Guinness Chocolate Cake

This is a super moist cake, with a delicious stout finish on your tongue, it goes perfectly with chocolate. We made a Guinness chocolate sauce to pour over it, and topped it with whipped cream.. real easy to eat. It tastes best warm, but any way you can get it is fine! No machinery necessary, simply use a pot and a whisk. Easy.

Over low heat, in a medium saucepan melt:

2 sticks unsalted butter
1C Guinness stout

When it has melted whisk in:
3/4C unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder.
Take off the heat and cool a little.

Then in to the same saucepan whisk in:
3/4C sour cream
2 eggs.

Then whisk in:
2C all purpose flour
1 1/2C sugar
1/2T baking soda
3/4t salt. Mix until combined. Then pour in to individual greased molds.
Bake at 350F for about 12-15 minutes.

For the sauce:

In a saucepan add 1C cream. Simmer and pour over 8oz 60% chocolate. Stir until melted, then add 1/4C Guinness. Pour over the cake.

Mini Boston Creme Pies

These delicious cakes are definitely a crowd pleaser, best eaten with a fork, for the perfect bite and no squish factor. The creamy pastry cream, light sponge and dark chocolate ganache are irresistible. Very fast to make, especially because they are individual cakes. The ganache and pastry cream are best made one day before, then putting them together is a breeze.

Makes 10 mini pies.

Pastry cream:

In a pot put:

1/2C whole milk

1/4C heavy cream

1t vanilla extract. Simmer on medium heat.

In the meantime in a bowl whisk:

1 egg

3T sugar

1T all purpose flour

1 1/2t cornstarch

pinch of salt. Whisk well till smooth.

When the milk has simmered, slowly pour it in to the egg mixture whisking constantly, then pour the whole mixture in to the pot. Whisk constantly until thickened. It should barely bubble, then quickly pour it in to a sieve with plastic wrap under it. This will take out any cooked egg if there is any. Fold the plastic wrap around it, sealing it, and cool in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours, or just leave it overnight. Now make the chocolate ganache.

Ganache:

In a pot on medium heat put:

1/2C heavy cream

4T light corn syrup (this will add a glossy shine)

1t vanilla extract

and a pinch of salt. Simmer.

Then pour the hot cream over:

60z of semisweet chocolate, or bittersweet if you prefer it darker. Stir till smooth and melted, and until it has all come together. Set aside and cool for about 30 minutes. It should be able to be out in to a pastry bag without oozing and hold its shape. When it has thickened nicely, put it in to a pastry bag with a round tip. Do this right before decorating so it can be stirred.

Sponge:

Put 10 cupcake liners in to a muffin tin.

Pre heat oven to 350F.

In a bowl add:

3 yolks

2T whole milk

1t vanilla extract. Whisk.

In another mixing bowl add:

6T soft unsalted butter

3T oil

1/2C sugar

pinch of salt. Beat on low speed until smooth. Then add to that:

2t baking powder

1C all purpose flour. Mix on low speed.

Then add:

1/4C whole milk

2T heavy cream and the yolk mixture. Beat on medium speed until combined and fluffy.

Divide into the liners.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the skewer comes out clean and they are golden brown. Cool.

Now take off the liners, turn them upside-down and cut the cakes in half horizontally (see below).

Cut a hole on one corner of the plastic wrap filled with the cold pastry cream and squeeze blobs on to the large part of the cake. Divide it evenly.

Put the ends back on to the cake and turn the cakes around.

Finish with piping on the chocolate ganache. Make sure to divide evenly. These are best eaten the day of, or 1 day after, since the pastry cream will not be as good.

Easter Egg Carrot Cake

It's almost Easter! This year we decided to make large Easter cakes, made with carrot cake. Our carrot cake is super moist and delicious containing, pineapple, carrots, rum raisins, toasted walnuts, and filled with cream cheese icing, not too sweet, just perfect. We decorated the cake with fondant and a gum paste bow. A beautifully festive cake for a family occasion.

Carrot cake for an 8" cake pan:

In a large mixing bowl add:

2 eggs

3/4C dark brown sugar

3/4C oil

1t vanilla extract. With a whisk, mix until combined briefly.

Add: 1C whole wheat flour

1/2t baking powder

1/2t baking soda

1/2t salt

1t ground cinnamon

1/2t ground ginger. Mix till smooth.

Fold in at the end:

2C peeled, shredded carrots

1/2C toasted, roughly chopped walnuts

1/2 raisins, soaked in 1/8C dark rum and heated briefly in a pan for them to absorb (optional)

1/2C drained chopped pineapple (canned or fresh, chop it in a food processor, or buy it shredded)

Mix it all together, and pour it in to a greased 8" cake pan. Make sure there is parchment paper at the bottom of the pan, or it will not come out. Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes-60. With a skewer check that it comes out clean, but don't over bake. Cool fully. Then cut the edges of the cake making it oval in shape. On top of that put a layer of cream cheese icing (recipe below), then put the cut edges on top of the icing, making the cake a 3D egg shape. Then cover the whole cake with icing. It will be flakey, so apply gently. Try to cover all the nuts and raisins, since they will show through the fondant.

Cream cheese icing:

Cream 2 sticks soft unsalted butter with

2t vanilla extract

add 1C confectioner's sugar till smooth, 

then add 16oz (2C) spreadable cream cheese, mix till smooth. Apply.

We used bought fondant and gum paste for the egg design. Always try to roll the fondant as thin as you can, 18" is good. The thinner it is the better it looks. Always roll it with sifted powdered sugar.

The carrot cake was baked in an 8" cake pan, then the edges were cut to make the cake oval, and the sides were placed on top of the cake to form an egg shape. Then it was covered with cream cheeses icing.

The bow laces were pinched together and placed around a thick bottle, then left to dry for a few hours to harden.

Fondant was placed over the cream cheese icing, and some silk leaves were placed under the cake as decoration.

The finished Easter egg cake with a festive bow.

Here you can see the carrot cake with the cream cheese icing. Shredded pineapple was added, as well as raisins soaked in dark rum, and toasted walnuts.