Gateau a la Royale

Jumping on the royal wedding bandwagon, I was tasked with making the royal wedding fridge cake for a tea party.

Having lived in England for a brief period of time, I am ashamed to say that I had no idea what the cake was supposed to be like; texture, taste etc. Online research also did not indicate whether it was supposed to be extra sweet, crunchy, etc.

So, I winged it, envisioning a chewy fudge with a slightly crunchy inside, the sweet more coming from raisins. Some of the recipes called for nuts, but I omitted it since I'm not particularly a fan.

Here's my recipe:

1 package Mcvities Digestive Biscuits
12 oz Bittersweet chocolate chips
1 can Condensed milk
3/4 cup Heavy cream
1/4 cup Light corn syrup
4 oz Butter, unsalted
1 cup raisins

Makes 1 cake

Method
1. Line an 8" square pan with cling wrap
2. Soak the raisins in hot water for about 20 minutes, then drain the liquid off
3. Place the biscuits in a large gallon zip lock bag, seal it, and bash it with a rolling pin, leaving some quarter sized pieces (do this step manually, and don't use a food processor)
4. Combine the condensed milk, cream and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil
5. Chop the butter up into smaller pieces and place it in a bowl with the chocolate chips
6. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate, and stir until well combined
7. Leave the chocolate mixture to cool until room temperature
8. Combine the crushed biscuits, raisins and chocolate mixture until everything is well coated with chocolate
9. Pour in the pan, level the top and freeze for about 2-3 hours, or until firm
10. Slice with a sharp knife to serve

*Photos by Mikee (Thanks!)

Happy Birthday Chef Laura!

To help celebrate my own birthday this year, I brought in cupcakes to the office!



I've always admitted to being a bad pastry chef, but every decent chef needs to have at least one cake on their repertoire. I thought up this recipe when I was dreaming about Kueh Lapis, which is a rich layered butter cake that I grew up cooking and eating. Kueh Lapis is the biggest time suck in culinary history - it involves baking each layer of batter individually, on top of the previous layer. I'm all about easy cooking and efficiency now, so Kueh Lapis never makes it to my menu, but I remembered a unique ingredient that added a very nice mellow, sweet flavor to the cake - condensed milk. Hence, the recipe name "Condensed Milk Cake"

The CM cake is also made in a very similar way to Kueh Lapis. The fat (butter, yolks & milk) is first creamed then combined with the flour. Then a meringue is folded in which makes it super fluffy. The cake is quite neutral flavored, so it pairs well with any kind of additional flavoring. This time, I used a Dulce de Leche frosting. The result is a cake that's a cross between a pound cake and a chiffon cake, with good structure, but not so heavy that it sinks into your stomach like the pound cake. it's delicious!



Here's the recipe:

4 ea Egg Whites
8 oz Sugar

8 oz Butter
6 ea Egg Yolks
1 can Condensed Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
4 oz Whole Milk

10 oz Cake Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder


Preheat the oven to 325F

Butter two 9" cake rounds
Whip the egg whites and sugar until stiff, set aside
Cream the butter, and add the yolks one at a time
Add the condensed milk and vanilla to the creamed mixture until just combined
Reduce speed to low and add the sifted ingredients and the whole milk alternatively in 3 batches
Fold in the meringue into the batter
Pour batter evenly into the two cake pans and bake for around 45 minutes
To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center, and if it comes out clean it's ready!

Frost the cake only when it's completely cool and store in the fridge.



For Dulce de Leche Frosting

1 lb Cream Cheese
1 can Dulche De Leche
3/4 cup Sugar


Whip cream cheese and sugar until fluffy
Add Dulche De Leche and combine