I love being a Daring Baker. We are an ever expanding group of bakers that make it our mission to once a month step outside of our comfort zone and try something new…and dare I say it? – something daring.
The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.
The Chocolate Valentino
Talk about a decadent dessert. This “cake” was amazing – perhaps the best tasting cake ever. What surprises me, as a newbie in the baking world, is how something this amazing is made with nothing but melted chocolate, butter and eggs. No flour, no sugar, no baking powder – nothing else. Which also surprises me in the fact that this was considered Daring enough for the Daring Bakers. It comes together in less than 20 minutes, then bakes for a mere 25 minutes – and then what? You eat it. You scoop some ice cream on it and shiver as the fudgy goodness adds an extra 5 pounds to your hiney. But oh is it ever worth it. You can always add an extra mile or two on the treadmill, people…you should not deprive yourself of this cake.
Now, officially, to be a true Valentino, this should be made in a heart shaped pan – but our challenge didn’t require us to use one. So I didn’t. Number one, I don’t OWN a heart shaped pan. Number two, I am too poor to buy one. Number three, I don’t do hearts. Just not a fan of anything heart shaped. So sue me. Call me an anti-romantic if you must…and though I like a love story as much as the next guy, hearts are just a bit too cheesy for me.
We were told to choose the chocolate we wanted to use – be it white chocolate, milk, semi-sweet, bittersweet – you name it, we could use it. I chose about 3 ounces of Lindt milk chocolate, 3 ounces of Lindt Intense Orange Dark Chocolate, and 10 ounces of Semi Sweet chips. The subtle flavor of the orange was a great choice…this cake was so smoothe.
Instead of the heart shaped pan, I made one 6 inch cake and put the rest of the batter in the new Wilton Brownie Pop Pan which made 8 little baby cakes. These I had to pull out of the oven at 18 minutes. The 6 inch pan needed to bake for 28 minutes, and was still a bit undone when I cut into it (but oh so yummy!) The brownie pan is a cute little pan to add to your collection of random bakeware – it’s lots of fun. As for the ice cream challenge – I did not use either of the recipes our hosts provided – I just threw together an easy vanilla cream from David Lebovitz that (
eek) doesn’t require cooking the eggs into a custard first.
And without further ado, here is your recipe, from Sweet Treats by Chef Wan.
Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated
1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.
