Daring Bakers: February

The month of February is full of wonderful holidays.  Here are just a few of them:

  1. Cordova Ice Worm Day – 3rd
  2. Valentine’s Day – 14th
  3. Presidents Day – 16th
  4. Lisa’s Birthday – 19th
  5. Hoodie Doo Day – 20th
  6. National Tortilla Chip Day – 24th

All of these holidays are special and all have their own unique and special ways to celebrate.  I love my sister Lisa, so of course February 19th is my favorite February holiday.  In a close second is Valentine’s Day.  Chocolate, roses, romantice dinners…and oh, CHOCOLATE!

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

cake

I was excited to see that this month’s challenge was a perfect dessert for Valentine’s Day…a Chocolate Valentino with my choice of ice cream!  Some friends had already made plans to come to Amarillo to spend Valentine’s weekend, so the timing was perfect.

 

 

Since the ingredient list is short, the use of quality ingredients is important.  I chose to use a semi-sweet chocolate.  I used Guittard Semisweet, which was on sale at World Market!  chocolate

Now, when it came time to get wonderful eggs and butter…I went to the grocery store.  I would have gone and milked my own cow and churned some butter, and then gone out to my chicken coop and taken some free range eggs from my dearly loved chicken, Polly,…but I ran out of time!  Darn.

I was originally going to make a vanilla ice cream, but wanted to do something a little different.  I chose to make a cinnamon ice cream.  I had made it before, and so this time around was a little easier.  I thought it was an OK complement to the chocolate cake, but I wish I’d made a simple vanilla ice cream instead. 

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I did not use a heart shaped pan.  Instead I cut out a heart from some parchment and dusted the cake with powdered sugar.  

cake2

The cake was dense and chocolately.  If you are a chocolate lover, then you will enjoy this cake.  Top with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream…maybe add a few fresh berries as well.

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time:  20 minutes

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

melted-chocolate
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry). 

eggwhitesyolks
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. 
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C

unbaked1
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. 
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

baked1
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

  •          3 cups half and half (or whole milk)
  •          3 cinnamon sticks
  •          6 egg yolks
  •          1 cup brown sugar
  •          1 cup heavy cream
  •          1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  •          1 tablespoon vanilla

 

1.       In a medium saucepan scald milk and let steep for 30 minutes with the cinnamon sticks.  Discard the cinnamon sticks.

2.       In another saucepan, off heat, whisk the yolks and sugar together.  Gradually whisk in milk.

3.       Cook over medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring constantly.  Once the mixture coats the back of a spoon and leaves a path when your finger is drawn through it, turn off the heat.

4.       Cool this mixture to room temperature then stir in the cream, cinnamon and vanilla.  Stir until smooth.

5.       Chill this custard mixture for 6-8 hours.  It should be cold.

6.       Freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.