Molten Chocolate- Raspberry Cupcakes (Gluten Free Optional)

This recipe came from the Everyday Food email subscription via Martha Stewart:

Every Day food with Sarah 

We choose it because she mentioned how little flour was in the recipe.  We are always looking for gluten free options when we are in Sweden, so this was perfect.  Zok used Chickpea flour for its consistency, but added in corn and bit of an all purpose gluten free until he got the texture he wanted, with the least amount of aftertaste.

Here is the recipe as Zok did it-

35 minutes from start to stomach

1/2 cup of white sugar

6 tablespoons (100 g) of room temperature butter (cut into small chunks)

4 eggs

1/2 cup of gluten free mixture (substituting for all-purpose flour)

Pinch of salt

100 g or 8 oz 70 % dark chocolate (semi-sweet)

2 fresh raspberries per cupcake

(our recipe made 10 cupcakes)

Confectioners/Powdered sugar to dust the top

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 205 c or about 400 f

Line your cupcake tin with paper cups

(melt your chocolate in a water bath)

In your mixer bowl, add your suger, then beat the butter chunks in a few at a time until fluffy

about 2 minutes (on med-high)

Then add in eggs one at a time (let each egg get beaten thoroughly before the next egg)

Turn mixer to low and add in the flour and salt

Beat in the chocolate just until combined

Fill each cupcake cup half way, add in your raspberries and then fill up the cups

Cook just until the tops are set and no longer shiny

(Zok cooked ours for 8 minutes)

Remember the middle is 'molten' so they seem a bit under cooked (you don't want to cook them as much as you would an ordinary cup cake)

Let them cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes (we ate ours only after 5 they were too tempting.)

Double Chocolate (white and dark) Marble Cake (Kitchenaid)

This is Zok's altered version of violet, double chocolate marble cake from a KitchenAid recipe book.

100 g dark chocolate (70%)*

50 g white chocolate chips*

115 g softened butter

150 g sugar

2 Eggs

200 g self-raising flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180 C.  Grease a 23 cm ring mould.  Melt your chocolate.*

Cream the butter and sugar in the mixer bowl with the flat beater on speed 4 for 1 minute, until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.

If the mixture looks curdled, add a tablespoon of flour.**

Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl, then beat into the creamed mixture on speed 4 for 1 minute until well-combined.  Spoon half the batter into another bowl and add the vanilla extract and white chocolate.
Then with your melted dark chocolate, mix this into the batter left in your mixer bowl with the flat beater on speed 1 until thoroughly combined.

Then drop alternating spoonfuls of each batter into your cake tin.  Smooth the surface with a spoon and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. (Warning-overcooking really dries out this cake). Leave the cake in its tin to cool, but first loosen the edges a bit with a dull knife.

Zok tops his cake with a ganache. (If you search the word ganache-it will take you to that post)
However here is the recipe from the book, we just have no access to violets.

100 g white chocolate
25 ml violet liquer
50 g crystallized violets
Melt your chocolate together with the liquer.
Roughly chop the crystallized violets.
Melt your chocolate and stir in your liquer.
After turning your cake out- drizzle the cake with icing and then sprinkle on the violets.

*This is what is stated in the book recipe, but this sort of depends on what chocolate you have access too- the cake relies on good chocolate, so you are best to buy specialty chocolate from a chocolate shop if possible.

If it is a large block you can grate it, if the chips are large just break them a bit.

Zok melts his chocolate by using hot water in a tin bowl, with a tin bowl with the chocolate on top, and the heat from the water melts the chocolate.  Then using a rubber scraper to get all the melted chocolate into the mix.

**Zok would tell you to always have a shaker of flour by your side when baking and add as needed.

Pretty in Pink Birthday Cake

Be careful what you ask for while standing in our kitchen.

This is how I came to have this cake on my birthday one year.

The cake was so sweet that I was the only one who ate any...

 

I think that the combination of the sweet frosting and the white ganache is why the cake was so sweet.

It was lovely to look at though and my inner 7 year old self could have eaten more, well if she didn't try to never touch the cake and keep it forever because this cake looks like the, cake a princess would have for breakfast.

 

Zok said the cake was easy but then, we are talking about Zok who has no trouble wandering the neighborhood until he found a likely rose bush...

 

This is a kitchenaid book recipe:

Serves 12

Prep: 40 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Chill: 3 hours

 

Ingrediants:

175 g softened butter

175 g sugar

1 tsp cardamom

3 eggs

175 g self-raising flour

25 g ground almonds

2 tbsp rosewater

1 quantity White chocolate ganache*

flavored with the seeds of 1 vanilla pod

 

Rose icing:

2 large egg whites only

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

125 ml rose syrup

125 g sugar

a few drops of red food colouring

50 g edible silver balls (these were my favorite when I was smaller)

50 g coarsely chopped crystallized rose petals

petals from 1-2 pink roses

-you need cooling racks and your cake tins

 

This cake is meant to be eaten the day of- hence being a birthday cake- due to the fresh dairy ingrediants 

 

Preheat oven to 180 c. Lightly grease and line two 18 cm tins with grease proof paper

Cream the butter, sugar and ground cardamom in the mixer bowl with teh flat beater on speed 4 unitl pale and fluffy

Gradually mix in the beaten eggs

adding a tablesppon of flour and beating well after each addition

 

Add the remaining flour and ground almonds and mix briefly

Stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to give a soft dropping consistency

Spoon the batter into the prepared tins and smooth the top

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cake has risen, is golden brown and springy to the touch

Cool slightly then turn them out onto your wire cooling racks

Sprinkle the rosewater evenly over both cakes and leave to cool, finally peel off the greaseproof paper

 

Make the white chocolate ganache, leave to cool and then chill for 3 hours or until the ganache has a spreadable consistency

 

Spread the ganache on one cake and press the second cake on top of the other

Make your rose icing- 

Whisk your first 3 ingredients in the mixer bowl with the wire whisk attachment on speed 8 until soft peaks form

Gradually add the rose syrup, sugar and red food colouring until the meringue is still and glossy

fold in the rose liqueur and spread the icing all over the cake, creating swirls and peaks to make your cake pretty

Sprinkle the silver balls, and both the fresh and crystallized rose petals over the icing

Note: you can of course use a different mixer 

*Ganache

Zok uses ganache often instead of normal icing

This is for soft speadable ganache- more chocolate makes a more truffle like (or if you are Zok this is his idea of american pudding...)

150g chocolate (70%)

100 ml double cream

 Grate the chocolate with a course grater 

(or use the rotor vegetable slicer/shredder on speed 4 of your mixer)

Place your shredded chocolate in a heatproof bowl 

(We have trouble finding chocolate of the high grade in blocks, so sometimes Zok uses the large chip style, doesn't grate those, and just waits the added time for them to melt down)

Bring the cream to a boil on low heat

Pour onto the chocolate and leave it for long enough for the chocolate to melt

Then leave to cool and you have your ganache to spread out