completely and cut in two even layers.

Apricot glaze : 

Deseed the apricots that have plumped with overnight soaking and reserve the flesh.

Put the apricots in a pan and cook over medium heat with sugar till it thickens. 

Keep mashing the mixture with a spoon and add a little water in between. 

In about 20-25 minutes you will have a thick jam consistency.

Remove from heat and cool.

Strain the mixture through a sieve to achieve a smooth consistency.

Spread this glaze in between the cake layer and spread on top and sides too.

Chocolate glaze : 

Place sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook for 5 minutes or till you get a one string consistency i.e. when you take a drop of the sugar in between your thumb and index finger and pull apart, it should make a single thread.

Remove from heat and whisk in the chopped chocolate.

Pour immediately over the cake which should be placed on a wire mesh to collect all the excess chocolate glaze.

Allow to set.

Writing chocolate : 

Melt chocolate and mix in the vegetable oil.

Put in a piping bag and snip of the end.

Write the word Sacher on the cake or decorate as you like.

Slice and serve.

Notes : 

• If you have apricot jam or preserve, boil 1 cup of it with 2 tbsp of rum or water over medium heat and cook till mixture thickens for about 2-3 minutes.
• You may use a round shaped pan which is how ideally this cake is served.
• You can substitute this recipe of chocolate glaze with a simple chocolate ganache recipe if you do not like very sweet frostings. 

Tres leches Cake-the Indian way

 

Daring Baker's challenge for this month was hosted by Inma from la Galletika who challenged us with a very popular Central and South American cake called Tres Leches (pronounced tres ley-chays) A Tres leches cake is a basic sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk- evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream/milk. It is a very light cake with air bubbles which comes from the beating of egg whites. This cake has no butter/oil and rises without the use of baking powder. This distinct texture is why it does not have a soggy consistency, despite being soaked in a mixture of three types of milk. Traditionally it is garnished with whipped cream and fresh fruits.

A Tres leces was on my list for a long time and I was really happy to see it as this month's challenge. The three milk concept sounded very Indian to me like the Rabri we use. I decided to make it myself and chose a fairly simple way to do so. I decided to opt the Indian way of garnishing it and did so with the use of edible silver sheets, chopped pista and rose petals, just as how we see it done on Indian sweets. The sponge cake was such a winner. The soaking part left me in doubts about the cake getting soggy but its surprising the way this cake holds it shape. 

The cake was declared a winner in terms of texture, taste and presentation by my family. A keeper recipe for sure and a must try for the coming festive season.

Ingredients : Serves 5-6. I halved the recipe and modified it

Sponge cake

• 2 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup sugar, powdered
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Three milk syrup (Tres leches)

• 5 cups milk, divided 2+2+1
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 small stick cinnamon
• 1 tsp rum (optional)

For Garnish :

• Edible Silver sheets/Silver Warq
• Red rose petals
• Chopped Pistachio

Procedure:

Three milk syrup(Tres leches)-homemade

Take milk in a thick bottomed pan and boil it. 

Remove 1 cup and keep aside. This is the boiled milk.

Let the remaining milk simmer on low heat for 20-25 mins till the quantity is reduced to half and water has evaporated from the milk. This is the evaporated milk.

Remove half the quantity of this evaporated milk and keep aside.

Add 2 tbsp sugar into the remaining milk and let it simmer for 10-15 mins till you see the colour changing to light brown. This is the condensed milk. 

Now add the evaporated milk and boiled milk to the pan with cinnamon and let it simmer for 4-5 mins. 
Allow to cool. Scoop out the cinnamon stick and add rum(optional)

Sponge cake

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Grease and line a 6x6" square pan. 

Take egg whites in a clean bowl and whip with an electrical beater for 3-5 mins till you get soft peaks. Now add sugar in batches and keep whipping till stiff peaks form(5 mins). 

Take egg yolks in another clean bowl and whip for 5 mins till they are pale coloured. I used the same electrical beater. Stir in vanilla essence. 

Pour egg yolks over the egg whites and very gently fold them in till just combined. Do not beat vigorously as that will remove all the air bubbles from the eggs.

Fold in flour little by little in the form of rain and gently incorporate in the batter till just combined. 

Pour batter in the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle come out clean.

Allow the cake to cool.

Poke all over the cake with a fork to make holes.

Pour the prepared three milk syrup all over the cake. I put my cake back in the same pan and poured the syrup for the cake to absorb. Take care to pour on the sides too. 

Refrigerate overnight (preferably) or for 2 hours. Do not worry the cake will not get soggy.

Slice and serve.
Traditionally garnished with a layer of whipped cream and fresh fruits, I did mine the Indian way and put a layer of edible silver sheet and sprinkled chopped pistachio and rose petals. 

My Darling daughter at help

Happy Tres leches cake eating

Amrita

Masala biscuits

This month our Daring Baker's hostess Aparna challenged us with not one but two amazing challenges. There was this terrific Mawa cake(that I made into cupcakes) and two very traditional in flavour biscuits/cookies-Bolinhas de coco(Coconut flavoured semolina biscuit) and Masala biscuits. My personal hatred to coconut cookies made me jump straight to the Masala ones.
These biscuits(as I would rather call them over cookies) burst with very Indian flavours. These are just throw ingredients in the bowl kind of recipe. I rolled them extra thin to achieve such crisp and yummy biscuits and regretted trying just 1/4 of the recipe. The curry and coriander leaves along with roasted and crushed cumin seeds and black peppercorns with a dash of chopped green chillies lend such an amazing Indian taste to these biscuits. 
All it needs is a hot cup of strong milky tea and you will not be able to stop at just one. I personally had the most difficult time trying to save some to take pictures.

 Ingredients : I reduced the recipe to 1/4 and added whole wheat flour(atta)

• 4 tbsp all purpose flour
• 3 tbsp whole wheat flour(atta)
• 2 tsp rice flour(chawal ka atta)
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar, powdered
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
• 1 tbsp yogurt, cold(I used homemade dahi)
• 1 green chilly, deseeded and chopped
• 1/4" piece of ginger, grated
• 1/4 tsp whole black peppercorn
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 sprigs curry leaves, chopped
• 1 sprig coriander leaves, chopped
• white sesame and nigella seeds for sprinkling on top

 Procedure : 
Add all purpose, whole wheat and rice flour in a bowl and mix with salt, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. 
Add cold butter and rub the flour in the butter till it resembles breadcrumb like texture.
Dry roast whole black peppercorn and cumin seeds and coarsely crush them.
Add chopped green chilly, grated ginger, roasted and  crushed peppercorn and cumin seeds, curry and coriander leaves. Mix well.
Add cold yogurt and mix well to make a dough.
Cover in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius and line a baking tray with parchment/butter paper.
Using little flour, roll out the dough to 1/8" thickness. (I rolled as thin as I could)
Sprinkle white sesame seeds and nigella seeds and press them lightly with a rolling pin.
Cut with cutters of your choice (I used a round cutter and a rectangular tart tin) and place on the baking tray.
Bake for 20-25 mins or till the biscuits brown up well.
Allow them to cool to get crispy.

This recipe is also a part of the amazing KFB blogging marathon that I am part of, along with my fellow members. Do drop in to check what they are doing here : 
A Homemaker's Diary
Silence Sings
My Food My Life
Recipe Junction

Happy Biscuit Eating
Amrita

Mawa/Khoya Cupcakes

Daring Baker's challenge for this month was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and she challenged us with some amazing Indian Bakes-Mawa cake, Bolinhas de coco(Coconut Biscuits) and Masala biscuits. Traditional Indian cuisine does not boast of baking at all but you may find some adapted recipes which were introduced by traders, invaders and colonial rulers. 
Mawa cakes are typically associated with Irani cafés found mostly in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad.These cafés, owned by Zoroastrians who emigrated to Mumbai from Iran in the 19th century to escape persecution of non-muslims, are famous for their good, honest, reasonably priced food and beverages. Some of the very popular food sold in these cafe's are ‘bun maska’ (bread and butter) and ‘paani kam chai’ (a strong Iranian tea), or khari chai (very strong tea), mutton samosas, and Keema Pavs, akuri (a scrambled spicy egg preparation), berry Pulao,  Veg/Chicken Dhansak (a spicy broth with lentils, pulses) and Biryani, cheese khari biscuits, shrewsbury biscuits...just to name a few.
Mawa, also called khoya, is made by reducing milk (usually full-fat) on low heat until all that remain is a mass of slightly caramelized granular dough-like milk solids. This is then used to make a rich and dense cake which along with cardamom and almonds gives it the rich and milky flavour.
I decided to make cupcakes and enhance the Indian flavours with some saffron infused milk that goes in the batter. Along with chopped pista and almonds on top, these cupcakes certainly are full of the true Indian essence.

Ingredients : I halved the recipe to yield 6 cupcakes and a 3 1/2" round small cake

• 500 ml full fat milk
• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 5 tbsp packed crumbled mawa
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar, powdered
• 1 egg
• 2 cardamom pods, powdered
• 1 cup cake flour (Add 2 tbsp cornflour in 1 cup measurement and fill the rest with all purpose flour)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup milk
• Cashewnuts to top
• Chopped pista-little
•  few saffron threads

Procedure :

Mawa :
Pour milk in a heavy bottomed pan and bring it to a boil. Turn down heat to medium and keep cooking the milk till it has reduced to a quarter of the original volume, stirring frequently. This can take between 30-45 mins. By now the colour of milk will be light brownish.
Keep stirring till the milk solids take a lumpy appearance. This is called Mawa/Khoya. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
This yielded around 1/2 cup mawa.
You may refrigerate the mawa for 2-3 days and bring it to room temperature while using it.

Mawa

Cupcakes :
Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Line cupcake moulds with liners or just grease them well. 
Warm milk and add 5-6 saffron threads and leave aside.
Beat butter, mawa (at room temperature) and sugar till soft and fluffy. I used my electric beater for it.
Add egg and the saffron infused milk(reserving the saffron threads to top on the cupcakes) and beat well.
Add cake flour, baking powder and cardamom powder and mix. 
Pour this batter in the prepared cupcake liners. (My batter was still in excess after filling 6 cupcake liners and so I prepared a 3 1/2" round cake tin and poured the leftover batter in it)
Place cashew nuts(I halved them lengthwise), saffron threads and chopped pista on the cupcakes and the small cake.
Bake for 25-30 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow to cool and serve.

Sending this recipe to the event Little Thumbs Up  which is co-hosted by my dear friend Yen from Eat your heart out  

This recipe is also a part of the amazing KFB blogging marathon that I am part of, along with my fellow members. Do drop in to check what they are doing here : 
A Homemaker's Diary
Silence Sings
My Food My Life
Recipe Junction

Happy Mawa cupcake Eating
Amrita

Choco-Caramel Mini Pies

"Eat lots of Chocolate when times get rough, and even more when times are great."

Chocolate is such a divine confection. Rich, creamy, decadent, smooth, delightful, addictive..are just a few words that come to my mind to describe this worldwide loved food and flavour.

As much as it is loved the way it is, Chocolate is very commonly paired with other food which further enhances the amazing Choco-experience that no human words can describe. Satisfying both the Sweet and Savoury palates, Chocolate is paired with fruits, seafood, coffee, caramel, cheese, nuts and balsamic vinegar etc. 

Daring Baker's challenge for this month was baking four amazing Pies-Crack Pie, Chocolate and Caramel tart, Crostata di Marmellata and Double crust Apple Pie.This Yummy challenge was given by Rachel who blogs from pizzarossa. Her description and pictures of each pie tempted me to try all of them but due to time constraint, a choice had to be made. And who else, but the innocent and humble Chocolate Pie screamt to get picked up!!

With a crisp and buttery crust and two amazing fillings, Caramel and Chocolate, this pie surely was the best I have ever baked. I piped some Indian motif with white Chocolate on top of the pie. The only problem I faced was the Caramel melting away, but I guess that was because of the heat and humidity. 

Ingredients : For 2 mini pies

Pâte sablée(Pastry) :

• 1 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp cold butter
• 1 tsp cold water + more for kneading(if required)
• 1 tsp egg yolk

Caramel sauce :

• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp hot cream

Chocolate mousse :

• 1 egg(take out 1 tsp egg yolk for the pate sable)
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 4 tbsp cream
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate, chopped

Procedure :

Pâte sablée :

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius and lightly grease two 4" mini pie pans.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk, sugar and 1 tsp of cold water until pale and fluffy. Set aside.
Sift flour and mound on a work surface.
Scatter the diced butter over the top of flour. Rub the butter in the flour, using your fingers, till it resembles breadcrumbs.
Gather the flour mixture and make a well in the center.
Pour the egg mixture in the center and mix with your fingers. 
Gently gather the dough together into a rough ball.
Using the palm of your hand, push away from you to smear the dough across the work surface, gather it up and repeat until it comes together into a smooth  and soft ball.
The dough ball shouldn't spring back when pressed.
Lightly flour work surface and lightly roll the dough to 3 mm thick in circle to fit your pan. 
Press the dough gently into the pan, prick all over the bottom and sides with a fork.
Refrigerate for 15 mins. 
Ideally line the tart pan with baking paper and fill with dry beans or pie weights. I skipped this step.
Bake for 10 -15 mins till the pastry looks dry.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Caramel filling :
Spread sugar evenly across the bottom of a saucepan over medium heat.
Once the sugar starts to melt, stir gently with a wooden spoon till it turns a deep amber colour. 
Remove from heat and very slowly and carefully pour all the hot cream in the caramel, stirring continuously.
It will splutter and steam so be very careful.
Keep stirring till it stops bubbling and is well combined. 
Set aside to cool.

Chocolate filling :

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg together with the milk and powdered sugar.
Bring cream to a boil and pour on the chopped chocolate. Stir till the chocolate has melted and the mixture becomes smooth. Allow to cool.
Pour chocolate mixture into the egg and milk mixture and stir gently.
Spread the cooled caramel in the bottom of the cooked pie shell.
At this stage, I refrigerated the pie to allow the caramel to set for 15-20 mins.
Gently pour the chocolate filling over the caramel.
Bake for 30 mins, until the filling has set but is still wobbly in the center.
Allow to cool to room temperature.

I piped the top with some melted white chocolate.

Happy Pie eating
Amrita

The Princess cake-Quadruple Chocolate delight

'Every Girl is a Princess to her Father and mother'

The Princess cake or rather The Swedish Prinsesstårta cake couldn't have been challenged at a better time by Korena, our host for this months Daring Baker's. 24th of May was our darling daughter Vaanya's second birthday and this cake was destined to be made for the grand day. Very frankly, one look onto the components and assembly of this cake scares you a lot but this cake is a lot simpler and is an amazing experience to remember for a long time. 

This cake was originally created in the 1930's by a Swedish home economics teacher named Jenny Åkerström, who taught the three Swedish princesses of the time. This was called the Princess cake as it was loved by them a lot. Originally it has layers of light sponge cake, raspberry jam, and vanilla custard/pastry cream, topped with a mound of fluffy whipped cream, covered in green marzipan, and garnished with a marzipan rose.

As this cake was meant for my daughter's(My princess's)birthday I was in no mood to experiment with the flavours. Therefore Chocolate it was for me!! And I love the way Korena called it a Quadruple Chocolate delight!!

Here is the Princess and her cake!

This certainly was not an easy cake to make in terms of the number of components, so I decided to start it all a day before. The assembly took place on the final day, which took me a lot of time because of the unbearable heat and humidity in our part of the world. Plus I was dealing with very heat vulnerable stuff like whipped cream and custard which kept melting away. The homemade marzipan was the worst to handle, it kept breaking and the more I rolled the more stickier it got and the more icing sugar it required!! Not to mention it did not turn out as smooth as the bought one. 

All these problems were washed up in one instance when the cake was brought out for cutting. The collective Wow's by my family made me feel so proud of the attempt. The cake was cut and I rushed to take a pic and while I did so, with my guests waiting very patiently, all the cream and custard melted away!!! So no pretty pics to show you all. The cake was collectively declared a Winner and the best cake I have ever made! Phew! The marzipan was too sweet and heavy for them to handle and it all got collected  on the sides of the plate but the cake was literally polished off with everyone asking for another helping.

My melting layers

Chocolate sponge: I followed my tried and tested chocolate cake recipe 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar(powdered)
• 1 3/4 cups refined flour
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup boiling water

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Grease and line a 9" round baking tin.

Take a bowl and mix sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla essence. Mix well so all the ingredients are well incorporated. Stir in boiling water (do not worry about lumps) The batter will be quite thin. 

Pour the batter in the prepared tin.

Bake for 40 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool the cake on a rack.

Chocolate Ganache:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup cream 

Procedure:
Bring cream to a boil and pour on the chopped chocolate. Whisk well so that it mixes well and keep aside.

Chocolate Custard:

Ingredients :

• 4 tbsp of Vanilla custard powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 3 tbsp Sugar(or to taste)

Procedure:
Add milk and cream to a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add sugar and let it dissolve. 
Take custard powder in a bowl and add little cold milk/water to make a paste.
Add this in a stream to the boiling milk and cream mixture. Stir well and let it thicken.
If required add more custard powder, dissolved in cold milk/water.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Refrigerate till further use.

Chocolate whipped cream:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup chopped chocolate, chopped

Procedure:
Boil cream in a saucepan. Add this to the bowl of chopped chocolate, stir well. 
Allow to cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate for further use(at least 2 hours) 

Marzipan:

Ingredients:

• 100 gms ground almonds
• 200 gms icing sugar
• 1/4 cup corn syrup(I substituted with liquid glucose
• 1 tbsp lemon juice or water

Procedure:
If using whole almonds, blanch them in boiling water for a minute and strain them. Rub off their skin and dry them in a kitchen towel. Dry heat them on low flmae very carefully to remove any moisture. Allow to cool and make a fine powder with little sugar in a mixer.
Place ground almonds and icing sugar in a bowl and combine them. Add liquid glucose and lemon juice and knead to a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate till used.

 

Assembly:

Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Refrigerate till required.

Slice the chocolate cake in three layers and set aside the middle layer for the dome.

Place one layer of cake on a cake board(I used the lid of my plastic container and wrapped it with aluminium foil) 

Spread the chocolate ganache on it (If it has thickened a lot, warm in the microwave for 10-15 secs)

Put in the freezer for 5-10 mins to set.

Spread half of the chocolate custard.

Freeze again for 10-15 mins for it to set.

Place another layer of the cake and spread the remaining chocolate custard on it.

Freeze again till set.(Notice I required a lot of freezing because of the extreme heat and humidity)

Reserve half a cup of the whipped cream and pile the rest into a mound on top of the custard layer.

Shape it in a dome.

Place the final layer of cake on top of the whipped cream. Do not press on top of the cake. Refrigerate for 10-15 mins.

Spread the remaining cream onto the entire cake and the sides. Refrigerate again till required.

Mix some brown food colouring to a large part of the marzipan, reserving little for the decorations.

Dust your work surface with some icing sugar and roll out the brown marzipan enough to cover the entire cake. With the help of a rolling pin, gently cover the cake with the marzipan. Trim excess. Refrigerate the cake.

Make three portions with the remaining marzipan and add red, yellow and orange food colours. Roll out the yello marzipan and with a knife shape a Tiara. Make small balls with the orange marzipan and put as gems on the tiara. Roll out some pink marzipan and cut a heart shape and put in the center of the tiara. 

Roll out pink and orange marzipans and cut round shape for the polka dots and put on the cake.

Roll out some yellow marzipan and cut out a banner. Write message on it with a toothpick dipped in food colour.

Make small balls from the leftover pink, yellow and orange marzipans and put them around the cake at the botttom. 

The lone survivor Piece of the cake

The Tiara for the little Princess

 Happy Princess cake eating
Amrita