Chocolate Mazarin Cake

Chocolate Mazarin Cake

This chocolate cake is a little dense. But it's not as dense as a brownie, but you can clearly tell it's made with real chocolate. Serve the cake with fresh fruit and ice cream. The cake can easily be made a day in advance.

Makes one 9-inch cake, serves 8-12.

Ingredients:

• 200 g dark chocolate, I used Valrhona
• 200 g butter, salted
• 200 g sugar
• 5 eggs
• 150 g marzipan, I used ren rå marcipan from Odense
• 1 orange, the zest of
• 75 g all-purpose flour (30-100 g)
• 100 g almond flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375℉ (190℃).

Butter a 9-inch springform, set aside. 

Mix the marzipan with the eggs until you have a homogenous mixture, add the sugar and whisk with a flat-beater for a few minutes to incorporate air into the mixture.

Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler. (I put boiling water in a pot, and melt chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl, placed on top of the pot. No need for having it over the heat.

Fold in the chocolate mixture, orange zest, vanilla and flours into the marzipan. Pour the batter into the prepared springform, and bake the cake for about 40 minutes. Sprinkle the cooled cake with powdered sugar. Serve the cake with fresh fruit and ice cream.

Enjoy!

Chokoladelagkagebunde - Chocolate Cake

Chokoladelagkagebunde - Chocolate Cake

Great light chocolate cake for classic Danish layer cakes.

Makes 2-3 thin cake discs, depending on your slicing skills.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 120 g sugar
• 85 g flour
• 50 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon espresso, cooled (use milk if you don't want the coffee taste)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 355℉ (180℃), or 465℉ (240℃) if baking one disc at a time.

Spray a 9-inch (22 cm) springform. Place a piece of parchment paper in the bottom and spray this too. Set aside. (Repeat if baking one at a time)

Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together, set aside.

Whisk the eggs light and foamy with the sugar, it takes about 5 minutes to get maximum foaming when whisking on a stand mixer. 

Very gently fold the dry ingredients vanilla paste and coffee in the foamy eggs. Be very careful not to deflate the egg mixture to much. 

Pour the batter in the prepared springform.

Bake the large cake for 20-25 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

When cooled completely, place the cake on a sturdy work surface. Using a long serrated knife and a sawing motion, split the cake horizontally. Don't worry if the layers are not perfectly even. The filling and frosting will mask that. 

If baking 3 thin cakes:

Divide the batter in 3 9-inch pans. And bake the cakes at 465℉ (240℃) for about 5 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Use the cake discs with your favorite filling for a perfect layer birthday cake.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Espresso Cake

Chocolate Espresso Cake

My husband is a chocoholic, and I wanted to please him with a great cake after a hard day at work. This cake is not overly chocolaty, it has a good balanced taste with the addition of espresso coffee.

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 225 g all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 30 g cocoa powder, unsweetened

• 1 pinch salt

• 175 g brown sugar

• 75 g sugar

• 250 g butter

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

• 4 eggs

• 150 g (1½ dl) whole milk

• ½ cup (1 dl) cold espresso

• butter and sugar for the pan

Frosting:

• 325 g confectionary sugar

• ¼-½ cup cold espresso

Topping:

• a few coffee beans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 355℉ (180℃).

Butter the pan and sprinkle sugar into the pan, so it get all over the inside of the pan. pour out the excess sugar.

Sift flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt together, in a bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, mix in the vanilla paste. Add the eggs one at a time, and mix just until fully incorporated. Fold in alternately dry ingredients and milk. Finally fold the espresso in. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake it in the oven for about 45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan. When cooled, mix the frosting, and frost the cake. Decorate the cake with coffee beans and serve it with a good cup of coffee.

Enjoy!

Source: Claus Meyer.

The Danish version:

 Chokolade/Espressokage

Ingredienser:

Kage:

• 225 g hvedemel 

• 1 tsk bagepulver 

• 30 g kakaopulver, uden sukker

• 1 knsp salt

• 175 g brun farin

• 75 g sukker

• 250 g smør

• 1 tsk vanille pasta, eller kornene fra ½ vanillestang

• 4 æg

• 1½ dl sødmælk 

• 1 dl kold espressokaffe

• smør og sukker til formen

Glasur:

• 325 g flormelis

• ½-1 dl kold espressokaffe

Topping:

• lidt kaffebønner

Fremgangsmåde:

Opvarm ovnen til 180℃.

Smør formen med smør og drys den med sukker.  Hæld det overskydende sukker ud.

Sigt mel, bagepulver, kakao of salt i ned i en skål.

Rør smør og sukker sammen til det er let og skummende. Tilsæt æggene et ad gangen og derefter vanillien. Rør lidt af melet i og herefter mælken.  Bland resten af melet forsigtigt i dejen. Til sidst fold den kolde espresso i.

Hæld dejen i den smurte form, og bag kagen i ca. 45 minutter indtil en kødnål/strikkepind, der stikkes ned i kagen, kommer ud uden dej på.

Lad kagen køle af i formen. Når kagen er kold, blandes glasuren. Kom glasuren på toppen af kagen. Drys lidt kaffebønner på toppen.

Server kagen med en god kop kaffe.

Velbekomme!