Chocolate Biscuit Cake - Third time's the charm

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I ran across a recipe for Chocolate Biscuit Cake and I had to pause...

Chocolate covered biscuits? An image of chocolate dipped Pillsbury Grand Biscuits popped into my head. I thought about it for a second and finally shook my head. I couldn’t imagine steaming, flaky, buttermilk pillows coated with chocolate.

Then I had a DUH moment. The recipe was talking about British “biscuits” and not American “biscuits”. (A British biscuit is more like a church American cookie.) I mentally replaced biscuits with cookies and started to drool. I love chocolate, I love cookies, so the thought of the two combined into a cake was like something out of a dream.

I ducked into my pantry and finding all the ingredients on hand I decided to whip one up… and 24 hours later I had something resembling a sad, lumpy, lopsided Chocolate Biscuit Cake.

First off, the actors in this tragedy…

The original recipe called for biscuit cookies such as Burton’s or McVitie’s. I’ve never heard of those brands so I used some packets of Lorna Doone cookies that were left over from Halloween. I also didn’t want to experiment on a full size cake so I cut the recipe in half.

So first step was to line a mini load pan with plastic wrap, and then prepare the chocolate ganache for the cake.

Pour a thin layer of ganache into the pan.

And then top the melted chocolate with a layer of cookies. I wanted a high ratio of cookies to chocolate so I broke up the Lorna Doones and fitted the pieces into every available space.

Next pour a layer of chocolate on top of the cookies, and then more cookies. Continuing layering until you run out of chocolate or space in the pan. Loosely fold the ends of the plastic wrap over the cake and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Once the cake is set, remove it from the pan, unwrap and remove the plastic wrap, and place it top side down on a wire rack.

Next melt the chocolate for the cake’s outer coating. The original recipe called for a dark chocolate ganache coating, but I decided to try white chocolate instead. I though the color contrast would give the cake a little more visual pop.

And, sadly, this is where I ran into trouble. My ganache just wasn’t soft enough so I ended up spreading it on the cake like frosting.  Not pretty.  Refrigerate the unwrapped cake for at least 12 hours. 

When the chocolate is set, cut into 1/4” slices and serve…

Or try to serve.   When I tried to serve the cake problem #2 emerged.  Sadly as the cake started to thaw, I found that the bottom stuck to the plate. Very messy, and the brown slick left on the plate wasn’t very appealing. Taste-wise this Chocolate Biscuit Cake was pretty good but not great. The Lorna Doone cookies weren’t as rich and tasty as I had hoped, and the chocolate kind-of overpowered the cookies. So I decided to try the cake again and this time I decided to use some of my favorite tea cookies: Walker’s Pure Butter Shortbread.

So same process: layer of chocolate followed by layer of cookies.

But when I got to the final layer I realized I didn’t have room for another layer of the ultra-thick Walker cookies so for the final layer I used some left-over Lorna Doones.  And to solve the sticky cake bottom situation I crumbled up some Lorna Doones and gently pressed them into the liquid chocolate.

After allow the cake to chill for four hours, the final step was the white chocolate ganache. This time I decided to try Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers, but again I messed up because the Ghirardelli white chocolate just wasn’t thin enough to flow smoothly. (I really need to stop trying shortcuts and make a truly flow-able chocolate ganache.)

So my second attempt at the Chocolate Biscuit Cake solved one problem, but introduced two new problems. The cookie crumb base I added to the cake worked out great; it kept the cake from sticking to the platter and made it easy to serve. But using the Walker cookies didn’t work out so well. The cookies were much too thick to cut with a fork, so my taste testers had to hold the cake in their fingers and bite out big chunks with their teeth. – Not very genteel-looking as you can imagine.

The Ghirardelli wafers were also a bust. After refrigeration the coating was too thick and brittle so it shattered into pieces as I cut the cake. It was messy. Very messy.

So for my third attempt I went back to the Lorna Doone cookies, I used the cookie crumble base, and I (finally) used a pourable white chocolate ganache.   But I still wasn't satisfied with the look of the white ganache because this time I made it too thin.

So after the white chocolate ganache chilled for a few hours, I melted more of the Ghirardelli wafers and used a knife to spread it on like frosting.

In the end I learned to appreciate the chunky, rustic look of the cake, and because this time the Ghirardelli layer wasn't super thick it seemed to slice without breaking and shattering.

So the third time was kind-of, sort-of a success.  And everyone who tasted it loved it!  It turned out to be a great Easter dessert.





Happy Baking,

Carol

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Chocolate Biscuit Cookie Cake

(adapted from Tea Time Magazine’s Chocolate Biscuit Cake)

Ingredients

4-5 oz Lorna Doone cookies (or other English-style tea biscuit cookies)

6 oz milk chocolate morsels

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract



White Chocolate Ganache

4 oz white chocolate morsels

3-1/2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

and/or

Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers

Directions

Line a mini loaf pan with plastic wrap and set aside. I used a 5-1/2 x 3-1/4 inch pan.

Place milk chocolate morsels in a heat proof bowl and set aside.

Place 1/3 cup cream and 1/2 tablespoon butter in a bowl and microwave until hot but not boiling. Pour over milk chocolate morsels. Let sit for 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract, and then stir until the morsels are melted and the mixture is smooth.

Pour just enough melted chocolate mixture to coat the bottom of the pan. Layer whole cookies on top of the chocolate. Use broken pieces of cookie to fill in any large gaps. Pour another layer of melted chocolate. Continue layering until the pan is full. End with a layer of chocolate.

Crumble about 4 cookies, and scatter the crumbs on top of the last layer of chocolate.

Cover the crumb layer with the tails of the plastic wrap and gently press the crumbs into the melted chocolate.

Refrigerate in pan until the chocolate is hard, approximately 4 hours.

Remove cake from pan, uncover the cookie crumb base, and place crumb side down on a wire rack. Place rack on a baking sheet covered in some parchment paper. Completely remove the plastic wrap from the cake.

Place white chocolate morsels in a heat proof bowl and set aside.

Place cream and butter in a bowl and microwave until hot but not boiling. Pour over white chocolate morsels. Let sit for 1 minute, and then stir until the morsels are melted and the mixture is smooth.

Pour the White Chocolate Ganache over the top of the cake allowing the ganache to drip down the side. Use an offset spatula to smooth the ganache over the cake.

Refrigerate, uncovered for at least 12 hours before serving.

If also using the Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers allow the white chocolate ganache to chill for 4 hours before adding the melted wafers.

To serve use a sharp, un-serrated knife and cut into 1/4 inch slices. When cutting press down with the knife rather than sawing.

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Ovenly’s Vegan Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

The newest addition to my baking bookshelf is Ovenly  by  Agatha Kulagr and Erin Patinkin, and my first test subject from the book is the Vegan Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Don’t you just love chocolate chip cookies? Here, have one…

Now what makes this recipe different is the fact that it is Vegan, and pretty tasty to boot. It uses the standard dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt . . .

but it substitutes all the traditional dairy products (milk, butter, eggs) with canola oil and water.

I was a little skeptical that oil and water would combine, but after a minute of brisk whisking a smooth mixture was formed.

The chefs/owners of Ovenly Bakery stress that after mixing the dough you must let it chill for at least 12 hours before you bake it.  I'm not sure why it needs to be chilled.  Normally you chill to re-solidify the butter in the cookie recipe which helps it hold its shape, but this recipe just has oil.  Does oil solidify when it gets cold?  Where is Alton Brown when you need him!  I also found (unsurprisingly) that the dough was on the oily side.  When you form theses cookies make sure you have a towel handy, because your hands will get very slick.

But of course I was too impatient to wait more than an hour or two before baking up a few test subjects. Here are the little gems hot out of the oven. Golden brown and dotted with molten chocolate bliss.  I didn't have any coarse salt to sprinkle on them, so these are the unsalted version.

I actually managed to let them cool a bit before I popped one into my mouth. Hummm.... They were good, very tasty in fact, but I found them, how can I describe this … I found the texture of the cookie a tad oily and a little "loose".   The oily I can understand (the recipe called for 1/2 cup of canola oil), but it seemed that without the dairy the cookie didn't have anything to bind it together. The cookie just seemed to melt in your mouth without any chewing required. Melt in your mouth is not necessarily a bad thing, but I do like a little chew in my chocolate chip cookie. I wonder if chilling the dough for 24 hours will have any impact on the texture of the cookie...

 ~ 23 hours later ~

This time I followed the instructions to the letter.  I formed the dough into little pucks, popped them in the freezer for 10 minutes, and sprinkled them with coarse salt.

And the results were about the same.  I didn't see much difference between the cookies I chilled for 2 hours compared to the ones chilled for 23.  Same loose, melt in your mouth texture.  BUT much to my surprise I DID like the addition of the salt to the cookie.  With each bite I got this hint of salt mixed with the sweet of the cookie and chocolate.  It was like a brain teaser.  My mind didn't know whether to focus on the salt or the sweet.  The confusion kept me wanting more.  Very interesting phenomena.

So the final verdict from my family and myself...  Good cookies, very, very good cookies, but not the absolute best.  My favorite chocolate chip cookie is still the Mock Mrs. Field's also known as the Neiman-Marcus $250 Chocolate Chip Cookie that has ground oats and grated chocolate in the mix.

The next time I try this recipe I will throw in a some ground oats and some grated chocolate. That might dethrone the Mock Mrs. Field's cookie as my all time favorite!

Here is a link to the Ovenly Vegan Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies as published in Vogue Magazine.

Happy Baking,

Carol

Update (10-5-2014):  I baked a batch for a Saints Game Day Party, and these cookies were a huge, huge hit.  Everyone loved them!  There were no vegans at the party but there were who were several lactose intolerant.  The LI people now want these cookies baked for every sporting event.   And thankfully the Saints did win the game in OT what a nail biter.

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TWD: Clasic Brownies

I tend to prefer cakelike brownies over fudgy brownies, but these fudgy little gems were pretty darn good. Dorie Greenspan in "Baking from My Home to Yours" describe them as "Fudgy but not gooey, intensely chocolaty, dry on top and melty in the middle." That about describes them perfectly.

Many thanks, Anne, of Anne Strawberry for making this week's TWD selection. Go to Anne's web page for the recipe and check out TWD - Tuesdays with Dorie for links to the other "Classic Brownies" renditions.

TWD: Nutty Chocolatey Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

This week's Tuesday with Dorie selection of Nutty, Chocolatly, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake (page 182 of Baking From my home to yours) was made by Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort.



I've always had trouble with swirly Bundt cakes, so I took to heart all the suggestions made by the bakers who finished on time (unlike me). I buttered and floured the hell out of my non-stick Bundt. I carefully kept the swirly stuff away for the edge of the pan. Several people had a problem with the second swirl layer separating from the main body of the cake when the cake was removed from the pan, so again I followed their recommendations and completely covered the final swirl with batter.

[ Oops, I forgot picture of beautiful batter and swirly center, so you'll have to use your baking imagination. ]

Some of the TWD bakers also reported that the cake was cooked before the suggested 60 minutes, but somehow I missed that one. I was reading the news paper waiting for my oven timer to go off (it still had five minutes to go), when I smelled something burning!!!! I yanked that sucker out of the oven, but the damage was done. Sigh... I over-baked again.



To makeup for my blunder I whipped up a little ganache and poured it all over the top of the cake, and as an added touch I sprinkled mini chocolate chips on top. Nothing covers up mistakes like chocolate.

TWD: Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

This week’s Tuesday with Dorie was selected by Donna of Life’s Too Short Not to Eat Dessert First.

Now I’m not a fan of coffee flavored desserts, but these weren’t half bad. A little less coffee/espresso and a little more sugar and these chocolate shortbread cookies would have been perfect for my coffee-adverse taste-buds.



And I was really WOWed by the tip about rolling out the stick dough in a zip-lock bag. Why has it taken me 40+ years to learn that trick? Thanks Dorie, I’m always learning something new from you.



Update on the job front: Only one week till I start my new job!!! Yea!!!

I’ve been working as a “temp” since I was laid off in June. It is/was a good job except for the fact it offered no benefits. And being uninsured really had me worried. I must have had a hundred nightmares about getting into a car accident and having to pay hospital bills out of pocket! Yikes! Come on September 7, I need a good night's sleep.

TWD: Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake

This week’s Tuesday with Dorie baking assignment was chosen by Amy of Amy Ruth Bakes.



I’m a lover of all things chocolate, so I had such high hopes for this cake. The batter mixed up like a dream: thick, creamy, and very, very tasty.



But I missed judged the time needed to make the cake ( the cake came out of the oven at 11:15 am and I had to be at our Father’s Day party at noon), so I sliced and frosted the cake while it was still steaming hot. Of course the frosting melted on contact with the hot cake and the suddenly liquid chocolate oozed all over the place.


And the taste?

Well, honestly, I was a little disappointed.

I found the cake bland and the bottom and sides of the loaf were very hard. Maybe I cooked it too long -- I probably cooked it too long. -- I have a very bad habit of doing that :(

Here is a peek at the inside. My cake may not have been the best tasting thing at the party, but I just loved the look of all that warm chocolate oozing out and dripping down the sides. Ahhh chocolate.



Side note on the job situation: Only three more days till the pink slips come out! I wish Friday would hurry up and get here cause I keep swinging from deep depression at losing my paycheck to overwhelming joy at finally getting away from a job that was slowly killing me. I guess this emotionally roller coaster is normal????

So what should I do on my first Monday of unemployment? I think I may go back and start baking all of the TWD recipes I missed!

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake with so-so Chocolate Frosting

My brother's annual crayfish boil was on Saturday, and for this year's party I decided on Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting. Yummmmm. My favorite.



I scoured the listing on RecipeZaar and decided on:
Sue B's Chocolate Cake and
Courtly's Chocolate Frosting.

The Sue B's cake turned out amazing. It was dense, moist and as black as midnight. It had a melt-in-your-mouth texture, and you could really taste the cocoa and rich buttermilk. It was truly scrumptious. Just take a look at that color and extra moist texture...



Now the frosting, well.... That was not such a success.

The frosting had a light, airy consistency that was really appealing. BUT light and airy goes hand-in-hand with soft and unstable. Below are the steps involved in making the frosting. 1) beat together the butter, sugar and cocoa. 2) pour in the cream and whisk. 3) add the melted chocolate (cooled to room temp). 4) whisk until smooth and shiny.


Well the frosting came out smooth and shiny, but it was so soft and runny it kept oozing down the side of the cake. I finally had to place the cake in the refrigerator just to keep the frosting from sliding off.


I also didn't care for the color: I thought it looked a little anemic (especially when placed next to the deep, dark chocolate cake).



So I whipped up a batch of ganache and poured it over the top of the cake. Much better looking, or at least I think so...



But in the end the ganache wasn't enough to hold the soft, airy frosting in place, and a mini catastrophe ensued. The cake was inside the house, but the 76 degree temp was still to much for the frosting to handle. By the time I had slice up half the cake the frosting was oozing off the sides and the top layer of cake kept sliding off (note to self use dowels next time).

So if you want to use this frosting (which really tasted good) only risk it when the temperature is less than 70 degrees.

Chocolate-Almond Coconut Layer Cake

One of my favorite candies in the world is Almond Joy. Yummm. Luscious coconut, crunchy almonds, silky chocolate. What more could a person ask for?

How about cake?

Here is a concoction I threw together last weekend. My version of Almond Joy Cake.



It started out as Shubox Café's Coconut Layer Cake, but the cream cheese icing came out so soft and runny that I decided to cover-up by boo-boo with a crust of sliced almonds.


Almonds and coconut got me thinking about Almond Joy candy bars so I added a layer of melted chocolate and a ring of shredded coconut.


It tasted pretty damn good if I say so myself. Not to sweet, but oh-so rich and satisfying.

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Chocolate-Almond Coconut Layer Cake

Cake Ingredients:

2-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
10 oz (1-1/4 cups) sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez)
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar


Preparation:

* Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
* Butter and flour two 9-inch diameter cake pans.
* Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.
* Using an electric mixer beat sugar and butter until fluffy (about 3 minutes).
* Add sweetened cream of coconut to butter/sugar mixture and mix until incorporated. (Important Note: be sure to stir the cream of coconut before measuring. It settles and separates in the can.)
* Beat in eggs yolks (one at a time) and extracts.
* On low speed, mix in 1/3 of dry ingredients and then half of buttermilk. Mix in another 1/3 of flour mixture, and then the other half of buttermilk. Mix in the final 1/3 of flour by hand.
* Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites with cream of tarter until stiff but not dry peaks form.
* Fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.
* Divide cake batter between prepared pans.
* Bake cakes until tester inserted into center come out clean. 35-45 minutes.
* Cool cakes in pan for 10 minutes and then turn cakes out onto racks to cool completely.


Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Frosting Ingredients:

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
4 ounces ( 1/2 cup) sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez) - you can add less Coco Lopez if you want a stiffer frosting consistency.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

* Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until fluffy.
* Add butter and beat to blend.
* Add sweetened cream of coconut and vanilla extract and beat.
* Add sugar and beat until well blended.


Chocolate Ganache

Ganache Ingredients:

2 oz milk chocolate morsels
2 oz semi-sweet morsels
3 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1-1/2 Tablespoons butter

Preparation:

* Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds.
* Stir and microwave for another 30 seconds at 50% power.
* Allow to cool completely before using.



Cake Assembly:

Shredded Coconut
Almond Slivers

* Place 1 cake layer on cake plate and spread 1 cup of Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting over cake layer.
* Sprinkle 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut over frosting.
* Top with second cake layer.
* Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake.
* Press almond slivers into frosting on sides of cake.
* Pour cooled chocolate ganache over top of cake. Using a spatula spread chocolate to top edge of cake.
* Sprinkle coconut around the top edge of the cake.
* Store in refrigerator until frosting and chocolate are set.
* Let cake stand at room temperature for 2 hours before serving.

Ghirardelli Lava Cakes - Disaster

Don't you just love Lava Cakes?

Ooey, gooey molten chocolate flowing from a warm bed of chocolate cake.

Sigh. Too bad my lava cakes didn't turn out that way. Here they are in all their disastrous glory.

I knew I was in trouble from the get-go. The first part of the recipe had you prepare a frozen ball of chocolate that would be inserted into the cake batter just before baking. The recipe said to melt chocolate and cream together, refrigerate it until firm, and finally roll the chocolate into six balls. Well my chocolate would never harden! (Did I accidentally use too much cream? Or not enough chocolate? ) I even put the chocolate into the freezer and still it wouldn't harden.

Finally I just gave up, mixed up the cake batter and spooned the still soft chocolate centers into the batter.


After the suggested baking time I pulled the pan out of the oven. They looked pretty good, and I had high hopes for success.


But after tipping the cakes out of the pan, this is what I found.

DISASTER.

But what my lava cakes lacked in beauty they made up in taste. Yummy! I may have to try them again this weekend and figure out what I did wrong.

Here is the recipe if you want to give it a try.

TWD: Mocha-Walnut Marbled (Bundt) Cup Cakes

This week's TWD was hosted by Erin of When in Doubt…Leave it at 350. She chose Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake on pages 180 and 181 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking: from my home to yours.


After last week's Coconut Bundt Cake I didn't want to do another Bundt, so I made Mocha-Walnut Marbled Cup Cakes instead. And in honor of Easter I topped my cupcakes with a chocolate ganache bird's nest loaded with pastel eggs (aka Jelly Belly). Too cute, the idea came from Simplebites.


Taste-wise the cakes were good but not great (I liked last week's Coconut cake better). I really couldn't taste the ground up walnuts that were added to the batter..


And I found the mocha-chocolate component a little bland (read: needs more chocolate).


Here are the cupcakes about to go into the oven.


And a freshly baked cuppie with steam still escaping. Hot, hot, hot.


The cup cakes were moist, dense and very heavy. In hind-sight baking them as cupcakes my not have been the wisest choice. I'm sure they would have tasted a lot better as a Bundt cake.

But they still looked cute even though they weren't the best tasting things in the world.