Tag: chocolate

Categories
American Cakes chocolate dessert

Bourbon Cherry Chocolate Upside-down cake

I love California, beautiful weather, amazing nature and abundant produce. Spring time is just awesome here. Wild flowers everywhere, air is crisp and there is a feeling of newness in the air. Farmer’s market starts getting more produce and as the month of May rolls around, you start seeing cherries in the market. A few types of cherries like Brooke, Rainer and more.

We love going cherry picking, so much fun to pick the beautiful ruby red fruits right off the tree. It’s very close to where we live, we go there to pick not just cherries but even peaches & corn. We go early, pick the fruit and have a picnic whenever we go. I will be doing a quick video soon to show you all how awesome it is.

May is very special because its my daughters birthday.

She is sophisticated, beautiful, smart, confident, loving, content, full of love and empathy, I must have done something right in my previous life to have such a wonderful daughter.

In fact I thank my stars everyday and count my blessing that I am a mom to two most wonderful children. Very understanding, no attitude, pure love.

Since I make an effort to cook with whats in season, I thought why not make a cake with these gorgeous cherries for my baby’s birthday. She loves chocolate, she loves fancy desserts and love cherries.

I decided to make a Cherry Upside down cake. I wanted to make something a little more decadent, sophisticated so decided to roast my cherries with the Bourbon before baking with the batter. The bourbon adds a very distinct & complex flavor to the cherries and the roasting intensifies the flavors.

I know its a pain to pit cherries one at a time so I decided to buy this from Amazon, and I love it. You can pit 6 cherries at a time, the juices don’t go all over the place and the pits also stay in place.

The cake batter is the same as my chocolate cake, I made only 1/3 of the batter since we did not want a huge cake. Cherry and chocolate is such an incredible combination, and with the addition of the whipped cream, it comes very close to the ‘Black Forest Cake’.

We loved how it turned out and it looks gorgeous too, a little less than my daughter though 🙂

Cherry upside down cake
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Bourbon Cherry Upside Down cake

Decadent chocolate cake with boozy caramelized cherries

Course cake, Dessert
Keyword cake, chocolate, dark chocolate
Author Anagha

Ingredients

Ingredients

For the Cake: This batter makes three 8inch round cakes

  • 340 g Unsalted butter about 3 sticks; 340g
  • 1 1/2 cup brewed black coffee alternatively take 4 tbsp of instant coffee with hot water
  • 90 g Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 175 g Dark chocolate roughly 72%
  • 450 g light brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tsp salt
  • 6 large eggs cold from the fridge
  • 3 large egg yolks cold from the fridge
  • 250 g All-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon Baking soda

Cherry topping

  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 6 Tbsp Water
  • 6 Tbsp Butter
  • 25 Pitted Cherries

Instructions

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 375 F

  2. Line , three 8 inch round cake pan line with parchment paper

Cherry Topping

  1. Mix the cherries , sugar and butter together

  2. Pour in the bottom of the cake pan

  3. Cook for 10 min till the sugar is little caramelized

  4. Take out the pan and add the bourbon & salt

Cake

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F
  2. Combine butter and coffee steel pot over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat, then mix in cocoa and chocolate, followed by brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix in eggs and yolks, then sift in flour and baking soda.
  3. Mix well till you see no dry flour spots

  4. Pour the batter in the prepared pans

  5. Bake until cakes are firm for about 30 minutes (a toothpick inserted into the center should come away with a few crumbs still attached)
  6. Cool cakes directly in their pans for 1 hour, then invert onto a wire rack, peel off parchment, and return cakes right side up.
Categories
Cakes chocolate dessert Not sure

Triple chocolate cake

I am not a chocolate person, I know I know that sounds completely absurd , who can not like chocolate etc etc. I do like to have a bite of good quality dark chocolate but not crazy about chocolate cookies, cakes, brownies etc. So I don’t end up making a lot of things unless kids want it or some guests are coming over.

So today is my very good friend’s birthday. Last year for her birthday her husband brought a really nice mango mousse cake, but she kept looking for chocolate. It was so funny when he hubby said well there are chocolate curls that are on top of the mousse cake, and you should have seen her face. Anyway to say the least I knew that I had to make a special chocolate cake for her this year.

Until I tasted the chocolate in a museum of chocolate when I visited Antiqua Guatemala a couple of years ago. Antigua is a beautiful city in Guatemala. I fell in love with its cobbled stone streets, to beautiful architecture to lovely doors and so much more. I loved that however small the homes might be, each of them had a courtyard, and you know I am a sucker for courtyards. My dream home will have a large wrap around porch with a beautiful courtyard.

  • Courtyards of Antigua

The chocolate museum was just fantastic It was fascinating to read about the history of cacao beans and how it was used as a currency in those days, and how the chocolate was made.

A stone on which the cacao beans are ground

So I started my research my focus was to make sure that it has rich chocolate flavor and also that I need to incorporate coffee in this. Based on what the man at the chocolate museum told me, coffee helps enhance the chocolate flavor and vice versa. I also had watched an episode of Pati’s Mexican table where she added a cup of boiling water in her chocolate cake to make it moist. So all of that combined and settled on this recipe very close to a recipe by Stella for the cake. Instead of using the Swiss buttercream, I decided to make a simple ganache frosting and it worked really well.

What I like about this recipe:

  1. The cake batter comes together in one pot
  2. You can make both the cake and the frosting base a couple of days ahead, and put it together on the day of the party
  3. Its rich, decadent and yet not overly sweet

So if you have a special occasion or you are in a mood for chocolate cake, this is a perfect recipe.

I also have a video for the recipe, check it out !

If you give it a try, let me know how you like it 🙂

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Bourbon Cherry Upside Down cake

Decadent chocolate cake with boozy caramelized cherries

Course cake, Dessert
Keyword cake, chocolate, dark chocolate
Author Anagha

Ingredients

Ingredients

For the Cake: This batter makes three 8inch round cakes

  • 340 g Unsalted butter about 3 sticks; 340g
  • 1 1/2 cup brewed black coffee alternatively take 4 tbsp of instant coffee with hot water
  • 90 g Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 175 g Dark chocolate roughly 72%
  • 450 g light brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tsp salt
  • 6 large eggs cold from the fridge
  • 3 large egg yolks cold from the fridge
  • 250 g All-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon Baking soda

Cherry topping

  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 6 Tbsp Water
  • 6 Tbsp Butter
  • 25 Pitted Cherries

Instructions

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 375 F

  2. Line , three 8 inch round cake pan line with parchment paper

Cherry Topping

  1. Mix the cherries , sugar and butter together

  2. Pour in the bottom of the cake pan

  3. Cook for 10 min till the sugar is little caramelized

  4. Take out the pan and add the bourbon & salt

Cake

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F
  2. Combine butter and coffee steel pot over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat, then mix in cocoa and chocolate, followed by brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix in eggs and yolks, then sift in flour and baking soda.
  3. Mix well till you see no dry flour spots

  4. Pour the batter in the prepared pans

  5. Bake until cakes are firm for about 30 minutes (a toothpick inserted into the center should come away with a few crumbs still attached)
  6. Cool cakes directly in their pans for 1 hour, then invert onto a wire rack, peel off parchment, and return cakes right side up.

Tools used :

KitchenAid Standmixer

Wilton Cake pans

Categories
Cookies dessert Not sure

Mokonut cookies

I don’t bake cookies much through out the year but around the holidays I try to make different cookies, try new recipes, and give some as gifts.

My family loves chocolate and especially dark chocolate, in fact we don’t buy any chocolate that’s less than 60% cocoa. I love ginger in all forms- in my tea, in chutney, ginger beer and candied ginger.

So what can be better than a cookie that has bittersweet chocolate and candied ginger.. everyone is happy.

 

This year I did not make many since I am traveling during the holidays, but when I got the latest Global Baking issue of Saveur Magazine, I knew I had to try a couple of recipes.

I loved the Swedish buns recipe so I made these St Lucia Buns inspired by that article. Those turned out amazing. I have a quick video on that, do check it out.

For these chocolate ginger cookies, you need candied Ginger, you can always buy it but I feel that it is so easy to make it at home that I always prefer that. If anyone wants a recipe for candied ginger, let me know and I would be happy to share.

I ended up making Buddha’s hand candies as well. If you have not tried using Buddha’s hand, you must, it’s just incredible. I love how it looks and smells, and you can use it like a room freshener.

I’m trying to make quick videos of the recipes I make, so I have posted the one I made for these cookies.

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Chocolate Ginger cookies

Fudgey center, dark chocolate, subtle heat from the candied ginger and the touch of salt flakes make for a decadent grown-up cookie. Perfect for the holiday parties or as a part of your dessert platter

Course cookies, Dessert
Cuisine American, French
Keyword baking, chocolate, cookies, dark chocolate, Ginger
Prep Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 32 minutes
Servings 12
Author Anagha

Ingredients

  • 1 1⁄2 cups All purpose flour
  • 1 tsp Unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup Coconut oil
  • 1/3 cup Sugar
  • 1/4 cup Light brown sugar
  • 3/4 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 4 Oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 3 Oz Candied Ginger
  • Flaky sea salt(like Maldon) for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.

  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer  with the paddle attachment, cream butter, coconut oil, both sugars, and salt. 

    Cream on medium speed until pale and fluffy, it typically takes 1-2 mins

     Add the egg, and mix until combined.

    On low speed, add the flour mixture, and mix to incorporate. Mix in the chocolate and ginger until just combined.

  3. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Press and shape to form a 1-inch-thick rectangle, and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

  4. For baking :

    Preeheat the oven to 375°F

    Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. 

    Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough on top. Slice into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and transfer to the prepared sheets, leaving at least 1 inch between each. 

    Sprinkle with sea salt.

  5. Bake until the edges have crisped slightly, 10–12 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

  6. Dont be tempted to bake longer, trust me this time is enough 

Note:

The first time I made a batch of these cookies I followed the exact recipe, but the second time I substituted the coconut oil with equal amounts of unsalted butter. Also, I added a pinch of dried ground ginger to the dry ingredients. Try this variation for flakier cookies!

Categories
Cookies Italian

Coffee-Almond biscotti

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This year is supposed to be a El Niño year, which means a lot of rain is expected. We have been hoping that it rains a lot and gives a relief from the drought situation in California. It has rained but not too much, so when this weekend it poured, everyone was super happy.

Rain always makes us think of Pakodas( fried lentil fritters), a cup of ginger tea. Rain makes everything look so pretty. Spring is in the air, flowers everywhere. The wisteria in our garden is looking gorgeous, vibrant with purple chandeliers.

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It was a very relaxing weekend, we had an amazing lunch at our favorite ethiopian place. They make such incredible food, especially their chicken is cooked so well. We ended that meal with a ethiopian coffee, which is always accompanied with a fragrant herb, ‘rue’. You let the herb seep in it’s flavors in the coffee before you drink it.

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Talking about coffee, recently my family has been obsessed with coffee. My son has been taking very scientific approach to coffee making. Weighing the coffee beans, freshly ground with handheld steel coffee grinder, water temperature measured by thermometer, even the pour has to be perfect. He looks like Alton Brown every time he makes coffee. He made me a macchiato with a little heart a few weekends ago, so perfectly made.

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On my recent trip to Guatemala, I visited this coffee shop which not only serves amazing coffee but also sells beans from the neighbouring areas. I picked a few pounds from there and we also replicated the same set up at home. It made such an amazing cup of coffee.

IMG_4349I love coffee in many forms whether it is coffee ice cream or Tiramisu or even Tiramisu french toast for breakfast, I love it all. So when we were talking about some cookie to go with the coffee, I decided to make this Biscotti. I love making biscotti for many reasons, you can make it ahead of time, you can make so many variations and they are not fragile so they transport well.

Since I love the coffee flavor, I decided to add it to the biscotti as well.

img_5038

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 stick of unsalted butter softened

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs at room temperature

1 pinch of salt

3 tsp instant granulated coffee

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup of almonds roughly chopped

Chocolate dip

5 oz of dark chocolate chips

crushed almonds or sliced almonds

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt together.

Cream the softened butter with sugar.

Add coffee granules and vanilla mix a little more.

Add one egg at a time while the mixer is running.

Scrape down the liquid ingredients.

Add the flour mixture a little at a time. The dough will be sticky at this point. Keep the dough in the fridge so it will firm up and will be easier to handle.

Take the dough out and divide in two parts.

Form two logs of about 2 inch by 8 inch. Remember this will spread as they bake so dont make them wider than 2 inches.

Place the logs on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Bake for 25-30 mins.

Take it out of the oven and cool for 30 mins.

Biscotti means baked twice. So as the name suggests, we will be baking these twice.

Using a sharp serrated knife, cut in 1 inch slices.

Arrange these slices cut side down on a cookie sheet and bake again for 15-20 mins. Remember that these will harden as they cool so be careful to not overcook these.

After baking it the second time, let them cook on a rack.

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Chocolate sauce

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, heating in the 30 sec intervals, stirring in between.

Dip one end of the cooled biscotti in the melted chocolate and sprinkle with crushed almonds. Layer them back on the parchment paper till the chocolate is solid again.

These store very well in a airtight container.

Serve with your favorite cup of coffee.

 

Variation:

You can skip the coffee granules in the batter, and add 1/4 cup of cocoa instead.

You can also make these with no chocolate or cocoa or almonds in the batter, and add 1 tsp of Anise seeds, 1/2 cup of cranberries & 1/2 cup of pistachio instead.

 

 

 

 

 

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