Week 8 - Celebration Cakes: Fruit Cake

For this week's baking challenge I am making my favourite cake, the Fruit Cake. The cake will have about a week and a half to mature before I cover it in marzipan and icing in readiness to be eaten for Christmas. For the last few years I have religiously used the same fruit cake recipe, so lets see if the "How to Bake" recipe can trump my old recipe.

Preparation of the cake tin

The first task I had to do before making the cake mixture was to prepare the cake tin . The "How to Bake" book says that its important to do this step properly otherwise the cake may turn out wrinkled or dry with burnt edges and an undercooked centre. Previously I have had problems with the tops of my fruit cake being overcooked and slightly burnt and I think this is because there was no real method as to how I lined my cake tin.

I had to cut out two rounds of greaseproof paper slightly smaller then the cake tin's base. Then I cut a long strip of greaseproof paper that had to be 5cms higher then the rim of the tin and long enough to go around its circumference. I folded the strip in half so as to double its thickness and made snips diagonally up along the bottom of the paper at intervals of about 1cm.

To line the tin I put one of the paper rounds into the base of the tin and placed the strip of paper along the inside of the tin. I greased the base and the snipped edges of paper with some melted butter. On top of  the base I put the second round of paper and also greased this with butter. Finally my tin was ready for the cake mixture.

My prepared tin

The cake mixture

I had to toast the almonds in the oven at Gas Mark 4 for 5 minutes until lightly browned in colour. The recipe said to use whole blanched almonds and then chop them up after roasting, but I just used ready chopped almonds as this it what I had in my kitchen cupboard. I did not have quite enough chopped almonds to make 100g so I had to make up the difference with some flaked almonds.

Toasted almonds

In a large bowl  I stirred together the 750g of mixed dried fruit and glacé cherries with a tablespoon of flour to separate out any clumps in the fruit. Once the almonds were toasted I added them to the dried fruit.

The mixed dried fruit and almonds

 In a separate bowl I had to beat 250g of butter with a wooden spoon until it became creamy.  The recipe said to use butter that had been softened but I had forgotten to get my butter out of the fridge before I started the fruit cake. As I did not have time to wait for the hard lump of butter to soften, I enlisted the help of the microwave to heat up my butter to the required temperature.

To the creamed butter I added 250g of dark muscovado sugar which had to be sieved as it was so lumpy. In fact some of the sugar lumps were so hard that they were impossible to break up. I tried heating the sugar with some of the creamed butter in the microwave to try and soften the lumps. This did help a little bit but I still could not get rid of all of the sugar lumps so I just had to add them to the creamed butter and hope that they would dissolve once the cake was cooked!!!

Next the recipe said to add the 4 beaten eggs a tablespoon at a time to the butter mixture. I have to admit that I did not follow this painstaking instruction of putting a tablespoon of egg into the bowl at a time. Instead  I added my beaten egg  in three stages to the mixture, beating the mixture well after each addition. I sifted the flour and mixed spice onto the egg mixture and gently folded it in with a large metal spoon along with 50g of ground almonds. Lastly I added the dried fruit and 5 tablespoons of brandy to the bowl. Once all of the  ingredients had been combined, I spooned the mixture into the prepared cake tin.

The finished mixture

The mixture in the cake tin

Before I could put the cake tin into the oven there was one final step that had to be done. I had to line a baking tray with several folded sheets of newspaper before setting the cake tin upon it. Then I had to wrap the outside of the cake tin in newspaper and secure it in place with some string. Now I could finally put my cake into the oven.

The tin wrapped in newspaper

It took 4 hours at Gas Mark 2 for my cake to reach a lovely golden brown colour and it really did pay off to prepare the tin properly with the greaseproof paper and newspaper as the top of the cake did not overcook.

I left the cake to cool completely before removing the tin and the greaseproof paper. Using a fork I pricked the base and the top of the cake and then trickled over 3 tablespoons of brandy, first over the base and then over the top. So that the cake could mature for a week, I wrapped it in fresh greaseproof paper and foil and stored it in a airtight cake tin.

The baked fruit cake

The verdict

The fruit cake smells amazing but I have to control myself from eating it now as the cake has to be fully iced and decorated for Christmas. So I will only be able to tell in a week and a half's time if the "How to Bake" recipe is better then my old trusty fruit cake recipe. I am very impressed though that I have managed to produce a fruit cake that has not come out of the oven with a thick, overcooked crust. From now on I will always prepare my cake tin like the "How to Bake" book instructs as this is certainly the key to success when baking a  fruit cake.

NOTE:

Due to the amount of baking required for Christmas, I am taking a break from the Bake Off Recipes until after Christmas

Week 7 - Patisserie: Almond Croissants

After failing to make the Almond Croissants last week I was determined that they would be created this week so I put aside a whole day just for baking. I am a little nervous about making the croissants as I have never made them before and one of my friends who is French said that they are difficult to make. Let's hope that my almond croissants don't turn out to be a complete disaster!!!!

Wednesday evening

I made the pastry dough Wednesday evening as it needed to be left overnight in the fridge to firm up. I first mixed the flour and dried yeast together before adding the milk, sugar and salt. I then beat by hand the mixture until all of the the ingredients were combined into a shaggy-looking dough. I covered the bowl with cling-film and left the dough to rise by a radiator. I was unable to leave my dough to rise in my airing cupboard as the cupboard is in Thomas's room who was asleep at this point.
It should have taken 30-45 minutes for my dough to rise but because it was by the radiator it took nearly 2 hours to double in size. Once risen I punched down the dough, recovered it with the cling-film and put it into the fridge to chill ready for the next day.

The risen dough

While the dough was rising I made the almond filling for the croissants so that I would not have to worry about making it tomorrow. I beat the butter by hand until it was creamy before adding the sugar and lemon zest. Then I gradually beat the mixed egg and yolk into the butter mixture. Finally I folded in the ground almond and the tablespoon of flour. The great thing about the almond filling is that it will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge if stored in an airtight container.

The almond filling

Thursday

I started the next stage of the croissants while Thomas had his morning nap so that I would not have any interruptions. Before taking the dough out of the fridge I had to pound the chilled block of butter between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper  until it became pliable. The pounded butter had to be shaped into a square with sides measuring about 12cm.

The pounded butter

I took my chilled dough out of the fridge, punched it down and rolled the dough into a ball. The recipe then said to cut a deep cross in the top of the dough. To create the cross I had to cut almost right through the dough so that I was able to roll out each quarter of the cross to create 4 separate flaps. I put the pounded butter into the middle square of my dough and folded the flaps over the butter so that the butter was completely enclosed.

The dough cross with the butter in the middle

Next I had to roll out the buttered dough into a rectangle about 30 x 60cm. To help me visualize how big my dough needed to be I measured out 30 x 60cm on my kitchen surface using a measuring tape. Once the dough was rolled out, I then folded it into three like a business letter.  I put the folded dough onto my cutting board, covered it with cling film and put it into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. I had now completed the first 'turn'.

The dough folded into three

The recipe instructed me to give the dough two more 'turns'. After I had completed each 'turn' my dough ended up being left for longer in the fridge then the recommended 30 minutes as I had to look after Thomas who was now awake. After the second 'turn' my dough was left for an hour in the fridge and after the third 'turn' the dough was left for over two hours in the fridge. I was only able to continue making my croissants when Thomas had his afternoon nap.
Once all the 'turning' had been completed I had to roll out the dough into a rectangle about 40 x 75cm. The "How to Bake" book was really not kidding when it said that you had to clear the decks to make plenty of space when making the croissants. I had to take nearly everything of my kitchen surface so that there would be enough space for the 40 x 75cm dough rectangle.

The 40 x 75cm rectangle

I trimmed the edges of the rectangle and then cut it in half lengthways creating two equal strips. I cut each strip into triangles with 20cm sides and a 12cm base. The triangles had to be chilled in the fridge for the dough to firm up and I had to do this in batches as I had cut out 21 triangles.

The triangles

To make the croissants I first put a teaspoon of my almond filling  at the centre of the base of each triangle.

A dough triangle with almond filling

Then I rolled up the dough towards me, using one hand to roll the dough and the other to pull down the long point of the triangle. I made sure that the pointed end of the triangle was underneath the rolled dough so to ensure that the croissant would keep its shape in the oven.

The rolled up triangles

I put all of my rolled triangles onto the lined baking sheets and lightly brushed them with the egg glaze. I then left the dough to rise for about an hour till the croissants had doubled in size.

The risen croissants

The recipe said to preheat the oven towards the end of the rising time to Gas Mark 8 as the hot temperature of the oven will help the layers of the pastry to puff up during baking. The oven temperature must not be too low as this could lead to the croissants becoming tough rather then tender. Before baking my croissants, I brushed them again with the egg glaze and scattered flaked almonds over the top of them.

Ready for the oven

I baked the croissants first for 10 minutes at Gas Mark 8 and then for a further  8 minutes at Gas Mark 6. I took them out of the oven when they had reached a good dark golden brown colour all over.

My almond croissants

The verdict

I am completely overjoyed that I have successfully made the almond croissants. I feel like I have finished a marathon after spending Wednesday evening and all of Thursday making them. I can proudly say that my almond croissants tasted stunning with a yummy almond filling surrounded by heavenly light, crisp, flaky pastry.

Next Week's Baking Challenge:

Large Fruit Cake

Week 6 - Puddings: Warm Chocolate Mousse Cake

I was meant to be making Almond Croissants this week but by the time I got to the middle of the week I realised I did not have a spare day and a half to set aside just for baking. Instead I am going to make the Warm Chocolate Mousse Cake  which was the baking challenge for week 7. I aim to make the almond croissants next week when I have more free time. 

(I admit that I am completely terrified about making the croissants as the whole process looks extremely complicated and long-winded. I just know its going to be really stressful as I will be juggling looking after Thomas while trying to roll out croissant pastry!!!) 

The recipe for the chocolate mousse cake says that I will need several mixing bowls to prepare all the various elements needed for the cake filling. Somehow I don't think this recipe is going to be as straight forward as I was hoping!!!

The biscuit base

To make the biscuit base I needed digestive biscuits, cocoa power and melted butter. I crushed the digestives into fine breadcrumbs using my electric food chopper. Then I added the cocoa powder and melted butter to the breadcrumbs and mixed it until all the ingredients were combined. I greased my 23cm springclip cake tin and spooned in the chocolate biscuit mixture, flattening it with the back of a spoon to make it completely even. I put the cake tin into the fridge so that the biscuit base could chill while I made the filling. 

Before I started this recipe I  made sure that I had the correct tin required for this cake, having learnt from last weeks mistake of not having the tin that was needed for the Tarte Au Citron. 

The biscuit base

The filling

There are five separate steps to make the filling for this cake. 

Step 1: I had to grind 50g of dark chocolate into small lumps using the food chopper. The recipe says to use dark chocolate made up of 70% cocoa solids as this gives the best flavour to the cake. I added the almonds and cocoa to the chopped chocolate and ground the mixture until it represented 'course sand'. 

Step One: The chocolate mixture

Step 2: In my second mixing bowl I whisked together the two egg yolks and caster sugar using my electric hand mixer. It took about 5 minutes of whisking for the egg yolk mixture to vastly increase in volume and become very thick and mousse-like.

The "How to Bake" book says that you must not skimp on the time spent whisking in this step as it could lead to a dense, heavy sponge as there would not be enough bubbles to make the cake mixture puff out during baking. 

Step Two: The whisked egg yolks and sugar

Step 3: By this point my small kitchen surface was getting rather crowded with all of the mixing bowls that I was using for each step. In bowl number 3, I whipped the cream until it stood in soft peaks using the electric mixer. The "How to Bake" book describes soft peaks as the stage when you lift the whisk and the peak of the cream on it slightly droops down. The mascarpone was a solid block from being in the fridge so I had to stir it until the mascarpone became a smooth texture before adding it to the whipped cream.  

Step Three: The whipped cream and mascarpone

Step 4: This is the "folding" stage where all of the mixtures made in steps 1-3 are folded together. The "How to Bake" book describes folding as an important technique for puddings as it raises and lightens the mixture. I have to make sure when I fold the mixtures together that I don't overmix as the volume needs to be retained so that the air in the mixture is not deflated. Using a large metal spoon, I gently folded the cream, the egg yolk and the chocolate mixture together. 

Step Four: The cream, yolk and chocolate mixture

Step 5: Using bowl number 4, I whisked together the 2 egg whites and a tablespoon of caster sugar until the whites stood in stiff peaks. Here are a few tips from the "How to Bake" book that will ensure good results when whisking egg whites:

• Use egg whites at room temperature
• Put them into a dry and clean bowl
• Whisk on a low speed first for 30 seconds
• Add a drop of lemon juice or vinegar to help stiffen the structure

Step Five: The whisked egg whites and sugar

After finishing step 5, I folded the whisked egg whites into the chocolate cream mixture and finally my cake filling was complete!

The finished  cake filling

 I spooned my cake filling onto the chilled biscuit case and baked it in the oven for an hour and twenty minutes until the top felt firm.

Ready for the oven

The finished cake

The Verdict

The cake was truly sumptuous with a good light texture and rich chocolate taste. It took over an hour to create and a total of 5 mixing bowls to create my chocolate mousse cake, but I can say it was certainly worth the effort. I asked my husband to describe the cake and he said that it was "far better than anything that I would find in a restaurant". 

Next Week's Baking Challenge

Almond Croissants (hopefully!!!!)