The Most Quickest and Easiest Chocolate Cake With Marzipan and Blackberry

I was so amaze when Katherine posted this chocolate cake, for its quick and easy recipe. Looking at how moist the cake in her photo look like, I just had to make my own. Katherine got the recipe from Gigi, where she got the recipe from a Ricks College roommate by the name of Cheryl Jones. This recipe has been with her for 33 years. Some of you may not even born yet! So now, I am passing this recipe to my sisters, who knows, she might pass this to her friends as well!  

I really think that this chocolate cake should have a real name, but of course it is not my place to give it a name, since this is not my recipe. Maybe Gigi, should name this cake, what do you think?

This chocolate cake is seriously the easiest recipe I have ever made in my life. It is not just easy, but it's also very quick to make. All you have to do is, mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients together, then bake. That's it! Couldn't be more simple and quicker then that. It doesn't require whisking and sifting. Sounds like a good recipe that my sisters will be happy to try. 

A few things I did differently was adding marzipan and blackberries (my family favorite), I used 6 tablespoon of cocoa powder instead of 3.  I also omitted the shortening, because I didn't have any, maybe that's why my cake wasn't look as moist as the Katherine's cake. I must say that I like the addition of blackberries, and the marzipan which add the gooeyness when you bite it. As you can see from my photos,  I didn't put any icing on the cake. And that, even make the process quicker.

Apple Strudel. May's Daring Baker's 2009 Challenge.

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Strudel dough

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” 

by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

• Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary. Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

• Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally. Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better). 

• It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.

• Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.
  

• The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

(*) Note on the making the strudel dough:
I did the strudel dough as directed, but did the resting period slightly differently from the recipe.  I referred to some of my Eastern Europe and German Cookbooks. Most of them mention that the dough should be rest on a warm place. My Hungarian cookbook even mention that the dough should be cover with a warm ceramic bowl, and keep warming the bowl if the bowl get cool down. I though this must help with the stretch and minimize the tears. 

So, what  I did was, preheated the oven for 100⁰F. As soon as the oven reach 100⁰F, I turned it off, place my dough inside the preheated oven to rest for an hour. I was amazed when I took out the dough, I could feel how  pliable dough was. I began to pull and, was not having trouble at all. I could  strecth the dough so thin and transparent, even  a little bit wider and longer then the recipe stated. I had very minimal tear, 2 or 3 tores at the edge, which was forgivable! I think you should try this method, and let me know whether you have the same result. If it turns out not as pliable as mine, then I should do more research, on what exactly I did differently. 

Apple Strudel:

Recipe adapted from: Bavarian Cooking by Olli Leeb

1 recipe of strudel dough (above)

3 pounds Golden Delicious Apples, peeled - cored - sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

5 ounce raisins - soak with 5 tablespoon rum for 15 minutes

3 ounces butter, melted

1 cup quark

sugar 

cinnamon

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

Confectioner's sugar

• Put the apple slices in a large bowl, sprinkle with lemon juice. 
• Brush the pull out strudel dough with melted butter. Dab the quark on top of the dough and distribute evenly. 
• Scatter the apple slices over the dough in a single layer, make sure you leave about an inch from the edge. Sprinkle with the rum soak raisins, sugar and cinnamon.
• Fold in the edges of the dough, then roll up the dough (with the help of the kitchen towel) loosely. Slide the strudel into a well buttered baking pan.
• Preheat oven to 400⁰F
• Bring  milk and cream to a boil, and pour over the strudel in the pan. Bake on the middle rack of oven for 45 to an hour until golden brown.
• Cut into serving size, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. This strudel good serve hot or cold.

I used different recipe for the filling, because I wanted to add Quark which I really like.  If you never had Quark before, you must try it, it is really delicious!

• As I have made Strudel in the past and used many different recipes from different sources. The recipe from Rick Rodgers chose by the hosts, work nicely as well. I will not hesitant to use this recipe dough again. So, I thank the wonderful hosts,  Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks  for choosing such a nice challenge for us, The Daring Baker's member! THANK YOU!   

The crust was amazingly tender and flaky. And, I must let you know that I am not even a crust person. Every time I eat tart or pie, I will put aside the crust. Not sure why, it just not my favorite thing to eat. But, this strudel crust, I actually ate it.

Oh, one should not to forget to thank  Lisa and Ivonne who created this fabulous monthly event, called the Daring Baker.  Haven't join this fabulous group yet? Shame. 

Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens'

"Blue Honeywort"

Six-Braided Egg Bread

Another delicious and worth trying bread from Susan's recipe. The texture she described was the only reason why I wanted to try her recipe. And I kid you not, this was the best egg bread recipe I've ever tried. If you don't believe me, then you should really try to make it yourself. Recipe can be found here.    

Of course, I just have to show this of by  sending this bread to Yeast Spotting event created by Susan from Wild Yeast. There will be many delicious sweet and savory bread recipes to enjoy, so make sure to visit her blog. To join this event is very easy, here is how:

• Bake with yeast (wild or baker's) or make a dish starring bread.
  
• Post about it. Please include a recipe/formula, or a link to one, or some indication of how the bread was made. Also please include the word "YeastSpotting", with a link to this page.
• Submit your post here. Please submit it during the same week it was posted.

I love how she explain this eleven things to love about egg. I had no idea that egg is consider to be Aphrodisiac (how exciting, let's eat more eggs....) I certainly can not live without egg in my kitchen, one day I will have my own chicken running around in my backyard. Wouldn't be nice, to collect your own fresh eggs in your own backyard? 

Let's go back to the bread. 

What I did differently was, I made it with 6 braids instead of 3, and  shape the dough into round. I got the idea of  this beautiful round shape from Rosa who made a beautiful "Buttermilk Honey Bread" OR Let's say it in a fancy way "Pain Au Babeurre Et Au Miel" 

When my husband saw the bread, he decided to bring it to his office and shared it with his staff. He told me he gave it to one of his staff,  then he went to his office for some conference call. When he finished, he tried to find the bread, but it was too late. All gone! So, what more proof do you need? 

Chocolate Marzipan Cake. A Very Simple and Easy Recipe!

If you like dark chocolate and marzipan, then this cake is for you. It is pretty simple to make, almost effortless, and tastes delicious! Of course you don't have to put marzipan if you don't fancy it. 

ingredients:
5 eggs, separated
⅔ cup superfine sugar
2 tbs all purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
4 ounces unsalted butter
8 ounces - 70% bittersweet chocolate, cut into small chunks

9 ounces marzipan,  cubed

• Preheat oven to 375⁰F. Butter well a 9 inch spring form cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and butter the paper as well. 
• Melt the chocolate and butter together in a large heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, until almost melt. Remove from the heat, and  stir until smooth, let cool a little bit. Add ⅓ cup of the sugar and the yolks, stir with rubber spatula, just enough to mix . Add the flour and the salt, fold and set aside 
• Place the  egg whites in a mixer bowl, process on medium low until the egg whites starting to foam. Increase the speed to medium high, starting adding the remaining ⅓ cup of sugar a little at a time. Continue to process until  form a soft peak.
• Take about a ¼ of the egg whites and mix onto chocolate mixture, add the rest of the egg whites, fold gently just until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
• Scrape the batter into prepared pan, distribute  the marzipan evenly on top of the batter.
• Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack, cool for 5 minutes. Un-mold and  let the cake cool completely. The cake will sink in the middle as its cool down, so don't panic! If desire, dust with confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder before serving.

Update (Tuesday, May 19, 2009):

I had a few question about marzipan vs almond paste. Here is what my understanding about them:

Almond paste is made out of  of finely ground blanched almonds, sugar, and water that is cooked until it reaches a smooth consistency, then  almond extract is added for flavor. 

Marzipan is made out of almond paste, sugar, and egg whites, but it doesn't require cooking. Marzipan is normally more pliable then almond paste, so it is very good  for molding or making decoration. 

For this cake you can use Almond paste or Marzipan, it is all up to you. 

Savarin With Berries and Crème Chantilly

I tend to like dessert that has the same characteristic of a bread. Anything made with flour and yeast base dough. I find it very satisfying, especially if I can serve them with seasonal fruit. Savarin is one example of this dessert I am going to share with you. If you make BABA before, this Savarin is exactly the same only baked in a different mould (bigger, rounder, with hole in the middle). And, unlike BABA, it doesn't contain any dried currants in it.

The dough is enriched with butter and egg, resulting the light, soft, and spongy. The spongy texture it gets from the yeast is perfect  to soak up all the Rum syrup, or any syrup of your preference. Just  remember not  letting  your dough rise to much at the  first rise, as this will make your Savarin becomes too fragile, and the the least thing you want is having bread instead of Savarin. Hope you will like this as much as I do!

Savarin:

Adapted from Baking With Julia

⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water

2 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 large (room temperature) egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons (room temperature) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

A few cups blueberries, blackberries, and/or raspberries, strawberries.

• Put the lukewarm water in a bowl, sprinkle over  the yeast and the sugar. Leave for 5 to 10 minutes to bloom.

• Place the flour in a food processor, add the yeast mixture. Mix briefly. Add the egg, and mix well. With the machine still running, start adding the butter a little at the time. Continue to process until the dough is elastic, shiny, and start pulling from the side of the bowl. 

• Transfer the dough into a clean bowl. Cover with plastic, let the dough rest in a warm room for 20 minutes, or until the dough is just slightly risen. The dough should feel very light. 

• Take out the risen dough and shape into log to fit into an 8-inches Savarin mold that has been grease with butter. Cover with a clean kitchen towel, let it rest until its double or fills the mold, about 1 hour to 1½ hours.

• Bake in a 400⁰F oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden, and it start to shrink or pull from the side of the mold a little. Un-mold the Savarin onto a wire rack, cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the Rum Syrup:

Boil gently 1 cup sugar with 1½ cup water until a little bit syrupy. Cool the syrup until lukewarm before adding about 3 tablespoons (or more) rums.

• Just before serving, brush the Savarin with rum syrup (as much or as little as you wish) until it has absorbed completely, just remember to leave some of the syrup for the berries. 

• Mix the berries in a bowl, add the reserved syrup and mix. Serve the Savarin with berries and crème Chantilly (sweeten whip cream)

Another recipe to submit to  Yeast Spotting (why not?, the recipe has yeast in it, so it's qualified for the event), created by Susan from Wild Yeast. There will be many delicious sweet and savory bread recipes to enjoy, so make sure to visit her blog. To join this event is very easy, here is how:

• Bake with yeast (wild or baker's) or make a dish starring bread.
  
• Post about it. Please include a recipe/formula, or a link to one, or some indication of how the bread was made. Also please include the word "YeastSpotting", with a link to this page.
• Submit your post here, and please submit it during the same week it was posted.

Danish Pastry, A quick and Easy Method.

I post this today as I thought it would be perfect for those of you who really want a special breakfast on Saturday or Sunday morning. If you make this pastry today (Friday), you will  be able to bake it tomorrow and share it with your family.  Sounds good, no?

Remember when I told you that I become addicted to make laminated dough? Okay, so here is another one (I hope you won't get bored), though as not as elaborate as puff pastry, still is a laminated dough. 

A special message for the non Daring Bakers, and especially for my two sisters:  it's not as intimidated as you think! Trust me!

I found that this is the easiest method of making Danish pastry, so don't be scared. Once the dough is done, it can be use and shapes, and fill in many different way. According to Baking With Julia cookbook, this is how it is done in Denmark now days.

I filled the pastry with apricot jams, wild blueberry, and yellow peaches, sprinkle with slice almond on top. You can fill the pastry with just about anything you like.

Recipe from: from Baking With Julia

Recipe by: Beatrice Ojakangas

Ingredients:

¼ cup warm water (105⁰F to 115⁰F)

2½ tsp active dry yeast

½ cup milk

1 large egg, at room temperature

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 sticks (226 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into large pieces

• Pour the water into a large bowls, sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften for a minute or two. Add the milk, egg, sugar, and salt, and whisk to mix. Set aside.
• Put the flour in a food processor, add the butter. Pulse 8 to 10 times until the butter cut into pieces not larger then ½ inch. 
• Transfer the dough into the yeast mixture bowl. Mix just enough to moist the flour. Do not over mix, or your dough will end up to be a bread or cookie dough.
• Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap, chill in the refrigerator overnight, or up to 4 days (to fit your schedule)

Rolling and folding:

• Lightly flour your surface area. Put the dough on into it, dust with a bit more flour. Roll into a square about 16 inches. Fold the dough into a third, like folding a letter, then turn it, so that the close fold is in your left (if, by this time you find the dough a bit too soft, wrap - refrigerate to firm it up before proceed for the next fold). 
• Otherwise, roll  the dough out again, into a rectangle about 10 inches wide by 24 inches long. Fold the rectangle dough into third again, then turn so that the close fold is in your left, and roll into a 20 inches square.  
  
• Fold this square in third like business letter so it become  a rectangle. Turn the now rectangle dough so that the close fold is on your left. 
• Once more, roll the dough into a long narrow rectangle, about 10 inches wide by 24 inches long.
• Fold in third again, then wrap the dough with plastic. Chill well for at least 30 minutes, or for as long as 2 days.
• The dough is now ready to be shaped, filled, and baked.

Note:

Each time you find the dough is stick or to soft to work on, stop, wrap, and quickly refrigerate for 20 - 30 minutes, then continue.

To store: 

This dough can be kept covered in the refrigerator for 4 days, or wrapped in airtight and frozen for 1 month; thaw overnight (still wrapped) in the refrigerator.

Since Danish  contains yeast in it, I am sending this to Yeast Spotting event created by Susan from Wild Yeast. There will be many delicious sweet and savory bread recipes to enjoy, so make sure to visit her blog. To join this event is very easy, here is how:

• Bake with yeast (wild or baker's) or make a dish starring bread.
  
• Post about it. Please include a recipe/formula, or a link to one, or some indication of how the bread was made. Also please include the word "YeastSpotting", with a link to this page.
• Submit your post here. Please submit it during the same week it was posted.