About my baking challenge

I discovered the joy of baking for the first time ever in 2013, shortly after my dear mum passed away from cancer. During 2014 I tried to bring these two things together in a positive way , have fun and raise some money for Ashgate Hospice in Chesterfield where my mum passed away. Throughout the year I tried out new techniques and recipes from time to time ... and then sold some of my bakes for charity in my workplace. Since then I have continued to bake with some ups and downs .. and this blog charts my baking experiences, good and bad!

Sunday 20 April 2014

Chocolate rum Easter torte

Happy Easter everyone ... hope you are all enjoying the extended break from work.

As this is the first Easter time since I started baking, I decided to swerve Easter eggs this year and do a spot of Easter themed baking instead.  There were some fabulous-looking recipes in  last week's Mail On Sunday You magazine, so I thought I would try one ... and here it is 

Chocolate rum Easter torte



Taken from The Mail On Sunday You Magazine 13/4/2014 - recipe by Annie Bell

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:
For the cake:
150g dark chocloate (approx. 70% cocoa solids)
4 eggs, separated
150g golden caster sugar
150g unsalted butter, softened
25g plain flour, sifted
1 tbsp dark rum (I substituted approx. 1/2 tsp natural rum flavouring)

For the glaze:
100g dark chocloate
55ml boiling water
1 tsp dark rum (I substituted approx 1/8 tsp natural rum flavouring)

To finish: 
Easter themed edible decorations (I used micro eggs and choclate spaghetti)

Equipment:
1 * 20cm (8") loose bottomed cake tin (I used my Lakeland non-stick pushpan)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 C/160 C fan/gas mark 4. Grease cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.
2. Gently melt the chocolate for the cake in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, then set aside to cool.


3. Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and creamy, then add the butter and continue to beat until smooth.


4. Incorporate the chocolate and then the flour and rum.


5. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff, and fold into the chocolate mixture in two halves.


6. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin, and smooth the top.


7. Bake for approx 25 minutes or until risen, and a cake skewer comes out clean or with only the slightest moist crumb. Run a small palette knife around the cake and leave to cool - it will sink a little (mine didn't actually!!)


8. When cool, turn out the cake onto a plate with the base uppermost, and peel off the baking parchment.
9. melt the chocolate for the glaze, then add in 55ml of boiling water and the rum. Smooth the glaze over the top of the cake and top with edible decorations.  Leave to cool - you can refrigerate for a short while to serve chilled. Serve  with creme fraiche.


Observations:
This cake was very easy, though boy did it create a lot of washing up!! Yesterday afternoon when I went out I couldn't get any Cadbury's mini eggs for love nor money, but luckily I spotted some micro eggs in my local Tesco which I think were actually a better size for topping a cake. I also decided to use a bit of stray chocolate spaghetti I had around the place to give a slightly more nest-like appearance. 

I did have to guess the amount of rum flavouring to use, but googling indicated I should use 1/9 of the amount of actual rum (ie 1 tsp flavouring for every 3 tbsp of rum). My husband said he couldn't really taste the rum, though the cake was very rich although light ... I thought it better to err on the side of caution so maybe I would use a bit more next time :-)  Eating it with a dollop of creme fraiche was definitely the way to go though ... fab treat after our Easter dinner!

I would like to enter this cake into a few baking challenges, namely ...

Cake of the Week: Baking With Spirit - Chocolate & Alcohol (my rum flavouring does contain alcohol .. it's just more concentrated and cheaper than buying a whole bottle lol!)


Simply Food - Let's Cook Sweet Treats For Easter


Calendar Cakes (April), hosted by Dollybakes -  Easter Bakes

April's Calendar Cakes Challenge - Easter Bakes
The Pink Whisk (in conjunction with Two Little Fleas) - Easter Bake & Make  (2nd entry - I'm not sure if more than 1 is allowed as I couldn't see anything bout it in the rules .. so hope this is ok!! :-) )

Easter Bakes Recipe Competition

That's all from me for today .... all caked out now so I think I will be having a little rest from baking. Til next time ...
Hugs,

2 comments:

  1. This torte sounds great! I find that sometimes alcohol does more to the texture than the flavour, depending how much is added. I agree that it's better to err on the side of caution though, especially if you're not a huge fan of rum. Thanks for entering Baking With Spirit; it's very appreciated!

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  2. I think rum and chocolate is a match made in heaven - love the look of this torte

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