Moist Chocolate Cake (Tray Bake)

Ok, I know most people don't use ounces much anymore, but it's how I remember the recipe - You can do a million types and size of sponge scaling the basic recipe of 1 large egg to 2oz sugar/ self-raising flour/butter. It also reminds me of my mum cooking at home (and teaching me how to make these cakes), radio four on in the back ground, dog next to the aga, happy days.

You can knock this up in no time - I can't stress how simple this is - literally, 10 mins to make the batter, then you just shove it in the oven - it's pretty fail safe as long as you don't peek in the oven during baking, but it looks and tastes like you've slaved away in the kitchen for hours!

5 large organic eggs
10 oz Butter
10 oz Caster sugar
8 0z self-raising flour
2.5 oz cocoa powder
2.5 oz melted 70% chocolate

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c. Cream (i.e. beat on a high speed) the butter and the sugar together until pale, light, and fluffy - this is a very important step - they should be well combined and it will take quite a while (3-4 mins) using a Kitchen-aid type mixer (or similar). Add the melted chocolate and beat again.

2. Beat the eggs in a jug with a fork to break them up, then pour VERY slowly to the creamed butter and sugar mixture whilst mixing on a high speed. Note: pour a little, then mix very well, then pour a little more and more mixing etc - if the mixture looks like it will curdle, add a tablespoon from your flour and carry on mixing.

3. Add the remaining flour and cocoa powder and mix very briefly on a VERY LOW speed (to keep the air in the mixture) – only mix until the flour can’t be seen – no longer!! This will take 15 seconds max.

4. Spread the mixture into your pan (lined) and bake in the middle of your pre-heated oven until pale golden. A large tray can take up 25-30 minutes, cupcakes maybe only 12 minutes.

5. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.

Extra Moist!!
If you intend to eat the cake that day, the above will suffice, however if you are eating the cake over a few days, this next bit is a tip from the pros.

Sugar Syrup
100ml caster sugar
100ml water

Place the water and sugar in a pan, stir and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat and let it cool and refrigerate.
When your cake is cooled, using a brush, brush plenty of the sugar syrup all over your cake, then ice as required.

Icing:
I iced this with a fudge chocolate icing - Melt 200g of 70% chocolate with 100g butter. Add sifted icing sugar (and a 2 tablespoons of water) until you get the consistency that you want (piping, spreading, runny, whatever you desire)

Enjoy!

Char Sui

Here's my recipe for the char sui - not as good as the place in the dead pigs on the walls on Gage Street (watch that floor - it's a death trap, and don't looks in the bucket full pig bits on the way to the loo - it fact, don't use the loo...) but pretty yummy all the same.

Notes: you do need the msg - we had a long discussion about this at the time of making it, msg has been used in Cantonese cooking for about 90 years now and unless you are allergic, it won't do you any harm. Lots of the rumours about how awful it is are unfounded/not proven. I don't use the red food colouring at home, but apparently the locals insist!

1.3 - 1.5kg pork - it should be pork butt or shoulder as you need the fat for the flavour when cooking - but I used the fattiest piece of pork loin I could find.

Marinade:
Garlic - 15g
Shallot - 15g
msg - 6g to 10g
caster sugar - 180g
chu hou sauce - 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons (I used Lee Kum Kee brand in a jar from Wellcome) I'd imagine that hoisin could be used as a substitute if absolutely necessary.
light soy - 30g
water 30g
sesame paste (I used tahini) - 115g
Salt - 30g
rose wine - 15g (it's the one in the green tear-shaped bottle - mei kuei lu chiew)
red food colouring - adjust to personal colour desired

Malt Glaze:
Water - 30g
Sugar - 15g
Maltose - 225g (at a push use a bland honey)

1. Cut the pork into long (10-11 inches) strips about 2-3 inches thick. Wash very throughly until it loses it's colour, pat dry before use.
2. Mince or blend the garlic and shallot. In a bowl, mix the water, soy, sugar, and msg. Add the remaining marinade ingredients (EXCEPT the colouring) to the bowl, and then stir in the minced shallot and garlic. Mix throughly.
3. Add the marinade to the pork strips and coat well - if desired add the red food colour for the authentic look.
4. Marinade for at least 3 hours - stir regularly to coat all the pork.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 300c (or as high as it will go). Put the pork on a roasting rack in the oven and roast for 15 minutes before turning over and roasting for a further 10 minutes.
6. Make the malt glaze: add all the ingredients to a small pan and heat until all dissolved and runny - keep warm to use for glazing.
7. Then turn the oven down to 250c and brush both sides of the meat with the malt glaze. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, brushing it with the malt glaze and turning it over every 5 minutes. It's done when a chopstick will easily pierce the thickest park - don't worry if the thin ends have gone very black - these can be trimmed off.
8. Remove from the oven and brush again with malt glaze - leave to rest for 30 mins before cutting into slices.

To Serve: Serve on rice with (thanks to Peggy Wong) the following - Chop a lot of ginger very finely and add some salt - heat up a couple of tablespoons of oil (canola or vegetable) and pour onto the ginger. Add some chopped spring onion and mix the whole thing to serve as a dipping sauce. You can't make enough of this - it goes SO well with the pork.

Yum! I'm making this again this friday.

Classic Carrot Cake

To be honest, I was never a fan of carrot cakes until I had this one. It's very easy to throw together and has all the right flavours coming together - a hint of spice, unctuous raisins with a coconut undertow. Try not to baulk at the oil - it makes for a beautifully moist cake. This recipe is courtesy of Mrs Herringbone-Chive - an excellent cook, friend and all round goddess.

Weapons of choice: you can either use a large ring tin, cupcakes, or sandwich tins

Classic Carrot Cake

Pre-heat the oven to 140c

9oz self-raising wholemeal flour
12oz soft brown sugar
3 large free range eggs
6 floz sunflower oil
2 floz soured cream
2tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
11 oz grated carrot
3 oz desiccated coconut
2 oz raisins

Bowl 1 (make it the biggest one):
Add the eggs, oil, vanilla, sour cream, and sugar.

Bowl 2:
Sift the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda, and the salt.

Bowl 3:
carrot, raisins, and coconut.

Beat bowl 1 thoroughly. Then fold the contents of bowl 2 into bowl 1. Then mix in the contents of bowl 3.

Turn into your selected tin and bake for 1.5-2 hours.

Icing

8oz Cream Cheese (not Philadelphia)
4 oz butter
4 oz icing sugar
Juice 1/2 a lemon.

Beat the cheese, butter and icing sugar together to get a thick creamy icing. Add the lemon to taste. This can either be spread on thickly, used to sandwich cakes together or piped into big swirls.

Chocolate Layers - Brownies, salted caramel mouse and a chocolate ganche

As K suggested this would be fabulous cut into much smaller squares and served as petit fours, though I served it in thin slices - it's very rich and totally yummy. I found in on another blog, the excellent Tartelette - I've altered it only very slightly.

Dark Chocolate Walnut Brownie base:

3oz tablespoons unsalted butter
6oz 70% chocolate
2 3/4 oz plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
5oz caster sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180°. Line an 9x13 inch baking tray with baking paper, leaving an overhang on to sides so you can lift the whole thing out once completed.

Melt together butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Remove the bowl from heat and stir until smooth. Set aside to let it cool slightly.
Beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla until pale and thick (about 3 minutes) then add in the cooled chocolate mixture and beat again.
Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and slowly mix until just incorporated.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, and smooth top with an spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownie between edge and center comes out with a few crumbs about 20 minutes, depending on your oven (Do not overbake!). Let cool completely in the tin before proceeding.

Milk Chocolate and Salted Butter Caramel Mousse Layer:

3 1/2 oz caster sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 oz salted butter
10 floz double cream, divided into 7floz and 3 floz
6 oz mix of milk and semi sweet chocolate

Keep the 7 floz of cream chilled in fridge. Microwave the remaining 3 floz and the butter until it is fairly hot and the butter is melted. It will be added to the caramel and by being hot it will prevent the caramel from seizing on you and clumping up.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water . Set aside.
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, add the sugar to the water over medium high heat and cook, without stirring until you get a dark brown caramel. Take the pan off the heat and add the butter and cream mix. It will bubble like mad but it will not run over....if the butter and cream are not cold the bubbling will be minimal and short lived. Stir with a wooden spoon to smooth the caramel if necessary. Let it cool to lukewarm.
Add the caramel to the chocolate and stir until smooth - if it seizes (which is may) mix in a small amount of vegetable oil to save it and continue.

Whip the remaining cream to soft peaks. Fold 1/3 of the this whipped cream to the chocolate/caramel to loosen it up and then add the remaining whipped cream. Spread over the brownie base and refrigerate until completely set. The mousse is quite dense as there are no egg whites involved so don't worry if it looks like it won't set - it will

Dark Chocolate Ganache:
5 floz cup heavy cream
6oz 70% chocolate

In a medium saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer, remove from the heat. Add the chocolate to the cream and let sit for 5 minutes. Slowly stir the heavy cream and chocolate until they come together and form a shiny ganache. Let cool. You want the ganache to still be pourable but not too warm that it will melt the mousse.Spread it over the caramel mousse and refrigerate until set.

To serve: lift the dessert out of the pan using the overhanging paper sides and trim the sides with a sharp knife (heated under hot water and wiped dry), cut into the desired number of servings and enjoy. You can sprinkle with the chopped walnuts - or just dust with cocoa.

Lemon and Poppy Seed Squares with drizzly icing

Last Friday I went back to sponges and although they have had the cupcake version before, this one is the tray bake version and you can get a lot more bite sized squares out of it.

5 eggs
10 oz each of butter, caster sugar, self-raising flour
1 tsp of baking powder
zest and juice of two lemons
2 tblsps of poppy seeds

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy - it should go very pale.
Very very slowly add the eggs one at a time, with a tablespoon of the flour with each egg to stop the mix from separating.
Once all the eggs are incorporated, add the zest of two lemons and the juice from one of them, along with the poppy seeds, to the mix, and beat.
Turn the mixer onto it's lowest setting and add the remaining flour and the baking powder until just folded in (don't beat - the folding in of the flour is to incorporate air into your mixture to get a fluffy cake).
Turn this into a baking tin (about 10inx6in) and bake at 180c for 20-25 mins.

This week I am feeling a carrot cake tray bake coming on...