Wednesday 30 July 2008

Short, sweet and simple with Filbert


I will keep this post brief as I am still encountering processing issues with my laptop.

It is that time of the month again where Daring Bakers unite and test our baking skills and patience in the kitchen. This month's host is Chris from Mele Cotte (thank you Chris!) where you will find the entire recipe for the gateaux. Also, check out the various renditions of Filbert on my fellow DB sites.

I did not venture far from the original recipe, I simply scaled everything down by half to yield a smaller cake -- sufficiently satisfying the sweet tooth of six persons. The only problem I encountered was with my genoise, which shrank and sank upon removing from the oven. The texture, however, was moist, slightly dense and nibby with hazelnuts. As I was a little rushed for time, I used praline paste (50g to a total weight of 400g Swiss buttercream) instead of making my own for the buttercream which I know was cheeky and lazy on my behalf but hey, I go to work because somebody has to pay the bills (NB I assembled this cake in 5 minutes before leaving for work this morning - I did leave this challenge until the last minute and I do feel some sense of guilt I have to admit).

For the ganache, I used 100g of 85% cocoa Lindt dark chocolate melted in 180 mls pouring cream, 1 tablespoon glucose and 30g unsalted butter. The result is a super-glossy and thicker than normal ganache made with minimum 55% cocoa dark chocolate.

Although I enjoyed eating every bit of the slice of cake (pictured below), I thought it would be best if I shared it with my new workmates. I hope they enjoy eating it every last bit of it too.


19 comments:

Figur8 said...

I wouldn't have minded you sharing with me either :-p

giz said...

Your cake looks simply beautiful. The ganache and piping is wonderful.

Natty said...

Yummy! I love your piping. It's extravagant yet simple. Nummy!

Michelle said...

WOW...your layers are absolutely perfect! Mine are sort of bump and grind like!

Beautiful cake!

Laurie said...

So perfect looking!

Lot-O-Choc said...

Woa yours looks excellent, the layers are perfect!!

NKP said...

It looks just perfect, I would never have known that your assembley was a rush job. Congrats on a great cake.

Veron said...

Oh my! What a perfect cake. I love your borders and layers!

Lesley said...

That is definitely one of the more appetizing cakes I've seen! Your ganache is flawless and your piping looks wonderful!! Great layers too.

Anonymous said...

that's a gorgeous cake! I like how you put the buttercream on the outside of the cake too. Though I don't know how you got that chocolate ganache to not melt it and get all messy. Brilliant!

Anonymous said...

Really lovely!

Katy said...

beautiful!

Rebecca said...

What a lovely, yummy-looking cake! I wish I was one of your coworkers!

Tiffany said...

Great job! Your layers look fantastic!

Christine said...

Your cake is like Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way!

Christina ~ She Runs, She Eats

Li said...

Thank you all for your kind comments.
To get the layers even, I find it is best to freeze the cake before attempting to cut it. It crumbles less and you can afford to rough handle it a bit. On close inspection, you will see that the bottom most layer is not of even thickness - this is because the genoise sank a little in the middle and I didn't trim it to level it off.
jmom, to make ensure you don't end up with a buttery puddle upon applying the ganache, you just have to make sure the buttercream is set - I placed my cake in the freezer while i prepared my ganache. Also, work with a ganache that is neither too thick nor thin - like cold pouring custard. this will gurantee successful coverage :)

li

Ethan said...

wow! beautiful job, great looking cake!

Faery said...

Wow this cake looks so elegant and beautiful, love the colors

Peechy said...

oh my!! that looks soooo yummie, got a spare slice left? ;o)

lovely cake and beautiful piping.