One of my most favourite books is Mireille Guiliano's French Women Don't Get Fat. There is such a joy in eating the way she describes the French way of eating for pleasure! One of the ideas she presents is this: the most enjoyment is packed into the first three bites of anything we consume. I have to agree. However I also grew up a member of the Clean Plate Club and only eating three bites of a wonderful dessert is something I just cannot do. So when I saw the Daring Baker's February Challenge I cringed. Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Valentino, inspired by Malaysia's "most flamboyant food ambassador, Chef Wan. How would I only have three bites of that?!?
Then a wonderful thought popped into my mind. Why not make the cakes small enough that three bites would allow me to eat the whole thing! SO that is what I did. I baked the cake in a 9x12" pan, then cut out individual cakes with a small heart-shaped cookie cutter, and it worked out beautifully.
My next dilemma was deciding how to make this cake my own. The recipe contains three ingredients and how we interpret them is part of the challenge. We also were supposed to make a topping for the cake, either ice cream or whipped cream or non-dairy whip. Now, one of my resolutions this year was to but some real thought and dedication into these DB Challenges in 2009. No longer can I count myself as one of the "newbies". So I thought it would be fun to make this a S'mores inspired cake. I used Whole Foods 360 brand Semisweet Chips mixed with Chocolove's Organic Dark 73% Cocoa bars for a bit of loveliness. My topping was a homemade marshmallow creme recipe I found on the Kattitudes blog. I know it might be bending the rules a bit, but it is so incredibly delicious I thought you might not mind. (note: if you make her recipe it makes a LOT of creme - I halved it and still had a lot left over). Then we crumbled graham crackers on top.
It was wonderful. Just exactly the right size - and I enjoyed every bite. Special thanks to my assistant on this challenge... my niece Amber! This is her with "Flat Maddy", who is visiting from Texas. The only trouble we had was we forgot to add the butter to the chocolate and it seized up on us pretty good when the eggs were added. We are glad to say that adding the butter in afterwards still gave us a nice cake.
The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.
Notes:
-This recipe comes together very quickly with a hand mixer.
-This is a very decadent cake that will sink a little as it cools but will still hold its shape.
-Very dense and fudgy cake that tastes divine.
-The top forms a light crust kind of like a brownie
-Use your favorite chocolate – the finished cake will taste exactly like the chocolate you use.
-Don't forget the butter!
Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated
1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.
Dharm's Ice Cream Recipe
Classic Vanilla Ice Cream
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Recipe comes from the Ice Cream Book by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis (tested modifications and notes in parentheses by Dharm)
Ingredients
1 Vanilla Pod (or substitute with vanilla extract)
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Semi Skimmed Milk – in the U.S. this is 2% fat (or use fresh full fat milk that is pasteurised and homogenised {as opposed to canned or powdered}). Dharm used whole milk.
4 large egg yolks
75g / 3oz / 6 tbsp caster sugar {superfine sugar can be achieved in a food processor or use regular granulated sugar}
5ml / 1 tsp corn flour {cornstarch}
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Double Cream (48% butter fat) {in the U.S. heavy cream is 37% fat)
{you can easily increase your cream's fat content by heating 1/4 cup of heavy cream with 3 Tbs of butter until melted - cool to room temperature and add to the heavy cream as soon as whisk marks appear in the cream, in a slow steady stream, with the mixer on low speed. Raise speed and continue whipping the cream) or use heavy cream the difference will be in the creaminess of the ice cream.
1. Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod lengthways. Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse
Lift the vanilla pod up. Holding it over the pan, scrape the black seeds out of the pod with a small knife so that they fall back into the milk. SET the vanilla pod aside and bring the milk back to the boil.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and corn-flour in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy. 3. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time
4. When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it back into the bowl. Cool it then chill.
5. By Hand: Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon. Fold it into the custard and pour into a plastic tub or similar freeze-proof container. Freeze for 6 hours or until firm enough to scoop, beating it twice (during the freezing process – to get smoother ice cream or else the ice cream will be icy and coarse)
By Using and Ice Cream Maker: Stir the cream into the custard and churn the mixture until thick (follow instructions on your ice cream maker)
Wendy's Ice Cream Recipe
Vanilla Philadelphia Style Recipe
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
2 cups (473 ml) of half and half (1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of whole, full fat milk)
1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
2/3 (128 grams) cup sugar
Dash of salt
1 (12 grams) tablespoon of vanilla
Mix all ingredients together (we do this in a plastic pitcher and mix with an emulsifier hand blender-whisking works too).
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer
Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.
Homemade Marshmallow Creme
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 egg whites
2 cups light corn syrup
1 T vanilla extract
In a large bowl, combine egg whites, syrup, and salt. Beat for 10 minutes until thick. At low speed, add confectioners sugar. Add vanilla extract and beat until blended. Makes two quarts.
