Chocolate cake #3

Cake #3

Done ! I've tried the 3rd recipe of Vovoi !

Compared to the other ones, it's more friable/cripy because of the grounded almond and it has to be done in a high mold (at least 2.2 inches)

It's taste is well-balanced between almonds and chocolate, it's a tea-time cake, or to mix in some yogurt, with some fruits, something to make it less dry.

You can keep it really well, and it's really different from the other ones. 

I would advise this one to people who are not huge fans of chocolate

For a 7 to 8 people cake

For 4 eggs, 5.6 oz of butter, chocolate and sugar (160gr) , 2.3oz of flour (65gr) and 2.8oz of grounded almonds (80gr) 

   You will need :   

4.4 oz of dark chocolate (125gr)

3 Tbsp of water d'eau

3.5 oz of butter (6.5 tbsp / 100gr)

- Vovoi puts 4.4 oz -

3.5 oz of sugar (0.4 cup / 100gr)

- Vovoi puts 4.4 oz -

3 eggs

1.4 oz of flour (2.5 tbsp / 40gr) de farine

- Vovoi puts 3tbsp -

2 oz of almond powder (4 tbsp / 60gr)

1 pinch of salt

Turn the oven on at 325°F

Melt the chocolate with the water in a casserole on low heat

Stir the butter in it when the chocolate is half-melted

When it's shiny and smooth, remove from the fire and pour in a bowl

Add the eggyolks one by one

- keep the eggwhites in a bowl, in the fridge -

Then stir by hand with the sugar for at least 3 minutes

Add the flour and the almonds little by little,

stir by doing small circular movements

You have a dense dough, don't stir it too long

Beat your eggwhites until stiff with a pinch of salt

Integrate them to the dense chocolate dough in 4 times, 

do it slowly, always the same way, cut and rise with your spatula

Pour in a buttered mold

Put in the oven for 45 minutes, check the cooking by inserting a knife in the middle of the cake, 

if it comes out clean, it's baked. Start to check after 35 minutes

Turn out when tepid

Quiche with leeks, proscuitto and goat cheese

Here is a quiche with leeks as I love them

For a quiche of 6 people (10inch)

If you have a 9inch pan, put only 6fl.oz of milk

   You will need :   

1 pâte brisée with salted butter, pepper and a pinch of ground nutmeg

- I also put 1 pinch of ground thym -

1 lb of leeks

7.4 fl.oz of milk

2 eggs

1 big pinch of ground nutmeg

shredded cheese

salt and pepper

optionnal :

2 slices of prosciutto, italian ham

- for a salty and crusty touch -

1.4 oz of fresh goat cheese (40gr)

-for its softness -

The leeks

Remove the exterior leaves and the dark green extremity, the hard ones.

It's kinda like sharpening a pencil, you will just have the thin and light leaves left.

Cut them in half (the long side), and then in half cylinder of 1/2inch each

Wash them carefully to remove all the dirt that may be left between the leaves, 

and use a colander to dry them off

Cook them : in a pan with some butter and salt at low heat

- they must not get any coloration, they just have to get softer -

OR in boiling water : 6 to 7 minutes in salted boiling water

OR steam-cooking

- I eat a lot of cakes, so I cook them without any butter -

Dry them with a colander and set aside on an absorbant paper

Turn the oven on at 450°F

The dough

Do your shortcrust dough, flatten it to 0,1 inch thick

Place it in your pie mold, stab it with a fork at equal distance and put it in the oven for 4 minutes

If your mold is in silicone, make a cylinder of alluminium to put as a circle 

around the edges to avoid them falling down

The filling

Beat the eggs with a hint of salt and a half teaspoon of ground nutmeg,

add the milk, whisk it and set aside

On your pre-cooked dough, spread the goat cheese in pieces,

place the leeks on it carefully, don't forget the edges

Pour little by little your milk/egg mix, it must not go over the crust, otherwise it would be flabby.

If you can't pour it all, don't risk it and stop pouring

- my mold was a little bit wider than 10inch -

Take 2 slices of prosciutto,

cut them in long bands and place them on the top of the quiche carefully,

Spread it all with shredded cheese and some pepper

Put in the oven for 35 minutes at 450°F 

Then turn it off and let it 10 more minutes

It's better to eat it warm :)

Chocolate sweets

An easy and quick recipe, it reminds me of chocolate "Charlotte"

Vovoi has a lot of sweets and candy style recipe in her cookbook.

But this is more a cake than a sweet, they are easily sliced and eatable by hands though.

It doesn't need to be cooked.

Biscuits have a rhum syrup in them, the inside is a chocolate mousse.

Alcool is pretty strong, it's not a recipe for children ;)

The cake has to be made the day before

For 6 to 8 people

   You will need :   

 4.2 oz of solft lady finger (120gr) 

4.2 oz of dark chocolate (120gr)

3.2 oz of butter (90gr)

3 eggs

For the syrup

2.1 oz of sugar (60gr) de sucre

- 12 squares, I think it's a bit too much -

- I've put only ten,1.8oz (50gr) - 

3tbsp of rhum

2.4 fl oz.

1 large pan or dish, 3inch hight

Make the chocolate mousse

Separe yolks and eggwhites, keep your eggwhites with a pinch of salt in the fridge.

Put the chocolate in a casserole on low heat, make it melt with 1tbsp of water

When the chocolate is half-melted, add the butter,

Let it melt at low heat, stirring until smooth and homogeneous

When it's the right consistency (as on the picture), pour it in a bowl and add the yolks one by one

Stir well after each one

Beat the eggwhites until stiff and add them to that mix

- but cutting, rising, not squeezing them, use a spatula -

If you want to put a frosting, keep some of the chocolate cream before adding the eggwhites.

Making the syrup

Melt the sugar with the water in a casserole on low heat

It takes approximatively 7 minutes, then add the rhum

Stir it and pour it in a plate with edges

Put the soft lady fingers in it

-  3 to 4 seconds on each side -

Place one layer of biscuits, then a layer of mousse, another layer of biscuit

Depending on your dish/mold, display them as you want

I made it in a silicone mold, it allowd me to turn it out easily

The frosting

 Vovoi says to frost it with the chocolate cream you have kept (before adding the eggwhites), use a spatula or a flat tool to cover your cake with it

Enjoy :) 

Soft Savoy Cake with lemon and Almonds

I'm discovering new recipes in Vovoi's cookbook, this one is a pleasant surprise !

It's named "fondant", like soft and tender but it has nothing to do with the usual chocolate fondant. 

It's really light, a bit dry but so soft it melts in your mouth.

There is no butter in it but "crème fraîche" I used table cream.

With that soft texture goes a delicious crust of roasted sliced almonds, I had never tried it, it's really good :)

I liked it so much I did it again the day after at another flavour : orange instead of lemon, I liked it both, maybe a slight preference for lemon !

- orange -

A savarin mold seemed perfect but it can be baked in a round cake pan too.

The cake rises well while cooking, it creates a canyon in the middle

By turning it out, you can see the almonds, that's why I liked the savarin mold. With a round cake pan, you can't show the bottom (it rised too much)

- lemon -

For 8 people

   You will need :   

2 eggs

8 oz of sugar (1 cup / 225g)

5.3 oz of flour (1 1/6cup / 150gr)

6Tbsp of table cream

- around 4.4 oz -

1 organic lemon

- or an orange if you want to try ;) -

sliced almonds

Turn your oven on at 375°F

Butter your mold generously, including the edges

Spread sliced almonds all over it, and shake the mold to make it stick everywhere, including the edges.

Beat in a bowl the eggs with the sugar for at least 4 minutes, you can use an electric beater

you must obtain a white and liquid cream

Add the grated lemon zest

Add the flour little by little by stirring from the center

Finally, add the table cream

Pour delicatly in your mold to keep the almonds in place,

put in the oven for 30 minutes or so

- metallic mold : 25 to 35 minutes -

- glass mold : 30 to 40 minutes -

- It may be longer in a silicon mold -

Check the cooking by inserting a clean knife in the middle of the cake,
if it comes out clean, it's cooked !

Turn out when tepid

Eat when cooled