Chocolate Bundt Cake with Orange Syrup

Baking is something I have come to like or should I say love. A few years back I would not have probably imagined I would bake as much as I do today. Though I bake year-round, my favorite baking season is between thanksgiving (pies!!) and X'mas/New Year (when I experiment with different cookie recipes). The cold weather makes it all the more reason to crank up the oven - enjoy the warmth and the aroma of the baked goodies that fill the house.

 
My latest addition to the baking collection is the bundt pan which I have been eyeing for a while. I love the presentation that a bundt cake provides and it sure is a crowd puller. Chocolate cake is one of the most loved cakes (at least in my household!) and presenting it as a bundt cake just makes it even more irresistible. The biggest challenge to baking chocolate cake is getting it to be moist. Even the best bakeries make chocolate cake/muffin that is very dry and crumb-y. Personally I like moist cakes and the recipe that I have adapted from here yields a very moist cake. I have replaced the ganache glaze with an orange syrup where the orange flavor melds extremely well with the strong chocolate flavor. And as the glaze soaks into the cake, each bite is lusciously moist.

Notes:

1. Proper greasing and flouring the bundt pan ensures that cake unmolds without sticking to the pan. So do not skip dusting with flour even if using a non-stick spray or non-stick pan. 
2. I find using oil yields a very moist cake esp. chocolate cakes. 
3. Use the best possible chocolate and cocoa powder to get a good chocolaty flavor. 
4. Under-baking rather than over-baking is suggested to keep the cake moist.

Ingredients
1/2 tbsp softened butter and 1 tbsp all-purpose flour - to prepare the bundt pan
2 oz bittersweet chocolate (either chips or bar, finely chopped)
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup strong fresh brewed coffee (at room temperature)
1 cup buttermilk

Orange Glaze 
Juice from 2 small oranges (I used Clementines that are in season now)
Orange zest for garnish
1 tsp Orange flower water or orange flavor
1 tsp Grand Marnier (optional)
1/4 cup sugar (adjust depending on the sweetness of the orange juice)

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Grease the bundt pan with softened butter and dust with 1 tbsp of the flour.
Melt chocolate in a small pan on low heat or in the microwave oven. Let it cool.
In a bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. 
Stir coffee and buttermilk in another small bowl. Set aside.
Scrape the chocolate into a mixing bowl, add sugar and oil. Whisk by hand or using a hand mixer until well combined.
Add the egg and whisk for a minute or so.
Add half of the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture along with half of the coffee/buttermilk mixture. Whisk until well combined.
Add the remaining flour mixture, coffee mixture and whisk until smooth.
Pour into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 45 min or until knife inserted close to the center comes out moist with just a few crumbs.
Let it cool completely before unmolding the cake.

Orange glaze: In a small saucepan combine orange juice and sugar. Set it on a low flame. Stir until sugar dissolves (about 4-5 minutes). Add the orange flavoring and grand marnier (if using). Stir and remove it from heat. Let it cool just a bit. 

Arranging the cake: Spoon half the glaze evenly over the cooled cake. Let it stand for a few minutes so the glaze is absorbed. Now spoon the rest of the glaze over the cake. Garnish with orange zest. Let it stand for atleast a few hours or overnight before serving.

This will be my entry to Pari's "'Only' - cakes and cookies" event. 

Enjoy !!

Pain au chocolat & au revoir NJ.....

Been a busy memorial day weekend. After an year of long distance relationship am so glad we can now get back to our routine together. Ah.. the simple pleasures in life that we take for granted. NJ was fun, a heaven for all things Indian. We enjoyed the company of our friends and it was sad that we had to say goodbye. Though we'd miss all that I am pretty excited to scope out the new place, make new friends and discover new tastes. Hopefully we have good things in store for us and we enjoy the place. Moving is crazy and I had just forgotten how difficult it can be until we actually started the process. Inspite of all the help its been one uphill task, packing/unpacking & cleaning. Unpacking and setting up the house looks like a never ending task but there's the silver lining - I can see the carpet now and not just brown boxes on the floor :-)


Obviously the first thing I set up was the kitchen but my pantry is not nearly as stocked as I would otherwise normally have. So I have been making simple, hassle free dinners. I was thinking of starting this first week at our new place with a dessert but I did not have butter. So most of my desserts were ruled out. But luckily, the savior of the day was the frozen puff pastry sheet that I had lying in the freezer. Fill it up with fruits/nuts and chocolate for a yummy dessert and thats what I did. Filled the puff pastry sheet with a mixture of chocolate morsels and nut, baked it for 15 min et voila dessert's ready.

Like I said, I was out of most of my pantry things. So I had to make do with the chocolate chips but using a good chocolate will make this an even better dessert. So I would recommend using good quality chocolate if possible.

Note:

1. Thaw the puff pastry in the refrigerator. I move the puff pastry sheet from the freezer to the fridge 5 hrs before I am ready to start filling the sheet.
2. You can also use chocolate bars for the filling. Just make 1 inch pieces of the chocolate and use that to fill the pastry squares.
3. Use a good quality chocolate for better result though nestle chocolate morsels worked fine.
4. I used egg wash to get a shiny brown crust but if need be you can substitute eggs with milk or cream.
   

Ingredients
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 egg (for egg wash)

Method
Thaw the frozen puff pastry as per the package instructions.
In a bowl mix chocolates and walnuts.
Cut the frozen pastry sheet into 9 square pieces.
Place a spoonful of the mixture at one end of the square. Roll it tightly into a log. make sure the filing stays in place.
Alternately, you can place the mixture at the center and fold one edge over the other to form a triangle.
Brush the top with egg wash and place it on a cookie sheet.
Pre-heat the oven to 350F and bake the pastry for 15 to 20 min or until its golden brown at the top.
Serve warm or at room temp.

Enjoy !!

MMC Ingredient 5 - Dates, Jaggery, Coffee

MMC ingredient(s) 5:

Here's what "M" had to say about it
For a change, this challenge will be different. You will be getting 3 ingredients and you have to use them all. It is not necessary that you use them in equal proportions. But the end thumb rule is, for a person who eats the final product, he/she should be able to identify all the 3 ingredients on his/her own.

The ingredients are Dates, Jaggery, Coffee (ground).

Here's what I made for this challenge.

Dates Crepe with Pear-dates Compote and Coffee Cream Sauce

When I think of dates, the recipe I almost involuntarily think of is dates chutney aka the sweet chutney we get for chaats. If the challenge ingredients were just dates and jaggery I would have surely opted for the chutney. But the moment I laid eyes on the third ingredient: coffee, I knew my recipe was going to be a dessert or a breakfast. I can safely say that the meal I enjoy the most in a day is breakfast, be it the simple toast/jelly or an elaborate weekend spread. And ofcourse always with a cuppa java, unadulterated (i.e no cream, no sugar !!)

I wanted to make sure I maintain the individuality of each of the ingredients yet make sure they complement each other well. Coffee has one of the stronger flavors and I kept it distinct by using it in the sauce. I used dates and jaggery in both the crepe and the pear compote to sweeten the dish. Though the ingredient list and the method looks a bit long, its actually quite simple. If the pear compote and coffee sauce are made ahead of time its just a matter of whipping up the crepe batter. This dish is a pretty delicious and sweet treat. Or if you would like it as a breakfast serve it with scrambled eggs or poached eggs on the side. Now that Mother's day is just around the corner, I think this will be a great dish for a Mother's day brunch !!

Notes:

1. Jaggery water: Most of the times I find that jaggery is contaminated with dirt. Dissolve 1/4 cup jaggery in 1/4 cup water. Boil until jaggery dissolves. Filter to remove dirt. Reserve 2 tbsp of this if using it for the compote.
2. The amount of jaggery listed here makes this dish a pretty sweet one. So adjust the jaggery according to the sweetness you'd like.
3. I use food processor to make the crepe batter. But mixing it buy hand works just fine as well.
4. For the coffee sauce I use instant coffee dissolved in just enough hot water. Freshly brewed coffee can also be used. Adjust the strength according to taste.
5. I had pears on hand, so used it for the compote but feel free to use any fruit that you like.
   
6. Both coffee sauce and pear compote can be made ahead of time and refrigerated. Though warm before serving.

Ingredients
Crepes:
8 dates (pitted)
1/4 cup jaggery water (reserve 2 tbsp for the pear compote, if using)
1 egg
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
1 tbsp melted butter
Salt, a pinch

Pear Compote:
1 pear, diced (ripe but firm)
1/4 cup dates (pitted, coarsely chopped)
2 tbsp jaggery water (optional)
1 tsp lemon

Coffee Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
sugar (optional)
1 tbsp instant coffee (see notes)
1/4 cup heavy cream

Method
Crepes:

1. Boil dates with jaggery water for a few minutes - just until dates get tender.
2. Let it cool. Grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
3. Mix flour and salt. Set aside
4. In a food processor combine eggs and dates paste. Pulse for a few seconds.
5. Add the flour and keep the processor on.
6. Slowly pour milk starting with 1/4 cup and keep adding until the flour is incorporated and the batter is of a pouring consistency.
7. Finally add melted butter and transfer it to a bowl.
8. Heat a griddle or a crepe pan. Brush with a bit of melted butter.
9. Pour a ladle full of the batter. Swirl the pan to make thin circle of even thickness.
10. Cook for a few minutes, until the bottom browns. Flip, cook for a few seconds.
11. Fold and transfer onto a plate.

Pear Compote:

1. In a saute pan, combine pear, dates and jaggery water if using.
2. Saute for a few minutes just until the pear gets tender and all the ingredients are well combined.
3. Remove from heat, add lemon juice. Stir. Set aside.

Coffee Sauce:

1. Combine all the ingredients under coffee sauce in a pot.
2. Heat until all the ingredients mix well and the sauce gets a smooth consistency.
3. Remove from heat. Set aside.

Assembly:

1. Place 2 crepes on a plate.
2. Scoop a spoonful or two of the pear compote onto the crepe.
3. Drizzle with coffee sauce and serve.

This will be my entry to Panch Pakwan's Mother's day event.

Enjoy !!

Strawberry Chocolate Cupcakes

A Sweet beginning.......

Now that I have graduated to a more relaxed post-grad-student life, I thought what better way to utilize the extra time than documenting a hobby that I like the most, cooking....

My first blog is on one of the most popular dessert of all times - "cupcakes". I made a double chocolate cupcake inspired by black forest cake recipe (with a few twists of my own). Authentic black forest cake is made of chocolate cake with layers of whipped cream and cherries. Kirsch (cherry brandy) is an essential ingredient in an authentic black forest cake. I do not normally stock cherries or kirsch and so I decided to use something that I had on hand. Strawberries are now in season and on sale :-) We could not resist buying those succulent red berries and ended up buying way more than usual. We ate some, made strawberry jam and still had some waiting to be used. So I decided to substitute cherries in the black forest cake with strawberry and used the strawberry jam as a filling in the cupcake.

Here it is, my double chocolate strawberry filled cupcakes. I have used part-whole wheat flour, some honey instead of sugar and vegetable oil instead of butter for healthier cupcakes!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 vegetable oil
1 cup brewed coffee
1 tsp vanilla flavor
1 cup strawberry jam (Warmed over stove top or microwave)
8 fresh strawberry (halved)
Whipped cream (optional)

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside.
3. In another bowl beat the eggs, oil, brown sugar and honey until well mixed. Mix in coffee and vanilla.
4. Add the flour mixture into wet mixture and stir until flour is fully incorporated.
5. Line muffin tray with parchment cups and grease well.
6. Half fill the muffin cups with batter and add a layer of warm strawberry jam. Fill the rest with batter and top it with halved fresh strawberry.
7. Bake for 20 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream (optional). Yummmm..................