Chocolate Strawberry Cake and a tart that didn’t oblige!

Happy Mother’s Day! To all you great Mum’s out there, this one’s for you. We blog, we bake, we hug, we love, we yell, we twitter, we sigh, we cry, we are divas, we are devils, we are pushed to the limit, we push others to the limit … we are MOTHERS!! How difficult to put us in one word, but HEY, someone did it, & called us ‘mother‘. Have a good day!! The kids made cards for me … pretty ones, & each reflective of their current personalities. The daughter’s in her trademark black, with a B&W picture of me she clicked a few days ago. The son’s in all the colours he could use, with words to say he made it on his OWN…no help from anyone! They got me a set of pretty coffee mugs… & then we tried to bake together! A bit tough, with tempers quickly taking off because the weather was so HOT, then we & the weather cooled down with a sudden hailstorm!

It’s another matter that I went to the bazaar yesterday & got talked into buying strawberries. My regular fruit vendor was standing there with a 32 teeth grin planted across his face. Handing me a box of strawberries, he gleefully exclaimed that he had got them from Malaysia!! A little bit of investigation revealed Meghlaya, a North-Eastern Indian hill state, but he knew no better. He was too excited to care, & told me that stuff sells better if he can say they are imported! A sign of the times…sigh! I bought them anyway. The strawberries were meant to go into a chocolate tart, which didn’t oblige, so made a cake ‘with’ the kids today. They’d been on my case to bake something for Mother’s day; they wanted to help me make it. Got up this morning with a MD spring in my step, & reached the kitchen with David Levobitz’s recent French Tart scribbled on a scrap of paper. Failed to see the writing on the wall; I am obviously not a pastry chef in the making, & have a long way to go. It started off badly. Someone wrote to me the other day asking if I ever had baking disasters? Ever? This is just to put it on record … & is just one of the many I’ve had!!

Levobitz said use a Pyrex bowl; I used a microwave bowl, but it wasn’t a Pyrex one. Disaster struck, like I knew the voice in my head was telling me it would…why did I ignore it? I did… & paid the price with shards of glass & brown butter puddles, 5 minutes into the morning. Bravely got a Pyrex bowl & started again. Need my head examined I suspect. 5oz of flour was not making anything called dough. Added more…almost another 5oz. Still a pretty gloppy dough … but not to be disheartened, I slathered it into my tart tin, & baked it.

Got a tart crust alright, but it’s very very fragile, & is still cooling it’s heels in the fridge. I think the fridge is my rightful place though, after my pretty pathetic baker’s morning at 40C! The picture has a lovey shell, but it is = crumbs!! Maybe chilling will fix it, & only time will tell! Almost 200gms of butter later, finally made a ‘fat less’ chocolate sponge out of the Le Cordon Bleu Cook’s Bible. Sliced it into 2, sandwiched it with a whipped cream & chopped strawberries, topped it with a quick dark chocolate ganache, & sliced strawberries. Finished the top off with sliced almonds & roughly chopped pistachio nuts … with help from the kids. Daughter did all the dirty work for the sponge (I did the washing though). Then we had an argument (she teen, me not), & she disappeared with a bruised ego. The son helped me with the ganache … I mean, he clicked a couple of pics, & then religiously licked every spatula, offset & otherwise, said thank you, & scooted! Here’s what we made…

Sponge cake
4 eggs; separated
4 1/2 oz Castor sugar
2 oz cocoa
3 oz flour
Filling
200gms strawberries (sliced)
3-4 tbsps Castor sugar
200ml low fat cream
Slivered almonds, chopped pistachios for garnishing
Topping
150gms dark chocolate
100ml cream

Method:

• Preheat oven to 220C. Grease & line a Swiss roll tin. (I used a 6′ square tin, & cut 2 layers out of the cake. I think the jelly roll might work easier)
• Sift the flour & cocoa thrice. Reserve.
• Whisk the egg whites till soft peaks, then gradually add sugar & whisk till smooth. Add yolks & vanilla extract. Whisk.
• Gently fold in the dry ingredients, with light spoon movements, so the air doesn’t get released.
• Bake in a greased lined jelly roll tin for 8-10minutes.(I baked it for 20-25minutes because the tin was deep & not a jelly roll one)
• Cool completely, & cut into half.

Filling:

Whip cream & Castor sugar till holds peaks.

Topping:

• Gently heat the cream & dark chocolate on simmer till smooth. Take off heat, & whisk with a smooth till smooth & shiny. Cool to room temperature & pour over cake.
• Top the cake with rows of sliced strawberries etc. Chill until served.