Steamed Chocolate Cake with Coffee Ermine Cream

Chocolate and coffee make a great marriage of flavours. The moist steamed chocolate cake with half butter-half coffee roux cream binding the cake layers together. The top was sprinkled with finely shaved unsweetened baking cocoa. 

A simple cake but with great flavours :)

Yield: one 14 cm round cake

Coffee Ermine Cream

Ingredients

10g honey

40g milk

5g all purpose flour 

1 tsp instant coffee powder

40g salted butter, slightly softened 

10g icing sugar 

Directions

1. Add honey, milk, all purpose flour, and instant coffee powder into a small metal cup, and mix well.

2. Heat over low heat till the mixture thickens. Stirring regularly.

3. After the coffee roux has cooled down to room temperature, seal with food wrap and store it in the fridge till needed.

4. After whipping the softened butter till creamy, add in the icing sugar and whip till it is light and pale.

5. Add in the cold coffee roux, spoon by spoon. Mix well before adding the next spoon.

6. Cover with a lid and keep in the fridge till needed.

Chocolate Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

All ingredients at room temperature 

Using 55g eggs

65g top/cake flour

10g cocoa powder
1/8 tsp baking powder 

50g fresh milk

15g condensed milk
10g rice bran/vegetable oil

2 egg whites
65g fine sugar

2 egg yolks

材料

2粒 蛋，蛋白蛋黄分开

65ｇ 细糖

50ｇ鲜奶

15ｇ炼奶

10ｇ食油

65ｇ低筋面粉

10g 可可粉

1／8小匙 泡打粉

Directions

1. Line a 14cm round cake pan with parchment paper. Wrap the base with aluminum foil if you are using a removable base pan.

2. Mix top/cake flour with cocoa powder and baking powder. Set aside.

3. Mix fresh milk, condensed milk and rice bran oil in a small bowl. Set aside.

4. In a clean and dry stainless steel mixing bowl, beat egg white till frothy. Add in fine sugar in three batches, beat at medium high speed, till firm peaks formed. Towards the end of the process, gradually reduce the speed to low.

5. Add in the egg yolk, one at a time. Whisk till the pulled up batter can stay on the batter for more than than 5 seconds.

6. Add in the flour mixture (2) and milk mixture (3) in alternate sequence. Starting with flour and end with flour. 

Do not over mix the batter, or you'll end up with a tough cake.

Give the batter a few more thorough mix, by scrapping the side and the bottom with a spatula, to ensure no liquid ingredients settle below.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bang the cake pan against the work top to get rid of trapped air parcels.

8. Steam the batter in a pre-heated pot of water at medium high heat for 3 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to  to lowest and steam for about 17 to 19 minutes, or till an inserted cake tester came out dry.

9. Remove the cake from the pot, drop it from a height of about 5cm to a kitchen  towel, and let the cake cool down in the pan for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove the cake from pan, and let it cools down on a wire rack.

10. When the cake has cooled down completely, slice off the dome top, and divide the cake into 3 layers.

11. Apply cold coffee ermine cream in between layers, as well as the top. Keep the cake in the fridge for an hour to "harden" the cream.

Shave some unsweetened baking chocolate and sprinkle on the top (optional).

12. Slice the cake and enjoy :)

21 March 2017 bake
I added some chopped pistachio nuts to the top of the cake :)