Chocolate Éclair Cake – March Sweet Adventures Blog Hop: Layers

The Sweet Adventures Blog Hop this month is hosted by fellow Perth blogger The Capers of the Kitchen Crusader and the theme is layered desserts. 

My contribution is a chocolate éclair cake (its got 12 layers!)

I came across a recipe for chocolate eclair cake a while ago, it’s basically a type of ice box (aka refrigerator) cake made up of vanilla pudding which is lightened with whipped cream, layered between graham crackers and topped with a chocolate glaze. After refrigeration, this cake promises to taste just like a chocolate éclair as the graham crackers have absorbed moisture from the cream and softened, resembling the choux pastry found in an eclair. I love eating chocolate eclairs and the thought of a short cut way of making it where I wouldn’t have to mess around with choux pastry was an exciting prospect, but would it deliver what it promised? I wanted to find out.

Ice box cakes are an old school dessert that have been around since the 1930s, it was one of those back-of-the-box recipes by companies trying to promote their products to housewives by showing them how to make convenient party fare. The defining recipe comes from an American brand of cookie, Nabisco Chocolate Wafers which suggested stacking the wafers to form a log with whipped cream cementing them together and refrigerating overnight for a glorious looking chocolate cake that is deceptively simple to make. In Australia we have our own version made with Arnotts Chocolate Ripple biscuits.

The chocolate éclair cake is a bit of a spin-off containing graham crackers and a bunch of instant products - vanilla pudding, whipping cream and chocolate frosting. Graham crackers are an ingredient that I often come across in American dessert recipes where some sort of biscuit base is required. However, graham crackers are not readily available in Australia and I usually use digestive biscuits as a substitute but I don’t know if they would work the same way for this dessert. Luckily I came across some graham crackers at an Asian supermarket (Dragon Supermarket on William Street). You are also able to order graham crackers online at USA Foods. 

I’ve never used any box mix/instant product for baking before and I don’t intend to…ever. Even with box mixes, you are still required to add in other ingredients (some liquid, eggs), so I would rather make the whole thing from scratch so I know exactly what will be in it and I can use the best ingredients. For the chocolate éclair cake I made my own vanilla pudding, whipped my own cream and made a chocolate glaze.

(Supporting local and organic producers – using organic Margaret River milk 
and Bannister Downs cream)

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical at first but was pleasantly surprised with the end result, it really did taste like a chocolate éclair. Although there is a difference in that you don’t get that crisp choux pastry encompassing the cream as the graham crackers have softened to a point that they literally melt in your mouth. But it’s delicious and that’s what counts. Picking apart the soft graham crackers, it has a flakey texture like choux pastry and provides a nice light layer in between the creamy vanilla pudding.

This chocolate eclair cake is really easy to put together if you follow the original recipe with all the instant products, but I made it a little harder by making the other components from scratch. I think it’s worth spending that extra time and effort as the result is superior.

Give this chocolate éclair ice box cake a go and put it into the category of cakes that you won’t be able to stop eating. It was my first go at an ice box cake and it definitely won’t be my last. Ice box cakes are a no bake dessert that can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be and the possibilities are endless – you could try using different types of biscuits, experiment with have different types of cream fillings and layer it with other things as well such as fruit or nuts. It can also be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance.

Chocolate Éclair Cake
(recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
•    Graham crackers (the amount of crackers depends on how many layers you want, I used around ~400g)
•    Chocolate glaze (150g dark chocolate plus 2 tablespoons of butter)
•    600ml cream (for whipping)

Vanilla pudding (adapted from Joy of Baking)
•    3 1/2 cups full cream milk
•    1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup caster sugar
•    1/4 cup corn flour
•    1/8 teaspoon salt
•    2 large eggs
•    1 large egg yolk
•    2 teaspoons pure vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
•    2 tablespoons unsalted butter

(Note: as a shortcut you can use instant vanilla pudding, can of whipped cream and premade chocolate frosting)

Method

To make vanilla pudding.

In a large heatproof bowl whisk together 1/3 cup sugar, cornflour, salt, eggs, and egg yolk. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the milk. Set aside. Rinse a medium-sized heavy saucepan with cold water and then shake out the excess water (this helps to prevents the milk from scorching). Add into the saucepan the remaining 3 cups of milk, along with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and gradually pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the pudding mixture to a clean, large heavy bottomed saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of mayonnaise (about 3-5 minutes). Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract. If necessary, pour through the strainer to remove any lumps that may have formed during cooking. Transfer pudding to a large bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until completely chilled, about 2-3 hours.

(Vanilla Pudding)

Pour the cream into a large bowl and beat it until it forms whipped cream.

Using a spatula, gently fold in half of the whipped cream into the cooled pudding, then fold in the remaining whipped cream until combined.

Line a 8 inch x 8 inch baking pan with foil. Cover the bottom of the pan with enough graham crackers, breaking as needed to fit in the pan. Spread over the top of the crackers some of the pudding/cream mixture, smoothing the top with a spatula (the layers of cream can be as thin or thick as you want). Repeat with the remaining pudding/cream and crackers, the last layer should be crackers. Refrigerate until ready to glaze.

You can have as many layers of cream and crackers as you want – the recipe that I got this idea for chocolate éclair cake from had three layers of graham crackers and two thick layers of cream. I decided to do as many layers as I could – 6 layers of graham crackers and 5 layers of cream.

In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Cool the chocolate until barely warm/room temperature but still liquid and then spread evenly over the top cracker layer. Refrigerate the cake for 6-24 hours.

Related post - My entry for January's Sweet Adventures Blog Hop: Death by Chocolate - Oreo Cookies

Chocolate and cardamom soft centred pudding

(After baking)

(Before baking)

Chocolate goes with a lot of things, even things that at first impressions would seem unusual like chocolate and orange, chocolate and chilli, chocolate and beetroot…


A few weeks ago I discovered something else that goes with chocolate – cardamom. I was having dinner with a friend at the Greenhouse and ordered the chocolate and cardamom pudding for dessert. It was delicious and that night I discovered how wondrous the pairing of chocolate and cardamon was.


For a dinner party that I had last week I decided to recreate this chocolate and cardamom pudding for my friends as I thought it would be really good winter dessert. 


I adapted a soft-centred chocolate budini with milk ice-cream recipe  that I found off the Gourmet Traveller website and added in some cardamom. I was happy with the taste of the puddings but I encountered some problems…


I baked the puddings for the full 12 minutes as specified in the recipe but I found that when I turned out the pudding, it collapsed.

I realized that if I wanted the puddings to stand on their own I would have to bake them for another 2 minutes (total baking time of 14 minutes) for the sides to form more. 

The dilemma was that this would result in a reduced liquid centre.

A collapsing shell of light cake oozing with hot chocolate ganache versus a pudding that stands up on its on with more cake and less liquid.


What would you choose? - I chose more gooey chocolate! 

So in the end I decided to serve the puddings in the dariole moulds on a plate with a dollop of double cream on the side. A guaranteed safe result every time without having to worry about whether or not you have baked the puddings enough for them to stand on their own. However, the problems I encountered may also be with my dariole moulds being the wrong size (a little smaller) and I may have overfilled the moulds a little because as they baked they rose like soufflés. 

I served the puddings with my favourite double cream from Bannister Downs Farm. With a fat content of 53%-65%! the highest that I have ever come across, this cream is really decadent – so thick and creamy, and so pure! 

Ingredients
(Adapted from the Gourmet Traveller)


(serves 6)


• 165 g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 165 g unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
• 3 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 80 g caster sugar
• 35 g  plain flour, sieved 
• 1 ½ t ground cardamon, sieved
• extra melted butter and 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder, for dusting


Method


Preheat oven to 180C. 


Prepare six 250ml dariole moulds by brushing melted butter all over the insides and then add in a spoonful of cocoa powder.  Tip and turn the mould around so that the cocoa completely coats the butter and tap out any excess.


Place a bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water and slowly melt the chocolate and butter together, then leave to cool for about 10 minutes. 


Whisk eggs, yolks and sugar with an electric mixer until pale, thick and fluffy (5-6 minutes, until the whisk leaves a trail).


Gently fold in one-quarter of the chocolate mixture, then fold in remaining mixture. Sift over the flour and cardamom, and fold to incorporate. 


Divide between six prepared dariole moulds, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set (6 hours-overnight).


Place the dariole moulds on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes until the puddings have just set, centres are still soft and the tops have formed a crust. Serve in moulds with ice cream or double cream.

NB: If you want to serve the puddings turned out of the mould, I would recommend baking them for a further 2 minutes.

Raw Brownies

What are peoples favourite chocolate baked good? I think that brownies would be right up there. Moist, chewy, rich, dense and fudgy – what’s not to like about it?


I love eating chocolate and sweets but as someone who spends most of her time cooking and eating, I try to eat everything in moderation. Ever since I took the Raw Decadent Dessert Cooking Class by A Foodly Affair I have been interested in finding recipes for guilt free treats.


Raw brownies are easy to make and a guilt free pleasure. After reading a few recipes I found that raw brownies are basically composed of some dried fruit, nuts, a sweetening/binding agent and cacao powder, then blitz, mould and chill for it to set.  

I found the raw brownies to have a surprisingly good resemblance to a real brownie in that it looked like a brownie, had a nice taste and a chewy texture provided by the mushed up dates. However, it didn’t have that dense, fudgyness of a real brownie. 


Even if raw brownies aren’t ‘real’ brownies, I definitely recommend them as a treat. It’s disgustingly healthy, requires no baking and is a great chocolate fix.


So I dedicate this recipe to people who:
• can’t bake
• are renting and have an oven which is as unpredictable as the weather
• are celiacs, lactose intolerant etc.
• are on a diet
• are chocohalics


I made a batch and kept some in the freezer. Raw brownies keep well in the freezer and remain moist and chewable when frozen so you can just take it out of the freezer and enjoy.

Raw Brownies


(My raw brownie recipe adapted from various recipes I read off the net)


Ingredients


• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup almonds
• 2 cups Medjool dates (pitted and roughly chopped)
• ½ cup raw cacao powder 
• ~ 1-2 tablespoons agave
• pinch of salt

I used some whole fresh Medjool Dates that I bought from my local fruit and veg store in Mount Lawley. Medjool Dates are the best kind of dates you can get – they have a sweet rich caramel flavour with a sticky texture which lends well to these brownies. I don’t know if you could get the same outcome with a different type of date.


Method


Place the walnuts and almonds in food processor and process until they have become small and crumbly. Add in the chopped dates and process until the mixture starts to stick together and the dates are well processed. Add the cacao powder and process until the mixture becomes dark chocolately brown. Add in the agave which will help to balance the bitterness of the cacao powder and also help the mixture stick together. Process for a few more seconds so that you end up with a mixture that resembles cake crumbs but when pressed will easily stick together (if the mixture does not hold together well, add more dates or agave).


Press the mixture into a lined cake tin and place in the fridge for a few hours to set. Cut into squares.

Chocolate Fondant

Most people would agree that chocolate is awesome and what better chocolate desert to have than a chocolate fondant with its oozing melting chocolate insides, served hot, straight from the oven with icecream.

Ingredients (for 2 dariole moulds)

•    50g butter, plus extra for greasing
•    cocoa powder for dusting
•    50g dark chocolate, chopped into pieces
•    1 egg
•    1 egg yolk
•    60g caster sugar (around 1/3 cup)
•    50g plain flour (around ½ cup)

Method

Grease the moulds by brushing melted butter all over the insides and then add in a spoonful of cocoa powder.  Tip the mould around so that the cocoa completely coats the butter and tap out any excess.

Place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and slowly melt the chocolate and butter together, then leave to cool for about 10 minutes.

Whisk the egg, egg yolk and sugar together in a bowl until it is thick and pale, then sift in the flour and beat together.

Gently fold in the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and mix together until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared moulds and chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes (this allows the chocolate to set a bit).

Preheat oven to 170C, place the fondants on a baking tray and bake for 12 minutes until the tops have formed a crust and the fondants are starting to come away from the sides of their moulds.

Remove from the oven and run a knife around the edges of the fondant to loosen, invert onto a plate and slowly ease the fondant out of the mould.

Serve with icecream!