Bakertan's Chocolate Factory - Part II

2 boxes of  rum and raisins dark chocolate truffles. The size of these truffles were smaller compared to the white chocolate matcha truffles.

Rustic, homemade look

I tried to 'temper' the chocolates using the seeding method without a candy thermometer and it did work for a short moment. The chocolate coating was glossy but when it set, it turned dull, probably due to rapid change in temperatures. 

Notice the inconsistency in the colour of the chocolate coating. This is due to the chocolate undergoing extreme change in temperature. The chocolate coating has developed a chocolate bloom.

Plain dark chocolate truffles with dark chocolate ganache centers. These chocolates were made using a simple inexpensive chocolate mould.

Rum and Raisins Truffles / Plain Dark Chocolate Truffles - see notes below (recipe adapted from Chocolate: 70 of the best recipes from Hamlyn)

Serving size: 15 -20 pieces
Equipment and materials:
1) 2 Heatproof bowls
2) Spoon
3) 2 Fork
4) 3/4 inch or 1 inch Melon baller (optional)
5) Measuring spoon set
6) Baking/parchement paper
7) Foil/paper mini cupcake liners
8) Saucer
9) Clingfilm
10) Baking trays
11) Diposable food gloves
12) Knife for chopping chocolate

Ingredients:
50 ml heavy cream (whipping cream)
85g bittersweet (60% cocao) dark chocolate, finely chopped (use the best quality you can afford)
35g raisins finely chopped and soaked in 2 tbsp dark rum for 1 hour, covered  (I used Meyer's dark rum)
1-3 tsp dark rum
120g - 150g dark chocolate pistoles or finely chopped

Method:

Making the Chocolate Ganache: Place 85g of finely chopped bittersweet dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Place heavy cream in a saucer and heat it untill it is almost coming to a boil on medium heat. Turn off the flame and remove the saucer. Pour the cream over the finely chopped dark chocolate and allow chocolate to sit for a while in the heated cream. Stir gently to allow chocolate to melt and blend in with the cream. Do not overstir or the mixture may become grainy. The smooth cream and dark chocolate mixture is known as a dark chocolate ganache.

If dark chocolate is not completely melted: Place the heatproof bowl over a saucepan filled with water. The bowl should fit snugly onto the saucepan and the bottom of the bowl should not be in contact with the water in the saucepan. Bring the water in the saucepan to a low simmer on low heat. This is known as a double boiler. Stir the chocolate cream mixture gently to obtain a smooth ganache. Do not overstir or the mixture may become grainy.

Cooling and flavouring ganache: Remove heatproof bowl from the heat and allow ganache to cool. Add rum soaked raisins to the cooled ganache. Next, add in 1-3 tsp of dark rum to taste. Place a piece of clingfilm over the bowl and press onto the surface of the ganache. Refrigerate ganache untill firm.

Shaping chocolate ganache balls: When ganache is firm, use a 3/4 inch melon baller to scoop out rounded (slightly heaped) portions onto a tray lined with baking paper. Refrigerate these portions for 10 minutes or untill firm. Using the disposable food gloves, roll the chilled portions into round balls. Refrigerate these round balls for another 10 minutes or till firm. Melt remaining 120g dark chocolate in another heatproof bowl using the double boiler method on low heat.

Coating ganache balls with dark chocolate: Using the tines of 2 fork, dipped the round ganache balls into the melted dark chocolate to coat. Lift the dipped ganache ball away from the melted dark chocolate. Rotate and transfer the coated balls at the same time between the 2 fork to ensure ganache balls are well coated all around. Transfer coated ganache balls to a tray lined with baking paper. Allow the dark chocolate coating to set at cool room temperature. Alternatively, refirgerate coated ganache balls untill firm.

Storing chocolate truffles: Line truffles with mini cupcake papers and store truffles in a single layer in the refrigerator for several days. Serve truffles at room temperature, not chilled and directly from the refrigerator.

 
Notes:

1) For Plain Dark Chocolate Truffles, omit the raisins and rum. Follow the above method as stated.

2) For Liqueur Truffles, omit the raisins and rum. Add 1-3 tsp of desired liqueur to taste. (Bailey's is a

good choice)  

3) Chocolate truffles are best eaten at room temperature. When eaten chilled, the chocolate flavour is 'trapped'.

4) It takes some practice to melt dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is easier to melt as compared to white chocolate. The best is to use low heat. If the water in the double boiler comes to a strong boil, the heat may cause the dark chocolate to burn. Burnt dark chocolate is dry and cannot be melted anymore.

5) Do not allow even a drop of water to come into contact with the melted dark chocolate. The dark chocolate will seize and will be unusable. If this happens and you still want to salvage the dark chocolate, add in more water instead and stir constantly. The melted dark chocolate will become smooth but end up being watery, affecting the taste and texture. Use it as a chocolate sauce instead.

When the Tastes Combine

Sometimes, it would be nice to combine two of your favourite flavours. What I did was to dig out this Chocolate Rum and Raisin Cupcakes recipe from Tempt: Cupcakes to Excite by Betty Saw. This is the 2nd time I have done this recipe. The 1st time I tried it out after borrowing the book from the library, I knew I had to re-cake this recipe once again.

Thankfully, I got hold of a copy of the book on offer at more than 60% off from the original price. What a great bargain man! And to think that I would actually find it to be in a place like NTUC Fairprice Extra..

This time round, I increased the proportion and added more raisins which is to my liking. I also upped the amount of rum to give it a stronger kick. The alterations did not fail me and there it was - moist chocolatey cupcakes with a the right blend of rum - not too subtle not too overpowering. When the tastes of rum and chocolate combines, it is just amazing!

The cupcakes are so moist that the top layer remains slightly fudgy, as can be seen in the pictures above.

Chocolate Rum and Raisins Cupcakes ( Recipe adapted from Tempt: Cupcakes to Excite by Betty Saw)

Equipment: Muffin tin with holes 5cm in diamter measured from the base, cupcake liners/paper

Ingredients:

105g raisins, chopped

60ml dark rum

130g unsalted butter, softened

110g caster sugar

3 eggs (60g each) , separated and at room temperature

150g dark chocolate ( I used 60%), melted

110g self raising flour, sifted

1 tbs dark rum

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 160 degrees C and line muffin tin with cupcake liners/paper.

2) Combine rum and raisins and allow to soak for 3 hours.

3) Cream butter and 55g sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one by one until combined

4) Add one tbs rum to the rum soaked raisins. The rum should have evapoarated after 3 hours. Stir in rum raisins mixture and melted chocolate to combine. Next fold in the flour until well combined.

5) In a separate clean bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add remaining 55g sugar gradually and beat until egg whites are almost stiff. The egg whites should be moist and creamy and not chunky.

6) Fold one third of beaten egg white to the mixture in 3) to lighten. Fold in remaining egg whites until combined using a whisk.

7) Scoop batter into cupcake liners and bake for 20minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Notes:

1) Recipe makes about 14 cupcakes

2) Taste of cupcake matures as day passes

3) Use a clean metal (preferably) bowl and beater to beat egg whites.

Butter Rum Cake

After some hesitation on which recipe to try, I decided on a butter rum cake from All cakes considered. I am glad I found another recipe that can put my Myer's dark rum to good use. One litre bottle of rum is enough to last me a year I think, considering that most recipes only require one tablespoon use of rum.  

Having read through the recipe, I converted the measurements from cups to grams. It was somewhat troublesome to do so and I would have preferred recipes to list weight of ingredients instead. The recipe asked for nearly 400grams of sugar. Thats a whooping lot! I cut down some of the sugar and added 2 another tablespoons of rum. I also substituted buttermilk using milk and lemon juice.

With the amount of sugar outweighing that of the flour and butter, the high-ratio method of mixing was employed. The dry ingredients were added to the batter alternating with the liquid.

The cake was then baked in a tube tin and when it was done, the top splitted quite badly. It did not affect the appearance much though since the cake would be flipped upside-down. In the picture above, the butter rum cake looked almost like a chiffon cake. 

When the cake was done, I made the glaze and spooned some of it over a slice. This is the first time I am doing a syrup glaze and I found it was way too sugary sweet without much presence of rum, afterwhich I decided to do without the glaze. Haiz..There goes my butter again... I think next time I will do a taste test whenever I am baking a syrup cake.

Upon my first bite, I found that the cake is similar to a banana cake in texture. Dense, yet soft and moist. Most of the flavour came from the brown sugar and there was a subtle presence of rum, most of which I think was burned off in the oven. The taste is however slightly on the sweet side. I shall cut down more on white sugar the next time.

Butter rum cake ( recipe adapted from All cakes considered)

Equipment: 10 inch tube tin

Ingredients:

225g butter, softerned at room temperature

200g caster sugar ( try cutting down on this as cake is quite sweet) 

165g light brown sugar

4 large eggs, 60g each and at room temperature

3 tbs dark rum

330g cake flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

240ml milk combined with 1 tbs lemon juice

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 160 degrees C and grease a 10 inch tube pan with butter or oil.

2) Cream butter with both sugars on medium high speed until fluffy.

3) Add in eggs one by one into the creamed butter on medium speed, beating for 20 seconds after each egg is incoporated.

4) Add rum to batter and beat in to incoporate.

5) Sift flour into a large bowl. Add in the salt and baking soda. Stir using a whisk to combine and evenly distribute the dry ingredients.

6) Add one quarter of the flour mixture to the batter. Beat until just incoporated on low speed. Next, add in one third of the milk mixture and beat until just combined. Repeat this process, alternating dry and wet ingredients. You should start and end with the flour mixture.

7) After all the ingredients are combined, beat the batter on medium speed for about 30 seconds to ensure it is well incoporated. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula once in a while, during the beating process from steps 2 to 6.

8) Pour batter into cake pan and bake at 160 degrees C for 1 hour 10 minutes. Check for doneness after 1 hour by inserting a wooden skewer halfway between the sides and middle. The cake is done when the skewer pulls out clean. If not, return the pan to the oven and check for doneness every 5 minutes.

Notes:

1) This cake has a nice flavour but it is quite sweet. Try cutting down on the castor sugar.

My 1st Heavenly Cake - Gateau Breton

This is the very 1st cake I attempted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's - "Rose's heavenly cakes". Hence, the entry is titled as My 1st heavenly cake. When I first browsed thruough this baking bible at borders weeks ago, I immediately decided that it would be a book I would want to keep. Having read raving reviews about this author and baking compendiums under her from Amazon and Sunday Times, I understood why she is named the queen of cakes.

As described by Rose, a Gateau Breton is a pastry like crispy on the exterior and has a soft, dense and moist texture. It is a cross between a shortbread and a pound cake. To me it is more like a marriage between the pie and the butter cake. While the pastry was baking in the oven, I could sniff the aroma of  rum when actually the amount of rum included was only a miniscule tablespoon.

When I popped the first morsels into my mouth, I could feel sweetness of butter and rum permeating inside. Hidden among the buttery rum fragrance was nutty hint due to the almonds. Definitely, this is one recipe I would re-cake again.

Among the vast varieties of recipes included in "Rose's heavenly cake", the Gateau Breton is one of the easiest. There are plenty of other recipes which span more than 3 pages and I could imagine the number of hours required to assemble the cakes. Nevertheless, the effort should pay off well.

I shall look forward to my next heavenly cake - apple upside-down cake.

The recipe can be found in the following blog:

Gataeu Breton recipe