My Chocolate Fantasy

There’s a certain amount of pleasure gained from making fancy birthday cakes that cost next to nothing. How? Not cheap ingredients! Make your fancy birthday cakes from the trimmings of other cakes.

There is inevitably some ‘fallout’ from making celebration cakes, particularly wedding cakes made of many layers. These cakes always need trimming and cutting into shape before they are glazed with chocolate.

• But what can you do with those delectable biscuity trimmings? • What to do with the traces of ganache from the different fillings? • What to do with the spare cake and cream left over from the cake shaping?

You can just eat it all, then and there, but that seems downright greedy – or throw it away, which seems downright wasteful… or you can make more brand new fancy birthday cakes!

Just after delivering a large wedding cake one year, to be honest I was a bit ‘caked out’! But my grandson wanted one of my ‘fancy’ birthday cakes. I needed something different, quickly.

I remembered that in my Grandmother’s time, bakers used to put all their cake ends and scrapings from the day’s production into a large bowl, together with any plain cake left unsold and a goodly slosh of alcohol. This was mixed, made into a large slab and sold next day in small slices as Tipsy Cake.

That set me wondering.

Could I do something similar for my grandson, but keep it alcohol-free, and also use up the spare ganache I had prepared for that wedding cake?

Yes! It was one of my most successful fancy birthday cakes, a 3D chocolate dinosaur.

The basic ‘construction material’ is now known in our family as Rubble Cake.

Rubble Cake is excellent for creating 3-dimensional detail. For larger cakes, use sponge layers and ganache for the main body of the shape, then rubble cake for the rest of the modelling. The shaped cake should be refrigerated at regular intervals to harden the chocolate in the mixture. Once the model is firm, more room-temperature rubble mixture can be added.

Rubble Cake: my original experiment (quantities are variable!)

Note: exact results are unpredictable according to the original cake components. Remember that ‘less is more’ regarding the amount of ganache you add to the cake crumbs. Too sticky a mixture is difficult to work with. However, don’t panic if you do add too much ganache; just pop it in the fridge to chill slightly in order for it to harden before use.

Model at will!

As well as fancy birthday cakes, this same mixture makes good plain truffles if rolled into little balls and dusted with cocoa. It can be used as a base for cold chocolate mousse cake or can be used as one layer in a chocolate layer cake.

(Note: so successful was Rubble Cake that now the joke is on me. Instead of making Rubble Cake cakes from leftover trimmings I now have to bake new cakes to break up for my fancy birthday cakes…)

Everyone loves cake. Impress your family and friends with delightfully decorated cakes. The use of an icing or some sort of garnish will add an air of elegance to your cake designs.

Creating beautiful and delicious cakes is not as frightening as it might seem. Whether you prefer rich chocolate cake or creamy cheesecake, choose one of the cake recipes below and enjoy step-by-step guidance for the preparation process.

Your loved ones will appreciate these divine, dazzling and elegant cakes.

DEVIL’S FOOD CAKE – COUNTRY LIVING HOLIDAYS

Ingredients

1/4 c. Butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 c. Sugar

1/4 Tsp. Salt

1 Tbs. Vanilla

3/4 c. Unsweetened cocoa

3 1/2 c. Unsifted cake flour

2 Tsp. Baking soda

2 1/2 c. Water

4 Egg whites, at room temp.

Cocoa frosting

Chocolate glaze

Confectioners’ sugar and -unsweetened cocoa (opt. for checkerboard decoration)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350′F. Generously grease and flour three 9-inch round

cake pans.

2. In a large bowl with electric beater or mixer, beat butter, 3/4 C

sugar, salt, and vanilla together until fluffy.

3. Combine cocoa, flour, and soda in a sifter. Sift into bowl on top

of butter mixture. Add water and beat at low speed just until smooth.

4. With clean beaters in a medium bowl, beat egg whites until fluffy.

Gradually add remaining 3/4 C sugar. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Fold, one-third at a time, into chocolate batter.

5. Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake until centers spring

back when touched-20 to 25 minutes.

6. Cool 5 minutes in pans. Turn out on cooling rack and cool

completely.

7. Prepare cocoa frosting. Fill and assemble cake. Spread a thin

smooth layer of frosting over cake. Refrigerate 1 hour.

8. Prepare chocolate glaze. Place chilled cake on a cooling rack with

a tray underneath it. Spoon glaze onto top of cake. Spread evenly allowing glaze to flow down sides. Smooth sides.

9. Place cake, still on cooling rack with tray, in refrigerator until

glaze is firm.

10. Decorate top with cocoa and confectioners’ sugar checkerboard just

before serving, if desired. Place 1-inch strips of thin cardboard gently onto frosting 1-inch apart. Sift unsweetened cocoa over top of cake to solidly fill spaces. Carefully remove and clean strips. Place gently in opposite direction. Sift confectioners’ sugar over cake. Remove strips.

Cocoa Frosting: In a medium bowl, beat together 1/3 C softened butter or margarine, 1 1/2 lb. confectioners’ sugar, 1/3 C unsweetened cocoa, 1 Tsp. ground cinnamon, 3/4 Tsp. vanilla and 1/3 to 1/2 C milk. Use to fill and frost cake.

Chocolate Glaze: In the top of a double boiler, over hot (not boiling) water, melt 6 1-oz squares semisweet chocolate and 4 Tbs. butter. Stir in 3 Tbs. cold water and 1/4 C confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Use to glaze a 9-inch cake. Country Living Holidays, a source for cooking and recipes.  Scanned and fixed by Di Pahl.

CRANBERRY AND WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Ingredients

CAKE 4 oz. White chocolate, chopped

2 pkg. 8-oz cream cheese

3/4 c. Sugar

3 Eggs

2 Tsp. Vanilla

pinch Salt

3 c. Sour cream

CRUST: 1 c. Graham cracker crumbs

2 Tbs. Butter, melted

2 oz. White chocolate, chopped

GLAZE: 2 c. Cranberries

1/3 c. Sugar

1 Tsp. Cornstarch

Grated white chocolate for Garnish if desired

Directions

Recipe for Crust: Stir crumbs with butter until well moistened; stir in chocolate. Press into the bottom of a greased 9-inch spring form pan. Centre pan on a 20 X 14 inch piece of foil; press up tightly around side of pan. Bake in 325F oven for 8 minutes. Let cool on a rack.

Recipe for Cake: In a double boiler melt chocolate. Let cool. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until softened. Gradually beat in sugar; beat for 3 minutes or until fluffy. On low speed, beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla, chocolate and salt; stir in sour cream. Pour onto crust. Set cake pan onto a larger shallow pan; pour in enough hot water to come 1, inch up the side. Bake at 325F for 1 1/4 hours or until the edge is set but centre still jiggles slightly. Turn oven off; let cool in oven for 1 hour. Remove from larger pan and remove foil; let cool on a rack. Cover and refrigerate over night.

Recipe for Glaze: In saucepan cook cranberries and 1/4 cup water, partially covered, just until boiling. Stir in sugar and return to a boil; cook for 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved but berries have not popped. Drain, reserving juice and berries separately. Remove cake from pan; place on cake plate. Return juice to saucepan; blend in cornstarch. Cook, whisking, until boiling and thickened; let cool slightly. Spoon berries around edge of the cake. Spoon glaze over top. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until set. Garnish with chocolate gratings. Canadian Living, December 1993.

Have you ever thought of re-inventing bathroom decor using dark/chocolate bathroom styles? Well! There are many who might think chocolate theme doesn’t fit in bathroom styling.But think again, really how tempting would chocolate colored walls look in your bathroom! Imagine walking into dark wood bathrooms with specialty or dim lighting and subtly decorated wall tiling. The entire aura magnified by the presence of dark/chocolate bathroom cabinets. This is the modern era and hence, to keep in-style with the essence of modernism, you can re-decorate your bathroom in such a way that it feels like a part of the entire home and also transforms into what we call the‘classic dark bathrooms.’ It doesn’t take much of an effort to convert your existing bathroom into something that is no less than a slice of paradise! You will have to start with the walls or the tiles and then go up all the way to the top or the ceiling. But the true mood of the bathroom decor can only be set if you add some dark colored steam showers, cabinets, and dark/chocolate bathroom vanities. If you use color contrasts like dark/chocolate bathroom layouts with light and misty colored floor tiles then your bathroom will transform into a place where you can get maximum relaxation. Bathrooms have, for a long time, served multiple purposes from being a place you can take a shower in to being a retreat for a tired mind and body. A beautifully decorated and color coordinated bathroom is an ideal island of peace and tranquility. And a dark or chocolate colored bathroom can be soothing and prove to be a paradigm in terms of décor. Studies have shown that dark/chocolate bathroom styles can uplift your spirit and make you feel much more at peace. Of course, if you do plan to carry out the changes in décor, it is not necessary that you have to have classic dark bathrooms where everything from vanities to the wood, tiles and even shower tubs have a dark tint on them. Look at it more from the point of view of it being a place of fun. Experiment with different colors but set the basic tones with dark/chocolate bathroom layouts. You can use everything from the dark and mysterious wooden tone to the revealing dark chocolate tones. In between, you can spray the walls or the doors with hues of chocolate such as cream or caramel. Using contrast well is the key; for example: if you are planning to use dark/chocolate bathroom cabinets then give the bathroom walls a misty, cloudy, light chocolate look so that everything just blends in. If you are planning to use wood bathrooms then a few small plants, a book rack, a white sand colored bathtub, and dark/chocolate bathroom vanities would give it just the right feel. On the other hand, you can install dark colored steam showers and paint your imagination on the wall tiles using hues and mix of dark and light colors to bring out the true essence of having something extraordinary!