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 Post subject: Measuring Cocoa Powder
PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:30 pm 
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I made the Best Easy Chocolate Cake yesterday! I weighed my ingredients and when it came to the Cocoa Powder, I weighed it inside my 1 cup measuring cup. The weight specified by Cooks measured out to 3/4 cup of cocoa and not 1/2 cup. Is there that much difference in Cocoas? I used Hershey's European Cocoa!


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 Post subject: Re: Measuring Cocoa Powder
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:23 pm 
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This cake was very good. It was very moist and everybody liked. It was very easy to make, which unusual for a CI cake.


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 Post subject: Re: Measuring Cocoa Powder
PostPosted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:10 am 
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talanhart wrote:
I made the Best Easy Chocolate Cake yesterday! I weighed my ingredients and when it came to the Cocoa Powder, I weighed it inside my 1 cup measuring cup. The weight specified by Cooks measured out to 3/4 cup of cocoa and not 1/2 cup. Is there that much difference in Cocoas? I used Hershey's European Cocoa!

Hence the reason weighing is sooooo much better. I think it has to do with how you put the cocoa into the cup. If you spooned it in gently, it is likely that it would have a higher volume. If you had used the "dip and sweep" method, it would have probably been closer to 1/2 cup. I don't think it's the difference in cocoas as much as the difference in how the cocoa was put in the cup. Cocoa will pack down and lose volume very easily.

Speaking of cocoa, I am fond of Penzey's cocoa. I need to do a Penzey's/Trader Joes trip, but at the end of the day I usually just want to get home and don't feel like fighting crosstown traffic. And here I was all excited about being so close to both!


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 Post subject: Re: Measuring Cocoa Powder
PostPosted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:45 am 
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I just read two really bad reviews of this cake at Cooks. One person didn't like the density of the cake, which I really liked because it was really moist and the other one couldn't get over the Mayo taste which I didn't taste at all. I'm wondering what kind of chocolate and coffee they used. Since I have the Espresso powder that I bought, I used that for the coffee. I used Hershey's European Cocoa and Scharfen Berger Chocolate. Also, there baking times were well over 30 minutes and mine was 28 minutes at 325ยบ convection.


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 Post subject: Re: Measuring Cocoa Powder
PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 11:44 am 
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I couldn't sleep the other night and Martha Stewart had Pastry chefs making Valentines Desserts. Here is a recipe for Cupid Cakes. The Chocolate Cake is made with Mayonnaise. Martha commented that she has never made a cake with Mayonnaise.





Cupid Cakes

These delicious cupid cakes, courtesy of chef Sebastien Rouxel from Bouchon Bakery, will charm your special someone this Valentine's Day.



Ingredients

Makes 12.

4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon vanilla paste
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Passion-Caramel Filling
Marshmallow Filling
Chocolate Icing
5 cups prepared fondant
Pastel-pink gel food coloring
Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 17-by-12-inch rimmed baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together eggs and sugar until pale and thick (the whisk should hold a ribbon-like train on the surface when raised). Add mayonnaise and vanilla paste and whisk until fully incorporated.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Transfer flour mixture to a fine-mesh sieve and sift ingredients into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture to egg mixture in three additions, alternating with 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon water, mixing well after each addition.
Transfer batter to prepared baking sheet. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in baking sheet on a wire rack. Using a 3 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut out 12 hearts. Using a 1-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut out the center of each of the larger hearts, taking care not to cut all the way through; discard centers. Transfer each cake to a plate.
Fill the center sections of each heart with 1 tablespoon passion-caramel filling and top each with 1 tablespoon marshmallow filling. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch round tip (Wilton No. 809) with chocolate icing; pipe icing over filling.
Place fondant on a nonstick baking mat; press your thumb into the center of the fondant to make a well. Add 5 drops of food coloring in the well and knead fondant until color is well blended. Working with about 6 tablespoons fondant at a time, roll out into a 14-inch circle about 1/8-inch-thick. Cut out a 13-by-13-by-13-inch triangle from the circle.
Drape fondant triangle over one of the heart-shaped cakes with the 4-inch side draped over the widest part of the heart. Using your fingers, press fondant to adhere; trim edges. Repeat process with remaining fondant and cakes.
Gather scraps of fondant and place on a nonstick baking mat; press your thumb into the center of the fondant to make a well. Add 5 drops of food coloring in the well and knead until color is well blended. Roll out fondant 1/8-inch thick; using a 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut out 12 hearts. Place a heart on each cake and tie a brown ribbon around the bottom edge of each cake, if desired. Serve immediately.
First published February 2009


Copyright 2008 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. All rights reserved.


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