Happy Birthday To Dear Hubby

Sometimes I wonder will it change.....for it has been so many years now, probably close to a decade! I am actually talking about the number of birthday cakes I have made for my hubby all these years. I had a vague memory of the first birthday cake I made for him while we were still in States. It was definitely a chocolate cake and I know I didn't do a very good job. But I do remember my hubby was very happy at that time....just like today when I gave him the cake. The same happy reaction after so many years. :)

There is only two flavors of cakes that my husband loves, that is durian and dark chocolate. Yeah, super "heaty", lol! So it's no surprise why I kept baking these 2 flavors of cake every year lately, hahaha! Sounds boring isn't it, but I don't hear the birthday boy complaining. :)

For the chocolate sponge cake inside, I have adapted a new method call "烫面方式" (cooking the batter). I wasn't sure did I went wrong somewhere but the cake I baked didn't meet the high expectations I heard about and anticipated. Nevertheless, it was still acceptable and I just used it anyways since I don't have the lesiure to bake another one!

Ingredients for Dark Chocolate Decadence Cake: (Makes an 8" cake)

Set A:

60ml fresh milk

64g unsalted butter

Set B:

24g unsweetened quality cocoa powder (I used Valrohna)

50g cake flour

Set C:

5 egg yolks

1 whole egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Set D:

5 egg whites

100g caster sugar

Method:

• Cook Set A ingredients in a heat proof sauce pot over medium low fire. Have a thermometer to make sure the temperature reaches 65C. Once it reaches 65C, add in the sifted cake flour and cocoa powder. Stir and mix well till the mixture is thick.
• Mix the ingredients in C in another mixing bowl and gradually add it into the flour mixture. Once incorporated, set aside for later use.
• Using the beater, whip the whites till foamy and gradually add in the sugar and beat till the mixture is stiff peaks and shiny.
• Preheat the oven to 170C. Get ready an 8" X 3" round cake pan with removable base.
• In 3 separate portions, add the whites to the egg yolk batter till everything is incorporated in. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake till the cake top is formed, about 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 160C and continue to bake for another ~25 minutes till the cake tester comes out clean.
• Once done, remove from oven and invert on a rack to cool completely before removing from pan.

For the chocolate cream and ganache my previous recipes, thanks.

I added fresh pitted cherries in the cake which gave it more texture, flavor and juiciness. The cake turned out very chocolaty, rich and yes very yummy. :) My hubby loved it very much and said he won't change a thing about the cake, hee. :)

I also made a mini 6" rich durian cake for my husband on his lunar birthday just for fun, heehee. :) Check it out:

This cake was made with fresh durian meat which I bought a while back when it was still in season and froze it well in my freezer. And to our delight, the durian cake taste really good, still very fragrant and creamy. :)

Gonna leave this post with this last picture, a rustic but tempting looking slice of the durian cream cake. :)

Hope you all have a great week ahead all!