Mami's Birthday 19th December 2008

Other than the scrapbook, we also made a cake for Mami.

A few months ago, I bought "The Big Book of Chocolate" containing 365 recipes using chocolate. Yummy.

I brought the book with me during this trip home, thinking that there would definitely be an opportunity to try some of the recipes.

For Mami's birthday, we decided on the Mississippi mud cake.

Mississippi mud cake with ganache topping

Ingredients:

For the cake:

200g butter, chopped, plus extra for greasing

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

300g caster sugar

2 tablespoon whisky

150g plain flour

1 tablespoon self-raising flour

2 tablespoon cocoa powder

2 eggs lightly beaten

For the ganache:

175g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

25g butter

125mL double cream

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees C. Grease a 23 cm spring form tin, and line the base with baking paper.
2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, chocolate, sugar, whisky, and 150mL water together over a low heat until the chocolate has just melted. Pour the mixture into a clean bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Set the mixture aside to cool for 10 minutes.
3. In a clean bowl, sift in the flours and cocoa powder together, then fold into the chocolate mixture with the eggs.
4. Pour the cake mixture into the spring form tin.
5. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the skerwer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out slightly moist.
6. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin to cool for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make the ganache - in a small saucepan, combine all of the ingredients for the ganache. Over a low heart, stir with a metal spoon until the butter and chocolate have melted. Remove the pan from heat. Spread over the cake with a spatula.

Tips:

1. The cake should be in the middle of the oven, make sure that the top doesn't

brown or crisp too much.

2. Check the cake at about 50 to 55 minutes, at about 60 minutes, the cake won't

be moist.

3. The ganache should be cooled until it is thick enough to be spread over the cake

without being too runny.

Advertising the cake

In another light

Mami with the cake

A piece for you?

Verdict:

We weren't sure how Mississippi mud cake was supposed to taste like, but to me, our version had the texture of mooncake with a rich chocolate taste. It could have been more moist, I think, which boiled down to the fact I left it in the oven for 60 minutes. On hindsight, I should have checked it at about 45 minutes, then take it out at 50 or 55 minutes. I could have also put a foil on top of the tin to prevent browning or crisping up of the top layer; the top layer cracked as a result of too intense heat, I think.

X, my youngest sister, claimed that she's a loyal fan of our cooking, and she ended up eating most of the cake, or so she claimed. :P

Mami's Birthday 19th December 2008