Momofuku German Chocolate Espresso Cake & a blog birthday

• Produce

  • 1 tbsp Corn

• Refrigerated

  • 2 Egg yolks
  • 3 Eggs

• Condiments

  • 3 tbsp Fudge sauce

• Baking & Spices

  • 1/2 cup 70g good quality cocoa, good quality
  • 15 g 72% dark chocolate
  • 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
  • 45 g Brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp Brown sugar
  • 155 g Cake flour
  • 375 g Castor sugar
  • 1 tbsp Cocoa powder
  • 20 g Cocoa powder
  • 162 g Icing sugar
  • 1 pinch Salt
  • 3 tsp Salt
  • 1 tbsp Sugar
  • 2 tsp Vanilla

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 40 g Canola oil
  • 1 splash Canola oil

• Nuts & Seeds

  • 1 cup Coconut
  • 125 g Pecans or walnuts

• Snacks

  • 60 g Feuilletine or broken up wafer cookies

• Drinks

  • 1 shot Espresso
  • 2 tsp Instant coffee
  • 2 tbsp Ovaltine or other hot chocolate, powder

• Dairy

  • 279 g Butter
  • 110 g Buttermilk
  • 2 tbsp Cream
  • 40 g Cream
  • 2 tbsp Milk, full-fat
  • 1/4 cup Milk
  • 1 tbsp Milk powder

• Other

  • 2 tablespoons glucose (50g

Found on thebrickkitchen.com

Description

Ingredients

• 15g 72% dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (9g)
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons glucose (50g)
• 1 tablespoon sugar (12g)
• 2 tablespoons cream (26g)
• Chocolate cake: 9 x 13 inch slice tin (20 x 30 cm)
• 110g butter, room temperature
• 300g caster sugar (1½ cups)
• 3 eggs
• 110g buttermilk (1/2 cup)
• 40g canola oil (1/4 cup)
• 3 tablespoons fudge sauce (see recipe above)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee
• 155g cake flour (1¼ cups) - if you don’t have cake flour, substitute with 1 cup + 2 tablespoons plain flour + 2 tablespoons cornflour (155g total)
• 70g good quality cocoa (1/2 cup)\
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 75 g caster sugar (2/3 cup)
• 45 g brown sugar (3 tablespoons tightly packed)
• 1 tablespoon milk powder
• 1 tablespoon corn powder (I couldn’t find any so used 2 teaspoons of cornflour - but if you can source corn powder that would be much better)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 56 g butter, melted (4 tablespoons)
• 40 g cream (3 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 125 g chopped pecans or walnuts (or both) (3/4 cup)
• splash canola oil (1-3 tablespoons)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 60 g feuilletine or broken up wafer cookies (3/4 cup) ( I used this type in chocolate http://shop.countdown.co.nz/Shop/ProductDetails?Stockcode=18307&name=homebrand-creme-wafers-vanilla)
• 113g butter, room temperature
• 162g icing sugar (1 cup)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 20g cocoa powder (1/4 cup)
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee (you can add more to taste)
• 2 tablespoons full-fat milk
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 tablespoons ovaltine or other hot chocolate powder
• 1 shot espresso

Directions

• Combine the chocolate, cocoa and salt in a small bowl.
• In a small saucepan, heat together the glucose, sugar and cream over high heat, stirring. The moment it boils, pour it into the bowl with the chocolate. Let sit for 1 minutes.
• Whisk the mixture together until it is glossy and silky smooth (2-4 minutes). Use the sauce at this point in the cake, or store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a 20 x 30 cm slice tin with baking paper.
• Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer with paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes on medium high. Add the eggs, and mix on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, oil, fudge sauce, vanilla and coffee. With the stand mixer running, gradually pour in the buttermilk mixture. Increase the speed to medium-high for 4-6 minutes until it is completely homogenous and increased in size for the original butter-sugar mixture. There should be no streaks of fat or liquid.
• Sift in the cake flour (or combination of plain flour & cornflour - see substitute in ingredients), baking powder, salt and cocoa. Mix on low just until the batter comes together.
• Pour the mixture into the lined pan, and bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until it bounces back slightly and the centre is no longer jiggly. A skewer inserted may come out with a few crumbs on it.
• Cool on a wire rack.
• Preheat the oven to 165°C and line the bottom and sides of a small baking pan with baking paper (I used a 9 x 5 inch loaf tin but anything similar will work)
• Combine the sugar, brown sugar, milk powder, corn powder (or cornflour) and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low until evenly blended.
• Add the melted butter and paddle for 1 minute until all the dry ingredients are moist.
• Add the heavy cream and vanilla and continue mixing on low for 1 minute until any white streaks from the cream have completely disappeared into the mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
• Add the egg yolks, paddling them into the mixture just to combine; be careful not to aerate the mixture, but be certain the mixture is glossy and homogenous. Mix on low speed until it is.
• Pour into the lined baking pan and bake for 8-10 minutes. Gently shake the pan. the crack pie filling should be firmer and more set towards the outer boundaries of the baking pan but slightly jiggly and loose in the center. If the crack pie filling is jiggly all over, give it 2-3 minutes.
• Once cooled, mix the crack pie filling with the sweetened coconut. this filling can be used immediately or stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days.
• Preheat the oven to 165°C.
• Put the chopped pecans/walnuts on a baking tray lined with baking paper and toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until fragrant.
• Puree warm pecans in a food processor with a splash of oil, salt and light brown sugar. The mixture will become smooth and almost runny, like a nut butter - you don’t want a crumbly nut mixture. Just keep going and add a little more oil if necessary. It may take up to 5 minutes or so.
• In a small bowl combine the pecan puree with feuilletine or broken up wafer cookies.
• Combine the butter, sugar, salt, cocoa and coffee in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 5 to 7 minutes, until it is smooth and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• With the mixer on its lowest speed, slowly pour in the milk. Crank the mixer up to medium-high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture is silky smooth and a glossy. Use the frosting immediately.
• Whisk together in a small bowl ready for cake assembly.
• - Take a look at this slideshow first on how to cut out the 6 inch rounds.
• http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2014/02/behind-the-scenes-in-momofuku-milk-bars-kitchen-strawberry-lemon-layer-cake-slideshow.html
• Will need edible flowers and toasted coconut chips if desired to decorate.
• Put a piece of baking paper on a chopping board or straight onto your counter top. Invert the cake onto it and peel off the baking paper from the bottom of the cake. If you are using a sharp edged, 6 inch cake ring, use the cake ring to stamp out 2 circles from the cake (see pictures). If your cake tin is round edged like mine, sit the cake ring on top of the cake trace out the circles using a sharp knife, and then cut the circles out carefully with the knife.
• Cut 2 semicircles in the remaining cake for the first layer.
• For the first layer: clean the cake tin/ring and line the base (or a small baking tray, if using a cake ring) with baking paper. Line the sides with a strip of acetate 9 cm wide and 55cm long - tape together.
• Put the 2 semicircles of cake together inside the ring, filling the gaps with remaining cake scraps. Use your hand to tamp down the scraps into an even layer.
• Dunk a pastry brush into the espresso-chocolate soak adn give the cake layer a good brush with the soak. (be generous, but you will end up with some left over, so don’t try to use half or it will be sodden!)
• Spread half the crack-coconut filling over the cake, pressing down in an even layer.
• Sprinkle half the pecan crunk evenly over.
• Use the back of a spoon or a small offset spatula to spread ⅓ of the chocolate-espresso frosting over the pecan crunch.
• Gently tuck the second strip of acetate between the cake ring/tin and the top cm of the first strip of acetate, in order to extend the height of your cake tin. Tape in place.
• Set a cake round on top of the chocolate frosting, and repeat the process of espresso-chocolate soak, the rest of the crack-coconut filling, the rest of the pecan crunch, and another ⅓ of the chocolate espresso frosting.
• Nestle the last cake round into the frosting. Cover the top of the cake with the remaining frosting and spread into an even layer.
• Transfer the cake to the freezer and freezer for a minimum of 12 hours to set the cake and fillings together.
• At least 3 hours before serving, remove from the freezer. Pop the cake out of the cake ring or remove from the tin and gently take off the base. Carefully peel off the acetate adn transfer the cake to a platter or cake stand. Let defrost in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
• Before serving, decorate the cake with edible flowers and toasted coconut chips.
• Any remaining cake (which there may not be!), can be kept in the fridge for a few days wrapped in plastic wrap.