Happy New Year to all my blog visitors!!! I hope 2011 is filled with love, happiness, and lots of sweet creations :o)
This week's recipe for the
Heavenly Cake Bakers falls into the "baby cakes" category:
Chocolate Bull's-Eye Cakes, baked in mini MaryAnn pans. I don't have these pans so I baked the genoise batter in a large MaryAnn-ish pan. I'm not sure what the exact name of my pan is, but it had an indentation in the center and a nice fluted edge, something I bought at a garage sale 2-3 years ago and never used, and so I went with it. I'm glad I did because it worked perfectly!
I made the genoise with beurre noisette. I just love the way that smells :o) The genoise batter came together pretty easily. Actually, the entire dessert from start to finish, took a little less than 3 hours.
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| Pour batter into pan, smooth out, and bake |
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| After a 20 min stay in the oven, the cake sank back a little bit and the sides pulled away from the edge slightly, as expected |
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| The cake is syruped and brushed with an apricot glaze |
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| I put a thin layer of Orange Pastry Cream in the cake's cavity |
I wish the book had stated an approximate cooling time for the chocolate cream. After 1.5 hours in the fridge, it was still not fully set. It took an overnight stay in the fridge to set completely. Maybe it was my own doing because of the pastry cream I added underneath.
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| Pour the Chocolate Cream filling on top of the pastry cream into the cake's cavity |
The cake is almost gone (and it hasn't even been 24 hours yet). Needless to say, it was a big hit.
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| An inside view of this wonderful dessert. Bon Appetit! |
Final thoughts/tips:
- Without a doubt, I knew hubby would like this cake: the genoise is light, fluffy and moist, and the chocolate cream was not overpowering. He gave it a 9 out of 10.
- Instead of adding alcohol to the syrup, I used an equal amount of orange juice. I also added a thin layer of Orange Pastry Cream underneath the chocolate cream.
- My other taste testers, Wafae and her family, also gave this dessert a big thumbs up. Keywords like "light", "European-style", "good flavor combo, the chocolate and the orange" were brought up a couple times. I have to agree with those observations.
I like that you did it in the big pan -- I have a similar one that my mother found for me at a garage sale, and if I make this recipe again, I think I'll go with it. It's neater than cutting out bits of cupcake.
ReplyDeleteWow this one looks so good! I have never made genoise. It looks so tasty!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a wonderful and happy New Year too!!!!
No wonder it's almost gone, it looks perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I had one of those pans and just took it to Goodwill a couple of weeks ago having no idea what to make in it. :-)
ReplyDeleteJ'aime beaucoup Hanâa. C'est joli à regarder et c'est également une belle façon d'apprêter un gâteau éponge. Bonne et heureuse année ma chère Hanâa! Caroline B.
ReplyDeleteWOW -- as always your cake is so special! love the fluted edges.
ReplyDeleteHanaa, this is gorgeous. I love the fluted pan, and great idea to use orange pastry cream! Your piping of the glaze looks perfect.
ReplyDeleteThis is soo pretty! I love that you baked it in that pan, it looks so much better than a regular one.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cake! I'm not sure if I'm going to get to this one, but it sure looks good. I currently have too many things I want to bake and not enough time to do it.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year to you too! Your large cake turned out beautifully.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a clever idea!! I would have never thought of doing it in a large pan! So creative! Happy New Year to you too!
ReplyDeleteOh yum! It sounds fabulous!
ReplyDelete@Katya: this pan definitely worked out great!
ReplyDelete@Flourchild: this is a great genoise recipe to try for a first time, Michelle. Give it a try sometime.
@Leslie: no way! I guess you'll have to go back now and buy it back :o) At least it's for a good cause, right?
@Caroline: merci beaucoup! C'est un delicieux recette. Bonne annee a toi aussi :o)
@Joan: thank you! I thought the fluted edge turned out pretty nice too.
@Jenn: thank you so much. I'm happy I got good use out of this pan that had been just sitting idle for a few years.
@Andrea: if you don't get to it this week, try it for a Free Choice week. It's another good Rose recipe.
@Lois: thank you, Lois!
@Faithy: it worked out really well and it was less work than doing individual cakes :o)
@Vicki: thank you, Vicki. It was quite tasty. I'm going to eat the last slice right now :o)
ReplyDeleteThis looks like such a great and yummy dessert for the indulgent and festive season. I love the look of the texture.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! I look forward to seeing what you bake in 2011.
yummilicious! just irresistible :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know what Mary Ann pans are, but I love the way yours turned out. What a great idea to have the little indentation, that you fill with lots of goodies!
ReplyDeleteI have this pan too! I should have tried it in this one. I was afraid that the chocolate would run all over the place. Very couragous of you ;)
ReplyDeleteI think in our country it would be used for a fresh fruit filled cake. I've seen them around here but don't own one....
ReplyDeleteIt looks lovely, almost like a sunflower!
Your cake looks devine! I love chocolate and orange together. What a cool pan with the identation. I can understand why the cake disappeared so quickly!
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