Tuesday 28 February 2012
Poori and pork (tikka) masala
Posted by My Kitchen Antics at Tuesday, February 28, 2012 32 comments
Labels: bread, Indian, indian fried bread, Non Vegetarian, poori, Pork, pork tikka masala, South Indian
Tuesday 21 February 2012
French onion soup
Posted by My Kitchen Antics at Tuesday, February 21, 2012 32 comments
Labels: continental, Fine French, French onion soup, soups, winter food
Wednesday 15 February 2012
Double chocolate layer cake filled and frosted with chocolate ganache
Is everyone over and done with the whole Valentines day drama? After an overdose of mushy stuff on FB, posts on blogs and movies on telly, I for one am done with it. You can also say its sour grapes because my husband didn't even wish me on V day. The fact that we are not really in talking terms worked for both of us because he doesn't believe in birthdays, V days and anniversaries and I believe in them too much that I am annoyed if I'm not made to feel special on all these days. But strangely enough he remembers the day we met, the day we got engaged etc. etc. which I think is cute, but who cares about dates...show some love instead (or a Tiffany's ring would make me a happy (but shallow) woman)
Chop the chocolate as finely as possible and place in a heat proof bowl.
Bring the double cream to a boil in a sauce pan, over medium heat.
Take it off the flame and immediately pour over the chocolate.
Let it stand for a couple of minutes after which you can gently start stirring using a whisk or wooden spoon (without incorporating any air into the ganache) till you get a smooth glossy chocolate mix.
Add the caster sugar and gently stir until melted. Keep aside for 15 to 20 minutes for it to slightly harden. Not too much though.
Assembling
OK so you can basically use the ganache in three different ways- Fill the cake with whichever icing you prefer, put on the other layer, place the cake on a cooling rack and just pour the ganache on top, enabling it to drop off the sides as evenly as possible. Messy, but good shiny, glazed topping would be the end result.
Second would be to whip it up like how you do a normal whipped cream frosting. Bring the ganache to room temperature and whip on high for 2 minutes or so. This could work for cupcakes.
Third, would be to let the ganache harden a wee bit and then use it like how you would do for a butter cream icing, for more thicker frosting and piping designs...which is what I did.
Place the cake on a stand/plate in which you are going to serve.
Generously douse a layer of ganache on top, evening it out with a palette knife, as much as possible.
Place the second cake on top and do a crumb coating by doing up the entire cake in a thin layer of ganache. Try and smooth it out as much as possible. If you ask me, this is the hardest part of frosting a cake.
Keep aside to set for a while and then do the final coating...go ballistic with the remaining ganache and coat the entire cake..again, try and smoothen it out as much as possible.
Decorate with chocolate balls, wafers, chocolate shavings or just grate some chocolate on top and place it in the fridge.
Two hours before serving, bring it back to room temperature and slice using a knife dipped in hot water so you get a neat slice.
Enjoy with some vanilla ice cream or on its own.
Notes: Please use the best possible cocoa available. Dutch processed would be ideal.
One cake had a dome, so I had to slice a bit of the top using a serrated knife.
As I mentioned before, I'd baked the cakes the previous night and once they had cooled down completely, I wrapped them in cling film and stored in the oven at room temperature. They didn't dry out and was as moist as it should be.
Plain chocolate is different from dark chocolate and milk chocolate. Dark choc. would make this more bitter, but if you prefer that, go ahead with the option.
The espresso coffee can be replaced with instant fresh coffee. I put 2 tbsp of instant espresso powder into a cup of boiling water and used that.
I didn't bake both the cakes together because I only have one pan. I also have ready made cake liners (like massive cupcake liners) which I use religiously. So once cake 1 was done, I waited for 5 minutes, and moved it on to a cooling rack (with the cake liner). Placed cake liner 2 into the same cake pan, filled with batter and baked for the exact same time. Took it out and cooled as usual. This is probably not the best way to go about baking 2 cakes, but they both turned out gorgeous.
Linking this to the chocolatelove bloghop event over at Junia's
Posted by My Kitchen Antics at Wednesday, February 15, 2012 51 comments
Labels: Baked Goodies, birthday cake, Cakes and Cookies, chocolate ganache, double chocolate layer cake, Easy Recipes, filled with ganache, frosting cake
Friday 10 February 2012
Mutton red curry
Posted by My Kitchen Antics at Friday, February 10, 2012 22 comments
Labels: goat, Kerala Cuisine, lamb, mutton red curry, South Indian
Tuesday 7 February 2012
Spend Vouchers, Get Rewards!
Posted by My Kitchen Antics at Tuesday, February 07, 2012 4 comments
Labels: Review, sponsored post, Tesco clubcard
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Hot chocolate fudge cake
Posted by My Kitchen Antics at Wednesday, February 01, 2012 33 comments
Labels: Baked Goodies, chocolate, chocolate pudding, Delectable Desserts, Easy Recipes, Food Review, hot chocolate fudge cake