Oh another chocolate cake post! :)

 

Hello blogger beauties,

 

I hope you are having a super week. I just wanted to share some pictures of a cake I made for the staff at Noah’s day care.

Initially I didn't want Noah going to day care but due to this Crohn’s condition that seems to be lingering around me we decided that noah should go a couple of days a week so I could have some rest. But the first day care centre we enrolled him in made us feel all so miserable. He would cry so much that once he even came home with a blood shot eye which we assumed was from crying all day, oh it broke my heart! It was a really stressful time for me, because as a mum it’s already hard to leave your child in day care let alone when they are miserable there.

So after a year of no change we enlisted him in another day care centre and wow what a change! Now he is more than happy to go and in the last six months he has only cried twice and very briefly, all thanks to the loving staff who are really supportive, friendly and genuinely take an interest in him. So not only is he loving it, but so is mummy! Yay!

I think most moms get me when I say it never gets easy leaving your child in day care, so for me having people who truly care about Noah makes my day easier and more relaxing!

So I thought I would thank the staff and show them my appreciation by baking a lovely chocolate profiterole cake. I know! Another post on chocolate cake... it’s like my forth already. Lol! Ok I love chocolate! ;)

Here are recipes I used which I have tweaked here and there to suit my preferences. :)

Donna Hay Chocolate Buttermilk Layer Cake (Donna Hay Website)

( I have doubled the ingredients for an 8 inch cake tin because I like my cakes nice and high.)

• 2 cup water
• 250gm butter chopped
• 70 grams cup cocoa, sifted
• 4 cups plain flour, sifted
• 4 cups caster sugar
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of baking soda sifted
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup of buttermilk

Preheat oven to 160c.

Line an 8 inch cake tin with non stick baking paper.

Place the water, butter and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the butter has melted.

Place the flour, bicarbonate soda and sugar in a bowl, add the cocoa mixture and whisk to combine.

Add the eggs, buttermilk and whisk to combine.

Bake for 1 ½ hours or until cooked when tested with skewer.

Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. 

Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Donna Hay Chocolate Butter cream (Kid’s Magazine)

• 250 gm butter, softened
• 2 cups of icing sugar, sifted
• ½ cup cocoa, sifted
• 2 Tbsp milk

Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixture and beat for 6-8 minutes. Add the icing sugar, cocoa and milk and beat for a further 10-15 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache

• 200 grams of dark cooking chocolate chopped
• ½ - ¾ cup of almond milk

Place the chocolate and almond milk in a microwave bowl and stir in intervals of 20 seconds until completely melted and combined.

My Mum’s (Anna Iagrossi) Choux pastry (Love these)

• 120 grams of unsalted butter
• 1 cup water
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup plain flour
• 3 eggs

Pre-heat oven to 160 decrees.

Place the water, butter and pinch of salt in pan over medium heat and stir until the butter has melted and is simmering.

While simmering, lower heat and stir in the flour until mixture comes together and leave the sides of the pan.

Transfer the mixture in a bowl of an electric mixture and beat on low for a minute or so.

Add eggs one at a time.

Combine each egg by placing mixer on a low setting, add the egg and combine for a few seconds, increase the speed and mix for a further minute. Repeat this process for other two eggs.

The mixture should be thick and a good sign is if a wooden spoon stays upright in the mixture.

Spoon the mixture onto two baking trays, leaving room for spreading.

One heaped teaspoon usually gives me cute little profiteroles. J

Donna Hay Creme Patissiere (Classic Book 2)

• 2 cups of milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 caster sugar
• 1/3 cornflour

Bring the milk to boil in saucepan over medium-high heat.

Whisk together eggs and sugar until thick and pale.

Add cornflour and whisk until combined.

Slowly pour the hot milk, whisking continuously.

Pour the mixture back in the saucepan over medium- high heat and simmer rapidly while whisking continuously for 5 minutes or until thick.

Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the cream to cover it and set aside in the refrigerator to cool.

Building the Cake

• Once I layered and filled the cake with ganache I covered it with butter cream and let it set in the refrigerator for a while.
• I drizzled the ganache starting from the centre so it would fall evenly on the sides.
• And lastly I topped the cake with profiteroles I had pre-made and put shards of chocolate between them.

 

I do hope this makes sense as it is bit late and this is an unusually longer post! J

Well, as this week has been particularly hard in regards to my health I have been praying a lot. And I guess I would like to end this post with my personal thoughts to God lately that despite how I am feeling,  how hard my days are, or the prayers He has yet to answer,  ‘As for me, I will always have hope, I will praise you more and more.’ Psalm 71:14

Anita x