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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Extremely Easy Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze and Pear Chips ~ 超簡單巧克力蛋糕配酸奶油醬及梨脆片


This chocolate cake is THE CAKE that started everything! It was the 1st that allowed me to taste the sweetness of success! My past creations always received disgusted look on people’s faces when I offered to them! I guess since I had a tough time trying to cut into my cakes, I shouldn’t blame them for not eating it! Hard like rocks is how the brave one who tasted the cakes described them! Oh, those days... (sign)… I almost gave up baking and was persuaded that maybe I am just not cut for it then there is THIS cake! First of all, let me just say this is not one of those fancy cakes made with hard to find ingredients. However, it tastes and appears like one if you know what to top it with! When I brought this cake to dinner parties, people thought it came from one of those fine passtisseries. I am now known as the girl-who-makes-one-hell-of-a-chocolate-cake ^0^!

This cake is not made from scratch. Instead, it is made using store bought cake mix with other ingredients incorporated. The end result is marvelous and tastes nothing generic. Like I said, tastes like one of those pricy cakes from high end restaurants!


It is ultra moist and it stays that way for days. The secret is sour cream! YES, SOUR CREAM! The recipe was adopted from this book. I think it should be on all kitchen shelf simply because it is useful if you are always on the run and don't have the time to sit there and measure things. I experimented the recipe with different ingredients as I get bored baking the same thing over and over again. I got the recipes for the glaze and pear chip from one of my all time favorite books. For variations, drizzle the cake with different type of sauces and pair with different toppings: chocolate ganache, caramel sauce, chocolate covered strawberries, mixed wild berries, ice cream, just to name a few. Be creative and make your own combo!

Chocolate Cake – makes 1 9 inch bundt cake
1box 18.25oz chocolate fudge cake mix
1box 3.9oz chocolate instant pudding mix
4 large eggs
1cup sour cream
½cup water, lukewarm
½cup corn or any veggie oil
Veggie oil to oil the pan
Cocoa powder for dusting

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degree F/180 degree C. Oil the pan then dust with cocoa powder; shake out excess powder then set pan aside.

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend using a handheld mixer on low speed, 1 minute. Increase to medium speed and beat for 3 minutes, scraping the sides down if needed. When the batter looks think and uniform, it means it is done. Pour and distribute the batter evenly into the bundt pan. Use a rubber spatula to smooth out batter. Place in oven and bake for 50 minutes. It is done when the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes then invert the cake and remove from pan to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Glaze – makes 1 ½ cups
4oz cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4tbs milk
1tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch of salt

Using a handheld mixer beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the sifted sugar, beat until combined. Add salt, lemon juice, and milk next; beat until smooth.


Pear Chips – makes 18 chips
1cup granulated sugar
1sml Bartlett pear (shaped like a bell)
1 lemon
1cup water

Preheat the oven to 200 degree F/100 degree C. Line a baking sheet or jelly roll pan with parchment paper; set aside.

Bring the sugar and water to a boil over medium heat; stirring occasionally until sugar completely dissolved. Reduce the heat; keep at a simmer as you proceed.

Slice the pear lengthwise as thinly as possible using a very sharp knife and coat with lemon juice to keep it from turning brown. Place the pear slices into the hot syrup and cook briefly for 2 minutes. Remove from syrup and place on baking sheet, 1 inch apart, and bake for 2 hours. Peel and flip the chips over using your hand and bake another 20 minutes. The chips should be crisp, dry and slight golden.

By the way, I had a hard time slicing the pear because it is hard to have it thin and intact. If you have a mandoline then utilize it! I had this cake with milk tea for brunch and they go so well together. It goes well with a glass of milk too!



一切就是從這個巧克力蛋糕開始的。就是它讓我首次嘗到“成功”的甜蜜果實,後來我就愛上做甜點了。在這之前烤的蛋糕都是遭人嫌﹗我想也不能全怪他們,因為之前的作品真的不怎樣,而且刀子每次都"砍"不進去 >__< 當然還是有人(夠義氣)冒著食物中毒的危險給我吃…一致說硬的像石頭……嗚嗚…超泄氣的 ~__~ 當時覺得自己可能沒這方面的天賦﹗這時候一個朋友的媽媽說要給我和其她女生的朋友上課(可能朋友一直跟她媽咪說我有多爛吧^0^),而教的就是這個巧克力蛋糕﹗它很簡單,材料也非常單純,但卻出奇的美味喔﹗吃過的人都說好吃到以為是在那家有名的patisserie買的…呵呵…好爽 ^O^ 現在我可厲害lar,因為大家管我叫“會做絕頂美味巧克力蛋糕的女孩”…呵呵…

因為我被歸類為烘烤幼幼班,朋友的媽媽教我先從 easy 又不會死腦細胞的 cake mix 做起﹗但是這樣不會好吃到那裡去所以參考了這本,找到這個食譜。順帶一提,這書簡單易明,是一本直得收藏的食譜書喔。

我個人覺得蛋糕的質感很綿密,口感柔滑鬆軟。真的魅力十足﹗知道為什麼這麼好吃嗎? 秘密是加了酸奶油 (sour cream)﹗是的﹐就是sour cream! 它讓蛋糕更綿密,melt in your mouth! 這一次我將它搭sour cream醬及梨脆片(食譜來自這本我很喜愛的書)。酸酸的sour cream醬中和蛋糕的甜度,讓人可以多吃而不膩﹗其實當我烤過多次也master這個蛋糕後我就加入其它材料如chocolate chips,葡萄乾﹐棗乾等做變化。我也將它配巧克力醬,caramel 醬,雜莓,冰淇淋等等。可以說是一個百搭的蛋糕喔 ^U^﹗你也來動手做做看吧﹗



巧克力蛋糕 - 9吋bundt模
1份 18.25oz 巧克力蛋糕 mix
1份 3.9oz 巧克力布丁 mix
5個(L尺寸) 全蛋
1 杯 酸奶油
½ 杯 蔬菜油
½ 杯 溫水
蔬菜油,可可粉 (模具用) 適量

事前準備:
-將一烤架移到烤箱中間,預熱烤箱到350 degree F/180 degree C。
-模具抹上蔬菜油,灑上可可粉後倒出多餘的粉後﹐備用。

將巧克力蛋糕mix 、巧克力布丁mix 、蛋、 酸奶油、蔬菜油、溫水倒進一大mixing bowl 裡﹐用手提攪拌器以低速攪打1分鐘後,轉用中速繼續攪打3分鐘至均勻。期間用橡皮刀源邊往下刮翻拌勻。當拌勻至無粉粒之後倒入烤模中。用橡皮刀輕輕把表面抹平、把麵糊推整至四周接觸烤模的地方,烘烤約50分鐘。如果蛋糕拉離烤模週圍,代表已經烤好。另外也可以用竹籤插入中央,慢慢拔出時不會沾黏,就okay了。立刻擺在網架上放涼20分鐘,然後連模翻轉倒扣,整個放涼。

奶油乳酪 (cream cheese) Glaze – 1 ½杯份量
4oz 奶油乳酪,室溫
½ 杯 糖粉, 篩過
4大匙 牛奶
1大匙 檸檬汁
1小撮 鹽

用手提攪拌器以中速將cream cheese攪打至膨鬆後,加入篩過的糖粉,攪打均勻,然後加入牛奶、檸檬汁、鹽攪打至順滑,備用。

梨脆片 –18片
1杯 砂糖
1個 (小) 西洋梨 (Bartlett pear)
1個 檸檬
1杯 水

事前準備:
-預熱烤箱到200 degree F/100 degree C。
-烤盤鋪上烤盤墊紙﹐備用。

把水、砂糖混合裝進小鍋裡,開中火煮至砂糖完全溶化後,轉小火。

將西洋梨縱向地儘量切成薄片,越薄越好。梨片涂上檸檬汁後,放進糖水中稍煮2分鐘。摟起來放到烤盤上,每片間隔1寸的鋪好,烘烤約2小時。將梨片翻轉再烤20分鐘。梨片該是淺金黃色及幹脆的。

7 comments:

  1. oooooooo~~~ more mouth watering pics!!! :P~~~

    hey Venus~ could i link your blog? I love ur pics. ^^

    ReplyDelete
  2. Verano ~

    Your pictures are great too and so are your food!

    Of course you can link my blog (I already added u as a fave :P)!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Venus,

    My friend refers me to your blog and I have been a fan ever since! I have seen several of your desserts now and I like how you display them and your pictures are great! This cake could have looked plain but you made it look so elegant. Although you made it sound easy, I don’t think this is “extremely” easy considering that there are different components to it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Stella ~

    Thank you for your kind words (blushing >///<).

    Trust me, this is not hard to bake at all (alrite, the chips are a bit time consuming). You should give it a try!

    ReplyDelete
  5. hey venus,
    This choco cake looks scrumptious!
    I love choco desserts ^^
    I am getting fatter and fatter now, I shouldn't eat too much desserts....but i can't help eating them...too bad :(

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Mayu ~

    Me too! I shouldn't learn to make anything because now that I must taste all the stuff I make, I think I must go back to running around the lake. Oh brother!

    ReplyDelete
  7. 我是在EuphoCafé看到你做的甜品的。好精致! 超愛你的甜品!

    蛋糕很细密, 梨皮做的跟拍的像食譜書的一樣!

    JJ

    ReplyDelete

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