Tag: chocolate cake

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Foodie Friday: Ruby chocolate and raspberry cheesecake

Foodie Friday

This week’s recipe comes from Callebaut Chocolate hero Jodie Van Der Velden and its luscious berries and ruby red chocolate make it ideal for the festive season. Derived from the ruby cocoa bean, ruby red chocolate is a relatively new chocolate discovery and it has a completely new chocolate taste and colour. This chocolate, combined with a raspberry puree, creates this recipe’s perfect balance of sweet and sour.

Ruby Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS

Almond Shortbread Base

  • 120g almond meal
  • 120g caster sugar
  • 120g plain flour
  • 40g unsalted butter (melted)
  • + 80g melted butter to mix with baked crumbs to make crumbly crust

Berry puree

  • 250g raspberries (frozen is fine)
  • 25g caster sugar

Cheesecake

  • 175g cream cheese
  • 200g mascarpone cheese
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 175g thickened cream
  • 375g Callebaut Ruby RB1 chocolate
  • + Ruby RB1 chocolate for décor

METHOD

Berry Puree

  1. Bring berries and sugar to simmer over low/medium heat, and reduce until liquid has reduced and mixture has halved in quantity. Cool.

Almond shortbread base

  1. Combine dry ingredients, add melted butter and mix until combined. Squeeze with fingers if necessary until butter is evenly distributed with dry mix.
  2. Place shortbread crumbs onto parchment paper on baking tray, and bake at 170° C for around 15 minutes, until crumbs are light golden brown. Cool.
  3. Add 80g melted butter to baked crumbs and mix through thoroughly to make crumbly crust, and press firmly with the back of a spoon into the greased base of a 20cm diameter round cake tin with removable base.
  4. Line inside edge of cake tin with oil or butter, then press a strip of baking paper or acetate against oil.

Cheesecake

  1. Beat cream cheese (at room temperature) with sugar until smooth, in stand mixer, with hand held electric beater or using firm whisk.
  2. Add mascarpone cheese (room temperature), beat until combined.
  3. Add thickened cream, beat until combined.
  4. Add melted ruby chocolate, beat until combined.
  5. Pour ½ of mixture into 20cm diameter cake tin with removable base and the inside edge lined (as per crumb base instructions above), and smooth surface with spatula.
  6. Add cooled raspberry puree in a ring around the surface of the cheesecake mix.
  7. Pour remaining cheesecake mixture over the top.
  8. Refrigerate until set.
  9. Add Ruby RB1 chocolate shavings or décor of choice to top of set cheesecake.

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Foodie Friday: Soft chocolate mini cakes

With spring around the corner, now’s the time for some wonderfully soft-centred chocolate mini cakes to see out the last of the cool winter evenings! Thanks to our friends at Williams Sonoma for this week’s recipe.


Ingredients

  • 75 g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, plus more for greasing
  • 250 g dark chocolate, chopped
  • 125 g sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1.5 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • 45 g plain flour
  • Whipped cream, crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream to serve (optional)

Method

Position a rack on the lowest level in the oven and preheat to 200 degrees celsius. Lightly butter six half-cup (125g) ramekins.

Put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place over (not touching) simmering water in a saucepan. Heat until melted, then stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Using an electric mixer set on high speed, beat until thickened, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low. Gradually sprinkle the flour over the batter and continue beating just until combined. Using a spatula, fold the egg mixture into the cooled chocolate mixture until combined. 

Divide the batter among the prepared ramekins. Place the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the tops are puffed and dry and a wooden skewer inserted in the centre comes out with some soft batter clinging to it, about 10 minutes.

Serve the cakes hot, in the ramekins. Top with a dollop of whipped cream, if you like. Serves 6.

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Foodie Friday: Chocolate cake with stewed blood plums

This week’s recipe comes from Maxwell & Williams and Melbourne blogger @Georgeats. Styled on Maxwell & Williams’ gold mezze serving tray.

Serves: 12  | Prep: 20mins | Cook: 40mins

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 200g dark cooking chocolate
  • 150g butter
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cups almond meal
  • 1 tablespoon espresso
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 50g brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder

For the plums:

  • 5 ripe blood plums
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
  • 20g butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Using the double boiler method, melt the chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl over a pot of boiling water, ensuring the water doesn’t touch the base of the bowl. Once it is completely melted and combined, add the sugar, salt and espresso, and continue to stir until the sugar granules disappear.

Remove from the heat. Separate your egg yolks from your whites, ensuring your utensils are squeaky clean, and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

In a large bowl, combine the almond meal with the chocolate mixture, followed by the egg yolks, and mix well.

Gradually, spoon by spoon, mix in the beaten egg whites, until they are completely combined, and you are left with a fluffy chocolate cake batter.

Take a lined and greased 21cm spring form cake tin and pour in the batter. Put it in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

While the cake is cooking, slice your plums and put them in a medium saucepan along with the other ingredients. Cover them and cook on a gentle low-medium heat until they soften and become juicy. Remove from the heat.

Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin, spoon over the stewed plums and serve.

Serve up a slice of this cake with clotted cream and enjoy with a glass of sparkling.

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Foodie Friday: Chocolate and orange olive oil cake

foodie friday logo

Photography by Jacqui Turk

What’s your go-to chocolate cake recipe? Food fanatic Charlotte Ree stopped by the Williams-Sonoma cooking school to share hers. It’s made with super-lush ingredients like Dutch cocoa powder, hazelnut meal, extra virgin olive oil and orange zest for a hint of citrus. Word of warning: you’ll never want to make any other cake EVER again! Whip one up for a special occasion, or enjoy a slice as a decadent afternoon treat.

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Charlotte Ree

Serves: 8 to 10 | Prep time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients

  • 50gm Dutch cocoa powder + extra, to serve
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 150gm hazelnut meal (or almond meal)
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 orange, finely zested + extra, to serve
  • Pinch of salt
  • 150ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 200gm caster sugar
  • 3 large free-range eggs
  • Crème fraiche or mascarpone, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced). Grease a 20cm springform pan, such as the Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch® Springform Pan, with olive oil and line the base with baking paper.

2. Sift cocoa powder into a bowl and whisk in 125ml (1/2 cup) boiling water until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla extract and set aside to cool slightly.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the hazelnut meal, bicarbonate of soda, orange zest and salt.

4. Place the olive oil, sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with an electric hand blender on high for 3 minutes or until mixture is pale and resembles thickened cream.

5. Reduce the speed to medium-low and pour in the cocoa mixture, beating continuously. Once combined, add the hazelnut mixture and stir gently with a spatula.

6. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until sides are set but centre still looks slightly damp.

7. Cool cake in tin for 10 minutes on a wire rack, such as the commercial-quality Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch® Nonstick Cooling Rack, then remove cake from tin and set aside to cool.

8. To serve, dust with cocoa powder and sprinkle over extra orange zest. Serve with crème fraiche or mascarpone.

– Recipe by Charlotte Ree for Williams-Sonoma (@charlottereepr). If you’d like to brush up on your kitchen skills, head to the Williams-Sonoma Sydney Cooking School to learn the tricks of the trade. 

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