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.
Personally I think this decadent cake doesn’t need to be served with whipping cream or ice cream. I tried both, first I served it with crème fraîche and then I tried with Dulce de Leche ice cream. I have to say served pure I like it the most.
Wendy and Dharm asked us to be creative with the chocolate, so I used a „normal“ bittersweet chocolate and one with roasted cacao nibs.
The nibs gave a crunchy crumb to the cake, I loved it.
I made just half of the recipe (I try to loose some weight) and baked the dough in my cute mini loaves pan.
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Chocolate Valentino
makes 3 mini cakes
100 g of bittersweet chocolate 72 % with roasted cacao nibs, roughly chopped
125 g of bittersweet chocolate 74 %, roughly chopped
60 g of unsalted butter
3 medium eggs separated
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
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 15-17 minutes 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.
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Don’t forget to visit the blogs of my fellow Daring Bakers.
November 2007 Challenge – Tender Potatoe Bread
December 2007 Challenge – Yule Log
January 2008 Challenge – Lemon Meringue Pie
February 2008 Challenge – French Bread
March 2008 Challenge – Perfect Party Cake
April 2008 Challenge – Cheesecake Pops
May 2008 Challenge – Opéra Cake
June 2008 Challenge – Danish Braid
July 2008 Challenge – Filbert Gateau
August 2008 Challenge – Chocolate Eclairs
September 2008 Challenge – Lavash Crackers
October 2008 Challenge – Pizza
November 2008 Challenge – Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting
January 2009 Challenge – Tuiles
More entries and recipes in English.
want to eat beautiful screen
top with chocolate and there’s by my house
Very well done! Your cakes look fantastic!
Cheers,
Rosa
I totally agree with you Zorra. This cake is best eaten by itself! And you just can’t stop :)
sehr schokoladig, super ;-)
This looks great Zorra – and I love the sound of the cocoa nibs. I think it is rich enough on its own too.
Wish I could eat it right off the screen!
Zorra I love that you made them in mini loaf pans! they look really adorable. This was a great chocolaty challenge!
REPLY:
You must be a true chocolate lover Zorra :) Your cake looks lovely!
I have a mini loaf pan that I have yet to use, and I was thinking of making the cake into mini loaves like yours. However, I scrapped that idea and kept it simple. After seeing yours, it makes me want to try it that way again. Great jpb – lovely!
Hola Zorra:
Qué rico y qué bien te ha quedado el desafío de este mes de Daring Bakers. Está delicioso, yo también lo he hecho y me ha gustado participar. Ya piendo en qué poner para tu evento de Food & Glas. Besos mil y gracias. Cuando se hayan pasado una serie de situaciones que ahora tengo complicadas me encantaría ser la anfitriona del Hemc. Pero ya te diré. Ahora no me es posible. Ya me dirás tú algo sobre lo que hay que hacer. De nuevo gracias y besos
Mmm, your cakes look beautiful!! I love the mini size =D!
REPLY:
te mandaré los informaciones del hemc por email.
So sweet in those mini pans and with such great chocolate, no wonder you didn’t need adornments. Nice idea to use the nibby chocolate for texture and crunch.
I really like the look on those baby chocolate cakes. Baking it in individual mold like this is always make the cake look more beautiful.
Cheers,
Elra
What a cake I just loved it also alone only the chocolate and butter and the air of the eggs – you only taste chocolate texture when you eat this cake. Great job on this challenge. Thanks for the comments on my blog, yours from Australia Audax
Wow, dein Kuchen sieht lecker aus.
Leider bin ich erst auf die Idee gekommen, noch irgendetwas knackiges/crunchiges in den Teig zu geben, als er schon ihm Rohr war ;)
I wish I would have thought of using nibs – the extra texture in the crumb would have been lovely!
Methinks i need to try this again with cacao nibs. Great idea!
Beautiful little cakes! Your photos are wonderful, but I bet the real thing was even better. :)
I do like the miniloaves! Though I would have been tempted to eat an entire one on my own…the slices are much more sensible.
Great job!
Your cakes look delicious! Fabulous job.
No word for it! CHOCOLATE TEMPTATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bellissima e buonissima!
Your pics always delight me, I try to learn but with very modest results…
Have a nice Sunday!
They look just lovely, Zorra! Yum!
I really like your idea of making them as mini loaves, Zorra. They have turned out very well.
Te han quedado monísimos en esos moldecitos. ¡Yo quiero! Y no me puedo ni imaginar lo chocolatísimos que debían saber con ese cacao al 70%… Mmmmm. buenísimo.
Ciao ! Looking at your beautiful mini cakes I wish I still had one !!
Oh yum. nibs in the cake!! I’m addicted to them and that must have tasted wonderful.
Nicely done Zora!! Your cakes look lovely and I have to agree that the cake is delicious on its own! Thanks for joining us this month on the challenge!
I love those little loaves. Portion control is definitely recommended with this rich and decadent cake! ;)
Oh man that really does look delicious. I am currently on the slow carb diet, so this is probably a no no for me :(