“Chocolate is the only aromatherapy I need.”
Jasmine Heiler
I have a special love for layered cakes, and find them charming and whimsical. Some months go by without an anniversary or birthday and ‘no party cake‘ months makes me sad, as April seemed to be! There was a cake I longed to bake, an old fashioned chocolate cake on Barbara’s beautiful blog. Old fashioned always makes a connect with me, telling tales of days gone by in old stone kitchens and huge ovens where ladies gathered together to bake, sharing recipes and experiences, strengthening friendships that would last a lifetime …Cut to now. Visiting food blogs always leaves me INSPIRED! The quintessential question … What to make and what not to? This one cake was high on my list, and then came along The Secret Recipe Club, the brainchild of the very talented & sweet Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’. The idea behind the club – Each month you are “assigned” a participating food blogger to make a recipe from. It’s a secret, so don’t tell them you are making something from their blog!The blog assigned to me was one of my favourite food bloggers – sweet, generous, fun girlfriend Barbara @ Barbara Bakes. I was THRILLED, and knew just what to bake – her Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake with Maraschino Cherry Filling. I had 2 boxes of lush, red strawberries, so I decided to go with a balsamic strawberry filling. I knew they would pair well too!What caught my attention about the cake when I saw it first was that it was EGGLESS, yet so moist and delicious looking. I am often asked by my readers for eggless cake recipes. I’ve posted 2 eggless recipes a while ago, both cakes very nice. Yet this one is special because it is a layered cake, eggless, no butter and chocolaty moist! I filled it with a balsamic strawberry and cream filling, and slathered it with a deep decadent chocolate ganache using a 65% dark chocolate – divine!Eggless cakes always seem challenging to me as I’m impatient to get to the other end. Will they ‘deliver’ the promise of a good moist cake, rich in taste and flavour? Is there something I can offer my readers who often ask for an eggless cake recipe? This cake lived up to the promise and DELIVERED a wonderful cake, good to the last crumb {a cake that didn’t last long!} Strawberries and chocolate are a fantastic pairing and this is a great make ahaed cake as the flavours get mature over a couple of hours. I set the cake out about an hour before it had to be served.Mr PAB has not stopped singing praises of it as yet. This was immensely enjoyed by everyone and is certainly one not to be given a miss! If possible make it in 2 cake tins. I trimmed the cake with an 8″ dessert ring, and trimmed off a sliver thin slice from the top and bottom, and then sliced the cake ito 4 even layers. As the weather has turned very very warm already, I layered the slices with the filling and left it to set in the dessert ring for an hour {while we had lunch}.The rest of course was just a simple ganache to cover the cake, and the quickest way to dress it up that I know of, a web. Thank you GF for blogging this absolute winner, and thank you Amanda for assigning me Barbara’s blog. This is my first ‘secret‘ recipe of The Secret Recipe Club, and it’s been a FUN beginning. Here’s to many more!!
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Old Fashioned {Eggless} Layered Chocolate Cake with Balsamic Strawberries & Cream
Summary:This recipe is adapted from Cuisine at Home, taken from Barbara Bakes. This is an old fashioned eggless chocolate cake, which turns out moist and delicious. It’s a great one to make for vegetarians, or people who are allergic to eggs. Use a filling of your choice. I used seasonal strawberries to make mine.
Cake Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups hot water
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract Preparation
Preheat oven to 180ºC with rack in the center. Line the bottom of 1 9″ spring form tin.{If you can, use two 9×2 inch round cake pans}
Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. {Don’t use a mixer.}
Combine water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined, a few lumps are OK. Turn batter into prepared tin {or divide batter between pans if using 2}, then bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes for 1 or 35-40 minutes for 2.
Cool cake on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert them onto the rack.. Leave cake upside down (this flattens domed cakes) to cool completely.
Slice into 4 layers, and sandwich with filling {recipe follows}. Allow to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes, and then frost with the chocolate ganache {recipe follows} Filling
Ingredients
300ml low fat cream
200gm strawberries, chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
1-2 tbsp powdered sugar Preparation First prepare filling: Place strawberries, sugar, scraped vanilla bean and balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan, and simmer till it becomes thick and jam-like. Cool completely.
Beat cream to medium stiff peaks, and gently fold in cooled strawberry mixture, taking care not to release the volume of the cream. Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
200gms dark chocolate, room temperature
150ml low fat cream, room temperature Preparation
Place the chocolate and 100ml of cream in a heatproof bowl and microwave for 30-40 seconds {if the weather is warm as it is here, else try for minute}. You can also simmer it in pan until the chocolate melts. Stir well to combine both into a smooth ganache.
Give the cake one basic thin coating with this ganache, and reserve some for piping decorations. Add the remaining 50ml cream and mix until smooth.
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Just got a mail from Babble.com – “Congratulations! You are a Readers’ Choice Mom Food Blogger for 2011! Your blog has been nominated by the public as a supplement to our Top 100 Mom Food Blog list. Clearly your blog is a fan favorite when it comes to the best family-friendly recipes on the web, and we are so happy to recognize your achievements!” {Vote here}
