Sacher Torte and the Daring Baker's Challenge

This is my Daring Bakers challenge for October.  I'm pretty proud of myself for doing it, it is like one in a row this year for Daring Bakers challenges.

I made it for a birthday in our office.  I did cheat a little and used a chocolate ganache glaze instead of the one listed in the challenge, but everyone was posting about how it didn't work out for them and I was taking this to work to feed other people, and so I fell back on a tried and true ganache.  So, in reality, I did half of the Daring Baker's Challenge.  Maybe I'll get the whole thing done for November, but don't hold your breath.

Sucky iPhone photo but delicious cake.

Sacher Torte
from the Daring Kitchen

Cake Ingredients
3/4 cup good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
9 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch fine grain salt

Assembly Apricot Glaze (see recipe below)
Chocolate Ganache (see recipe below

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F, with a rack in the center of the oven.  Butter and flour the sides of a 9 inch springform pan, then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.

Place the bittersweet chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until just melted.  Set aside to cool completely, stirring often.

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with the paddle attachement of the stand mixer of electric mixer on medium speed until very light and creamy.  Add the confectioners sugar on low speed, then increase to medium speed and beat again until light and creamy.

Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Add the cooled chocolate and vanilla and beat until well-mixed and very light and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

In a clean bowl, using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with about one tablespoon of the granulated sugar on high speed until foamy.  Gradually add in the rest of the granulated sugar and continue beating whites until they form soft, shiny peaks - they should hold their shape but flop over on themselves.

Vigorously stir about 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then gently fold the remaining egg whites into the chocolate mixture with a spatula until just a few wisps of egg white remain.  Do this carefully so as not to deflate the egg whites.

Stir together the flour and salt and sift half of it over the chocolate mixture.  Fold in with a spatula until almost incorporated.  Sift over the remaining flour and fold to combine completely.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared springform pan.  Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.  The cake will crack and dome in the middle as it bakes, but will flatten out as it cools.

Cool the pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen it from the pan and remove the sides.  Carefully invert the cake onto a rack and remove the bottom  of the pan and parchment paper, then turn the cake right side up onto the rack and allow to cool completely.

Turn the cake upside-down so the perfectly flat bottom of the cake is now the top.  Cut the cake horizontally into 2 even layers.

Place 1 cake layer on a cardboard cake round and spread it generously with about half of the apricot glaze.  Allow it to soak in.

Place the second cake layer on top and spread the top and sides with the rest of the apricot glaze.  Work quickly before the glaze has a chance to set and use a metal offset spatula to smooth the top.  Place the cake on a rack set over a plate or baking sheet lined with waxed paper and allow the apricot glaze to set.

Make the chocolate ganache and set aside about 1/3 cup. Pour the rest over the top of the cake, first around the edge and then in the middle.  Spread the excess glaze over any bare spots using a metal offset spatula.  Before the glaze has set, move the cake to a serving platter.

With the extra ganache, pipe the work "Sacher" in the middle of the cake and add any decorative flourishes you wish.  chill the cake until the glaze is completely set, at least one hour.

Apricot Glaze:
1 1/4 cup apricot jam or preserves
2 Tbsp. rum

Boil the jam and the rum in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Cook stirring often, until the mixture thickens and drips slowly from the spoon, about 2-3 minutes.  Cool slightly an use warm.

Chocolate Ganache

16 oz. good quality dark chocolate
2 cups heavy cream

Heat cream in small saucepan until almost boiling, remove from heat.  Stir in chocolate, stirring until chocolate is completely melted.  Use warm.

1 year ago:   S'More Martini and the Joys of a Fire
2 years ago:  Vanilla-Chocolate Martini and Death of a Sewing Maching

October 27, 2014   Sunrise 9:23 am  Sunset 5:46 pm  Temp.  H 28/ L 19 F

Daring Bakers Sweet Roll Challenge

I'm a little behind on my Daring Baker challenges...like I haven't done one yet this year.  They have kinda gone into the same category as the mosiac I keep promising Dave I'll get done for that boarded up bathroom window.

But this month was cinnamon rolls.  I do love a warm cinnamon roll and I do make delicious caramel rolls but I haven't even made those for a while.  I was craving cinnamon rolls with an apple filling, it just sounded delicious, so this is the perfect reason to make them...I'm just doing my Daring Baker duty.

I use this bread recipe for the dough, but the filling is going to get mixed up a little.

I used this recipe from Harris Sisters GirlTalk blog for the apple filling

Crockpot Baked Apple Slices

5 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup apple juice

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp butter, cubed

1. Peel, core, and slice the apples.
2. Add apples, sugars, apple juice, cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla to crockpot, stirring to incorporate.
3. Place butter on top of apples
4. Cook on high for 1 1/2 hours or on low for 4-5 hours. Stir mixture halfway through cooking.

Notes:

I used Jazz apples and Granny Smith, you choose your favorite. 

I made the filling in the morning, strained the apples in a fine mesh strainer and kept the apples and the sauce separated, the apples for the filling and the sauce for the glaze.
Then made the bread dough, let it rise once, rolled it out filled it with the apples, cut it and placed it in the pan and then into the fridge.  I love doing them this way.  In the morning, I pull them out of the fridge, heat the oven then bake.  Warm cinnamon rolls for breakfast and no work in the morning.

I did mix the reserved apple sauce with a little confectioner's sugar to make a glaze and drizzled it over each cinnamon roll before serving.

This is a nice way to start the week.

2 years ago:  Peaches with Basil Almond Shortcake and Lost Children and Puppies

June 30, 2014   Sunrise: 3:09  Sunset 12:38  Temp. H 76/ L 56°F

Daring Baker's Challenge-Speculaas

I'm kinda lazy at heart.  I signed up for Daring Bakers, knowing I would be baking up a storm, learning new things and challenging myself.  Truth is, I haven't been very good about keeping up with the challenges.  Somehow the month gets away from me, there is some weird ingredient or tool I need and I can't find it in Fairbanks, my month is too busy and I run out of time...I have a million excuses.  So, I committed to doing at least 6 challenges this year and I am happy to say the year got off to a good start with Speculaas.

Daring Bakers challenge this month came from Francijn from Koken in de Brouwerij.  Speculaas are a spicy cookie with an almond paste center.  Don't let the long list of directions scare you.  It isn't as hard as I thought it would be and I just did each part on a different day.  The directions are from Francijn, with notes from me.

I started with the spice mix one day, labeled it and put it in the cabinet.

A convenient way to mix the spices is as follows:

Take at least 1 or 2 teaspoons of ground cloves, ½ or 1 teaspoon of mace and ½ or 1 teaspoon of ginger.

Add to taste ½ or 1 teaspoon of white pepper, ½ or 1 teaspoon of cardamom, ½ or 1 teaspoon of coriander, ½ or 1 teaspoon of anise, and 1 or 2 teaspoons of nutmeg.
Measure or weigh the amount of spices you have now, and add an equal amount of cinnamon.

Then I made the almond paste.  My food processor made short work of this.  I kept it in the fridge for a couple of days.  It is supposed to improve the taste to let it sit a day or two.

Recipe Almond Paste
As we are going to make stuffed speculaas, we will need almond paste. You can buy it in a store, but homemade almond paste tastes better.

Ingredients:
7/8 cup (210 ml)(125 gm)(4½ oz) raw almonds (or 1-1/3 cups (320 ml)(125 gm) (4½ oz) ground almonds)
5/8 cup (150 ml) (125 grams) (4½ oz) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) lemon zest

Directions:

If the raw almonds still have their brown skins, remove them as follows. Bring water to a boil, add the almonds, cook them for one minute, drain immediately and let cool for a few minutes. Rub them between your fingers to remove the skins.

Grind the almonds for one or two minutes in a food processor, until you see nothing but very small pieces. (Or skip this step if you use ground almonds.)
Add the sugar, and grind for another one or two minutes. It must be very fine after this step.
Add the egg and let the food processor combine it - if it is powerful enough. Otherwise you will have to combine it with your fingers.

Store the almond paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Although the flavor gets better as days pass by, it is not wise to store the paste for too long, as it contains a raw egg. For the same reason you should not eat the paste unbaked.

Then, on a day off work, I made the cookie dough and put it all together.

Recipe Speculaas Dough

Ingredients:
1¾ cups (250 gm) (9 oz) all purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm) baking powder
¾ cup (150 grams) (5-1/3 oz) brown sugar, firmly packed
a pinch salt
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) speculaas spices
3/4 cup (1½ stick) (175 gm) (6 oz) unsalted butter

Directions:
Put flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices in a bowl.
Cut the butter in dices and add.
Knead until smooth.
Feel free to add a little milk if the dough is too dry.
Wrap in clingfoil and put in the refrigerator for two hours.

You can choose to make the dough a few days in advance, just like the almond paste, that will benefit the flavor. Freezing is no problem.

Assembling and baking the Gevulde Speculaas

Ingredients:
speculaas dough
almond paste
whole almonds without skins for decoration
1 large egg

shallow baking pan, 8x10 inch (20x26 cm) or, round with of diameter 10 inch (26 cm)

Directions:
1. Grease the pan.
2. Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas 4
3. Divide the dough into two portions.
4. Roll out both portions on a lightly floured surface, until they are exactly as big as the baking pan.

5. Put one of the layers in the pan and press it lightly to fill the bottom.
6. Lightly beat the egg with a teaspoon cold water.
7. Smear 1/3 of the egg over the dough in the pan.
8. Roll out the almond paste between two sheets of clingfoil, until it is exactly as big as the pan, and put it on the dough in the pan. (If you chose to make the paste soft, you can smear the paste instead of rolling it.)
9. Press the paste lightly down to fit in the pan, and smear the next 1/3 of the egg over it.
10. Now put the second layer of dough on top of the paste, press it lightly, and make as smooth as possible.
11. Smear the last 1/3 of the egg over the dough.
12. Decorate the pastry with the almonds.

13. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven.
14. Let cool completely in the pan, then cut it in portions as you like.

The house smelled wonderful as the cookies bake and the cookies are delicious with a cup of tea or coffee.  I'll be making these again.  They are on the "favorite" list.

January 28, 2013    Daylight 6 hours, 33 minutes, 6 seconds    Temp. H -24 /L -45 °F