Receta Baking| Chocolate & Strawberry Cream Cake … Pinktober
“Almost all words do have color and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see someone’s eyes light up and know it is a pink word for him or her too”
Gladys Taber
This ones going to be a short post. Its the PINK time of the year and even if I wanted to, I couldn’t shrug Mr PABs pink birthday cake off my shoulders. The dieting diva with all her charm, asked sweetly, ” Is ‘it‘ going to be PINK again!”. I love how well the kids grasp things that are important, so we had a fast track Chocolate & Strawberry Cream Cake this year!
The pink ribbon is an internationally recognized symbol of hope and awareness in the fight against breast cancer
Life has been a race against time and I had thoughts of barely throwing together a cake for Mr Man, PINK beginning to look pretty elusive. But the PINK Plum Fro Yo post had a couple of readers connect with me over the past few years, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear them ask about a PINK cake for Mr PAB… guess the pressure was on!
Dive into the freezer and it was back to simmering strawberries and balsamic vinegar in brown sugar like Speedy Gonsalez. Gosh! Why did October get here so fast, and why did his birthday have to be at the very beginning? Sigh….In the midst of this, Jamie and I discussed Octobers theme for MacTweets and we both voted for PINK there too. I was really ambitious…really! No aged whites, a new recipe and lack of time is obviously a recipe for disaster. Ambitious me also piped pink mac ribbons! Needless to say the feet speedily failed me. I used a meringue/macaron ribbon to top my cake. A dusting of sugar hid its failings, yet added to the PINK!
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, you are most welcome to join us. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
Here we go … my strawberry and chocolate cake for Pinktober since the teen insisted on chocolate. Before I get to the recipe I have to tell you that she decided to bake some cupcakes for her Dad all by herself {that DOES NOT include kitchen clearing and cleaning services}, and she set to work at the same time I was trying to layer the cake. I could have wept, but was VERY brave and soldiered on!The teen made pretty cupcakes {from my blog here} and declared they were better looking and tasting than any I had ever made! Of course they were… and then she went on to dress them up with butter-cream, sprinkles, oreos … ! She really did well on her first independent bake and frosting!
Chocolate & Strawberry Cream Cake
A simple, moist, delicious cake that can be made ahead. The oil in the batter keeps the cake moist.
Ingredients
Cake
- 280gm plain flour
- 50gm cocoa
- 50gm cornflour
- 4tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 300gm powdered sugar
- 10tbsp oil {any neutral oil}
- 10tbsp water
- 4tbsp milk
- 6 eggs, separated
- 2tbsp kirsch
- 2tsp pure vanilla extract
- Filling
- 300ml low fat cream
- 200gm strawberries, chopped {I used frozen}
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split
- Chocolate Ganache
- 275gm dark chocolate, room temperature
- 150ml low fat cream, room temperatureInstructions
Cake:
Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line 2 9" spring form tin.
Sift the cornflour + flour + baking powder + salt + icing sugar (yes, it’s correct) into a large mixing bowl.
Beat the egg whites till they stand in soft peaks & keep aside.
Lightly beat the oil, water,yolks and vanilla extract together & stir into the dry ingredients.
Beat until smooth, & stir in the kirsch.
Fold the whites gently into the yolk mixture.
Divide into lined tins & bake for about 45 minutes till well risen & golden brown. Check if it is done with a wooden pick.( Slide a sheet of foil lightly over the top if it begins to brown too fast).
Leave in tin for 10 minutes, & then cool completely on rack.
Once cool, cut into 2 or 3 layers. If it feels a bit dry, brush the layers with a simple sugar syrup while layering.
Sandwich with filling {recipe follows}. Allow to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes, and then frost with the chocolate ganache {recipe follows}. Let it sit out for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Filling:
First prepare filling: Place strawberries, sugar, scraped vanilla bean and balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan, and simmer till it becomes thick and jam-like. Cool completely. {Discard the bean}
Beat cream to medium stiff peaks, and gently fold in cooled strawberry mixture, taking care not to release the volume of the cream.
Chocolate Ganache:
Place the chocolate with 100ml cream in a heatproof bowl and microwave for 30-40 seconds {if the weather is warm as it is here, else try for minute}. You can also simmer it in pan until the chocolate melts. Stir until smooth, add the remaining cream and stir well to combine both into a smooth ganache.
Give the cake one basic thin coating with this ganache, and reserve some for piping decorations. Add the remaining cream and mix until smooth.
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http://www.passionateaboutbaking.com/2011/10/baking-chocolate-strawberry-cream-cake-pinktober.html
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