Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake

I dreamed of chocolate cake.... Bangun pagi, terus keluarkan butter. Kek ni sedap sgt.. so moist, and yummy. I reduced sugar, as always :)

Note : pan kena well greased and floured!  Note to oneself :-) 

My breakfast

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Adapted from twopeas

For the cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
1/3 cup cocoa powder (we use Dutch processed)
1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup water
2 cups all-purpose  plus more for the pan
1  cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the chocolate glaze:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup (or agave nectar)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

directions:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10 or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, and water and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add half of the melted butter mixture and whisk until completely blended. The mixture will be thick. Add the remaining butter mixture and whisk until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely blended. Whisk in the sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and the vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack. Let cool completely before glazing.

5. While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate glaze. Place the chopped chocolate and corn syrup (or agave) in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the heavy cream and sugar in a small saucepan and put over medium heat. Stir until the cream is hot and the sugar is dissolved. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.

6. Generously drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Cut into pieces and serve.

Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

This cake, is the ultimate chocolate pound cake. I did mention earlier that I am not a pound cake person. Tapikan bila dah rasa this cake, I had to admit, pound cake, memang sedap. Tapikan, as Rima mentioned, use the best of the best ingredients. Maknanya, if possible, use pure french butter, valhorna cocoa powder for your cake.

Mula2 aku buat this cake, terkejut tengok betapa gelapnya cake aku ni. Terlupa that valhorna cocoa powder memang very dark. hehe.. ingatkan kek aku dah jadi kunta kinte. Do you guys still remember that name? Masa kecik2 dulu cerita tu sangat famous. Aku memang follow that story. Cerita pasal a slave boy from Africa. Ishk! macam mana cerita kek boleh jadi cerita slave boy pulak.

Ok, back to the cake. For this recipe, aku guna Paul's light sour cream sebab kononnya nak kurangkan fat. Rasanya takde kurang lemak pun sebab the butter that I used very rich and creamy and banyak! Sigh... macam mana la nak kurus ni..

Rupa kek tu sebenarnya lagi gelap. These past few days, matahari terlalu garang, thus the overexposed photo.

Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
from Tish Boyle’s The Cake Book
Thank you Rima!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 cup  Dutch-processed cocoa powder (preferably valhorna or calibut)
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 salted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
250gram light sour cream

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan.

Sift the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside. In a bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until very creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is well-blended and light, about 4 minutes.

At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. In a small bowl, stir the vanilla extract into the sour cream. If your mixer has a splatter shield attachment, attach it now.

At the low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 additions and mixing just until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the cake for 65 to 75 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then invert the cake onto the rack and let it cool completely.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake

I really hate baking chocolate cake sebab susahnya nak dapat chocolate cake yang menepati selera aku and the girls. Tapi bila dah selalu sangat bake devil food chocolate cake and everyone is baking it, it's kindda boring, benda yg sama je diulang tayang. So, on wednesday, the day before my d&c (I lost my baby at 12 weeks), I decided to surf the net and after reading the reviews, I am on this cake!

Cake tu terbiar tanpa di frost selama 2 hari. Today, my sister, Ayu, tanya, apa kek yg ada kat rumah. Tak sampai hati la pulak nak kecewakan dia. Maka, aku pun gigihla duduk kat dapur buat the chocolate ganache. Iman and iffah loves this cake so much. Dia org cakap sangat sedap. Since my daughters are fussy eater, bila diberi rating yg sgt bagus, hati mama ni berbunga2.. hehe

Beatty's Chocolate Cake
by Ina Garten
Ingredients

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar (I reduced to only 1 cup of sugar and I used brown sugar)
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (I used 2tsp of instant expresso mixed into 1 cup of hot water)

Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows (I used chocolate ganache and cream cheese frosting)

Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake. 

Chocolate Frosting:
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Last week, Fatin was home. Dia cuti hujung minggu and she wanted to eat cheese cake. Kebetulan martha stewart page on facebook was featuring this cake. So aku pun pegi la beli bahan2 and baked this. The verdict? I dont like it because I dont like peanut butter in anything except on a slice of bread. Fatin, my sister Ayu and Nora love it! Will I bake it again? Yes, kalau fatin ada. :)

Patutnya drizzle dengan chocolate ganache, but the girls taknak. Dia org lagi suka makan mcm ni. Next time I baked this, I will omit the peanut butter and it will be perfect marble cheesecake recipe! Way better than the ones selling at Secret Recipe.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Crust
1 cup finely ground chocolate wafer cookies (4 ounces) (I used graham crackers)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar

Filling
4 ounces semisweet chocolate (55 to 61 percent cacao), finely chopped (I used dark chocolate)
4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar (The sugar should be reduced to 1 cup only)
Pinch of coarse salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter


Crust:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Wrap bottom and outside of a 9-inch springform pan with a double layer of foil. Coat bottom of pan with cooking spray, and line with parchment. Spray parchment. Stir together cookie crumbs, butter, and sugar in a medium bowl. Press mixture firmly into bottom of pan, and bake until firm, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Filling: 

1. Melt chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Let cool.

2. Beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and beat in sugar in a slow, steady stream until combined.

3. Beat in salt and vanilla until thoroughly combined and completely smooth.

4. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until combined after each addition (do not overmix). 

5. Divide cream-cheese filling in half. Stir peanut butter into 1 half; stir melted chocolate into other half. Ladle 1 cup peanut butter filling into center of crust, and tap pan gently on counter to settle. Ladle 1 cup chocolate filling directly on top of peanut butter filling. Repeat, then switching to half-cup amounts, continue to ladle fillings into crust, alternating them until all of each filling is used.

6.  Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Set cake pan in a large roasting pan, and transfer to oven. Carefully pour boiling water into roasting pan to reach halfway up sides of cake pan. Bake until cake is set but still slightly wobbly in center, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate cake in pan until cold, at least 6 hours, up to overnight. Before unmolding, run a knife around edge of cake. Pour glaze over top of cake, smoothing with an offset spatula and letting it drip down the sides.

Chocolate Banana Cake with cream cheese frosting

Rumah aku dah jadi stok penyimpanan pisang sebab byknya pisang. Sampai tak termakan pisang2 tu. Aku terpaksa memerah otak, pikir nak buat apa dgn pisang yg banyak tu. Last2, aku buat kek. I choose joyofbaking recipe sebab recipe ni takde guna butter. I ran out of butter, terpaksa la guna minyak jagung. Aku buat 2 adunan sebab nak habiskan pisang yg Ada.