Queen of the Chennaults

We ran out of breakfast food, so I decided to make chocolate Ogura cake again– I want to fine tune the recipe before it slips out of my mind. Last time, my chocolate Ogura cake was for a 9-inch round cake pan, and it didn’t last my family long. So this time I decided to make it larger– to fit a 9x13x2 inch cake pan. I have adjusted the ingredient proportion. Also, learning from last time when I steamed bake my cotton soft Japanese cheesecake #2, my water pan was too shallow (I used a small jelly roll pan). As a result the water dried out during baking and possibly causing big cracks on the top of the cake. So, this time I used a more shallow pan to hold the water– a 9x13x2 inch Pyrex glass pan with water filled half way up, and it worked out fine this time.

The results–

The Look:

• The cake batter didn’t spilled over. It rose very nice during baking– then the top started  to crack when it got closer to upper heat source (I place the cake in the middle rack this time). Originally I set the baking time to be 50 minutes at 325°F and planned another 5-10 minutes at 350°F, but when I checked the cake after 40 minutes/325°F, the top cracked pretty badly and I had to remove the cake from the oven (after the toothpick-comes-out-clean cake test). Next time I should try position the cake at the second lowest rack in the oven, right above the water pan.
• Unlike last time, I let the cake cooled, inverted and inside cake pan, completely before removing from cake pan. What I found out is that there’s a lot of air trapped at the bottom of the cake (between the pan and parchment paper)– as soon as I make a slit cut along cake pan to unmold, the cake started to sink into the pan. Luckily the cake didn’t shrink. Upon removing parchment paper, I was glad the bottom of the cake was not soggy wet!
• Besides the cracks, the top of the cake doesn’t have that nice smooth solid layer of soft crust (which I REALLY like for the look of a cake)–  my crust seems kinda weak as there are tiny tiny holes (or I should say very very fine cracks) everywhere. And the crust was a bit wrinkled. Why??… 😦

The Taste:

• The taste is pretty good, not overly sweet and full of chocolate flavor, although a much richer chocolate flavor would be better (yes, I was looking for rich chocolate flavor of a molten cake!)… maybe adding more chocolate chips and/or more cocoa powder and less cake flour?

The Texture:

• The texture is very very soft– I think it’s the softest cake I have ever made! It’s fluffy and light too, a delight to bite into! But the cake crumb is not evenly fine– some part of the cake has finer crumbs, but other parts have bigger holes.

Chocolate Ogura Cake (Large) 巧克力相思蛋糕 #2

Chocolate Ogura Cake Recipe  巧克力相思蛋糕 #2 (makes one 9x13x2 inch rectangle cake)

Ingredients:
Egg yolk mixture:
3 tbsp bittersweet sweet chocolate chips
5 tbsp milk
5 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp salt
7 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/2 cup cake flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Egg white mixture:
7 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Fill a shallow tray with tap water to half way and place the tray on the bottom rack. Place another rack in the middle of the oven– this rack is for the cake. Grease and line the bottom of a 9x13x2 inch cake pan.
2. Place chocolate chips and milk in a big bowl over a double boiler, until the chocolate melts. Alternatively you can melt it in microwave (I microwaved for 30 seconds and continued melting on double boiler). Remove from heat. Use a balloon whisk to whisk in salt and oil until well blended. Cool slightly.
3. Whisk in egg yolks and whole egg, one at a time, to the chocolate mixture. Mix well after each addition.
4. Combine cake flour and cocoa powder. Sift flour mixture into yolk mixture in 3-4 batches, whisk to blend really well after each addition. Cover the bowl until egg whites are ready to fold in.
5. Whip egg whites on high speed (KitchenAid speed 8) until bubbles are small and no clear egg white is visible. Add in cream of tartar, continue whipping on high speed (KitchenAid speed 8). Scrap the bowl if necessary.
6. When the egg whites does not have visible tiny bubbles and turns white, gradually add in sugar. Continue on high speed (KitchenAid speed 8), scrap down the bowl. When the meringue looks glossy, reduce speed to medium low (KitchenAid speed 6 or even 4– this is to push out big air bubbles, producing a cake with tiny holes and thus a more fine texture). Whip until it is soft peak (soft curl tip on the whisk when lifted upside down).
7. With a silicone spatula, gently fold in whipped egg whites to the yolk mixture in 3-4 batches, be sure there’s no egg white lumps in the batter. Pour the batter into cake pan slowly (this will avoid big air bubbles and last check for any egg white lump in the batter). Tap cake pan once. Bake for 40-50 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and inverted the cake on a cooling rack. Remove cake from the pan when it is cooled completely.

Regina’s Note:

• Chocolate flavor: Not rich enough for me. Next time should increase amount of chocolat chips and/or more cocoa powder (up to 4 tbsp?) and possibly less cake flour?
• Cake height: After baking and cooling completely, the cake is about 1.5 tall.
• Cake position in oven: Next time try positioning the cake at the second lowest level, right above the water pan (so away from upper heat source and possibly less chance of cracking on the top); or even try placing the water pan on the second highest level and cake being at the second lowest level.

Read Full Post »