Kitchen Corner

October 27, 2014

Praline Chocolate Cake ll


After many years playing with variety of cake recipes, I would still like to stick with certain recipes that suit my taste buds as well as my loves one just like this praline chocolate cake. We had the first taste 10 years back and till now we still miss it and find it is the best. I just realised it hasn't occurred in my menu ever since four years back. As this cake needed lots of effort, it will only be made in special occasion. I took an ppopportunity of a cell group  birthday party  to make a huge one recently, a big round 10 inches approximately 3.3kg praline chocolate cake.


This cake again won over everyone taste buds. It's well accepted no matter the youngest to the oldest and even a non appetite person ask for half ended up eat a whole piece of cake. I was not in the party but all good feedback  was leaving after all and I believe the wonderful cake is unforgettble one.


Thank you for a cell member reserved a piece for me and so I able to take a picture of the inner part of the cake as well as tasted it myself. I'm quite happy with the result as the praline taste very well with the cream, chocolate and soft layers of sponge cake.


Recipes for 10 inches round cake

Ingredient for 10 inches cocoa sponge:

254g egg whole eggs
40g egg yolks
169g Caster sugar
26g sugar syrup
1.25g salt
133g plain flour
1.25g baking soda
Vegetable oil 40g
26g cocoa powder
26g fresh milk

Heat up corn oil at low flame, turn off flame, add in cocoa powder and mix well, set aside.
Beat whole egg and egg yolk, sugar and salt on HIGH speed till foamy.
Add in glucose and continue beat on MEDIUM speed till double in volume and ribbon-like.
Sift in cake flour and baking soda, beat on LOW speed till mix well.
With a spatula, take 1/3 of the batter and mix it with oil cocoa mixture, fill in this mixture with the remaining batter, combine well. Last add in milk and mix well.
Pour batter in a 10” round baking pan and bake for 35mins at 180c.
Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let cool completely before unmould.

Ingredient for 10 inches plain sponge cake:

5 whole eggs
150g caster sugar
133g plain flour
50g unsalted butter (melted)

Beat the whole eggs till yolk and white mixed together. Place under a double boiler keep whisking the eggs and gradually add in caster sugar in three batches. When the sugar dissolved and the batter is slightly thicken remove from the double boiler. Continue to whisk the batter until pale in color, double the volume as well as thicken. 
Gradually add in the shifted flour and fold gently and slowly with spatula. After the flour well cooperated with the batter, add in the melted butter. Combine well and pour into a baking pan. The baking pan should be lined with baking paper and grease and coated with flour at around the baking pan. 
Spray some water a thet batter and bake at 180C preheated oven for 30 minutes then turn the heat down to 170C bake until the top golden brown and the sponge cake spring back when lightly press by a finger at the center.

Ingredients for the praline paste:

120g whole hazelnuts
150g caster sugar
150g water

Lightly toast the whole hazelnuts on a baking sheet.
In a stainless steel sauce pan, combine caster sugar and water. Do not stir. The mixture will reduce. Allow to caramelize and you will see the sides start to color first. Once the sugar reduction has caramelized, remove from heat. Add the lightly toasted hazelnut to the caramel then stir briskly, this should be done very quickly as the sugar reduction will start to harden. The heat from the caramel will warm the nuts and allow the hazelnuts essence to permeate. The nut caramel is then poured onto a greased marble slab. Allow the caramel to cool. Once cool use a spatula to spread and press the nut caramel in an even layer. Flip the cooling layer over. Allow to harden. Use a rolling pin or some other weighty tool to break up the hardened nut caramel. The pieces should be small enough to fit in your food processor. Pulse the food processor until the pieces begin to smooth until a smooth paste.

Chocolate praline truffle (makes 22 pieces):
130g 70% Dark chocolate
125ml cream
25g unsalted butter
some toasted almond nibs

Add the cream and dark chocolate in a clean bowl and melt on a double boiler. Once the chocolate melted add in the butter until well combine. Once the mixture cool down.  Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes until a thick consistency. 
Place the chocolate mixture into a piping bag and squeeze out equal amount of round chocolate on a tray with baking parchment.
Chill in the fridge until harden. 
Coat the balm of hands with sugar powder and roll each chocolate into ball shape. Chill in the fridge until set.
Coat each chocolate truffles with praline paste then coated with toasted almond nibs. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.

Chocolate mix nuts pieces:
100g dark compound chocolate
Some mix nuts 
a handfuls of shelled pistachio
a handfuls of skinned hazelnuts
a handfuls of whole almond
a handfuls of walnuts or pecan

Melt the dark chocolate on a double boiler. Toast all the nuts in a 160C preheated oven until lightly brown. Roughly chop into small tiny pieces. Add them into the melted chocolate and spread evenly on a tray with baking parchment. Chill in the fridge until harden. Break the chocolate nuts into pieces and store in a container. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Garnishing:
500ml whipping cream
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoon sugar powder
150g ready made praline paste
350ml whipping cream
150ml cream
50g 70% Dark chocolate
some toasted almond nibs
Some baileys for brushing on the cocoa sponge
some cointreau for brushing on the plain sponge

Whip up the 500ml whipping cream with vanilla extract and sugar powder until thicken. Chill in the fridge while preparing others cream.

Whip the 350ml whipping cream until slightly thicken then add the ready made praline paste. Whip until thicken.  Chill in the fridge while preparing the chocolate cream.

Melt the chocolate and cream in a sauce pan at very low heat. Turn off the heat after the chocolate melted and stir until well combined. Set aside and start to assemble the cake.

Slice the plain sponge and cocoa sponge into three equal sheets. You will only need two sheets of cocoa sponge cake and two sheets of plain sponge cake. Keep leftover in the freezer for future other purposes. 

Place a piece of cocoa sponge on a cake board, brush some baileys on the sponge then spread a layer of the vanilla cream on the cocoa sponge evenly. It's better to use the piping bag to pipe out the cream, that would be much even. Place a plain sponge on the vanilla cream then brush with some cointreau and pipe out the praline cream on top. Place another cocoa sponge on the praline cream with baileys brushed and pipe out the vanilla cream. Place the last piece of sponge cake with cointreau brushed and pipe out a thin layer of praline cream and chill in the freezer until the cream has set. Spread the vanilla cream around the top and and side of the whole cake then chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. Coat some toasted almond nibs at the side of the cake. Then, pour the chocolate cream on the top and use a spatula to spread evenly and left some sauce drip down from the edges. Chill in the fridge until the chocolate set. Pipe some cream around the top edges then spread left over praline paste at the center evenly. 
Arrange the chocolate praline truffles and the chocolate nuts pieces on the cake. Chill the whole cake in the fridge
overnight before serve.
Too much work??? Worth the effort for special occasion really!!!


1 comment:

Digital Kitchen Scale said...

Beautiful and Perfect design.. Very elegant and classy.. Delicious by just looking at it..


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