When I was a kid, my mom used to collect recipes from the magazines and food packagings. She would keep all the recipes neatly in files, categorizing them accordingly. One of the foolproof recipes that mom never failed to make during the festive seasons was this Almond Chocolate cake using Vochelle chocolate on which the recipe was neatly printed. The cake was always a hit, never failed to impress families and guests.
Such few ingredients needed to make a cake that is neither too rich nor too plain. Just like my mom, I seldom bake it in layers…just one piece then generously slather it with chocolate ganache. I would sometimes give the recipe a tweak by adding a little bit of cocoa powder just to make it a bit more chocolaty. At times, I would also throw some chopped chocolate into the batter right before baking. I guess after baking this cake for decades, you would naturally get creative in improvising the recipe to your liking.
One tip I must remind you is to whip the egg whites to medium peak, not stiff, as the latter would be too dry and create a lumpy batter. You then might see some ugly tiny lumps of stubborn egg white foam that would simply refuse to combine well. Stressful indeed!
If you happen to have issues with nuts, skip the almond and replace it with flour. Honestly, I find that adding some ground almond actually adds richness to the cake. It also helps to produce a flat top. Try different types of nuts if you fancy.
Now lets bake!
Almond chocolate cake
Course: DessertCuisine: EuropeanDifficulty: EasyPrefect chocolate cake for tea. No fuss!
Ingredients
250 grams (salted or unsalted) soften
150 grams granulated sugar
4 large eggs (separated)
150 grams all purpose flour (cake flour is good too)
1 teaspoon baking powder
100 grams baking chocolate (melted and cool a bit)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 170 Celcius
- Beat butter and sugar till fluffy and almost white.
- Add egg yolk one by one and beat at medium speed until combined.
- Add in melted chocolate.
- Mix and sift all dry ingredients and fold into butter mixture.
- Whip egg white to medium peak. Then fold one-third into batter.
- Fold the rest. Pour into a round 8-inch pan lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Serve warm or cool before covering it with your favourite frosting.
Kek Coklat Badam
Sebelum era internet, koleksi resipi yang bagus biasanya kami dapat dari buku dan keratan majalah. Ada juga dari bungkusan dan pembalut produk makanan. Biasanya dekat bekas pembalut coklat, keju, cornflakes dan tepung MFM tertulis resipi percuma. Kami akan kumpul dan susun resipi ikut kategori…kek, biskut, lauk. Tiba masa sesuai, kami akan cuba satu persatu resipi tu.
kek coklat badam ialah salah satu kek coklat sedap yang kerap kami buat dulu. Resipi ni kami dapat dari pembalut coklat masakan Vochelle. Waktu tu, kami belum kenal lagi coklat Callebaut, Valrhona dan Beryl’s. Pilihan sangat terhad.
Kek coklat badam ni tak terlalu berat tapi moist teksturnya, sesuai untuk dihidangkan pada bila-bila masa. Resipi asal ni boleh diubahsuai. Contoh, gantikan 10 gram tepung dengan 10 gram serbuk koko. Boleh juga gantikan 20 gram tepung dengan serbuk badam jika mahu. Kek akan jadi lebih lembap.
Satu tip yang penting ialah pastikan bekas nak pukul putih telor tu bebas dari sebarang minyak atau kuning telor. Bekas plastik pkadang-kadang ada kesan calar di bahagian dalamnya yang terselit kesan minyak. Jadi putih telor tak akan kembang. Putih telor tu juga jangan dipukul sampai terlalu kembang dan kering. Nanti dia tak akan sebati dengan adunan kek yang lain. Bila potong kek nanti akan nampak gelembung putih telor. Memang tak cantik!
Pernah juga kami gunakan resipi ni untuk kek kahwin. Juga sesuai untuk dibuat kek cawan (cupcake). Sangat versatil!
Moga bermanfaat sharing kali ni.
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