Precision, patience and perfection

   Hey ! Its been a long time since I posted, had so many things going on at work. That didn't keep me from cooking and baking though :) just not enough time to post.
  Today I would like to emphasize on three critical aspects which one must master in order to be good at any field related to science. When I started baking or cooking in general, I quickly assimilated that even though baking would be classified as an art it actually is science and hence obeys the laws on which science functions. The key aspects are precision and patience which ultimately lead to perfection. The right ingredients in the right order baked at the right temperature and for the right time were not sufficient to give me a perfect Donauwelle, what was lacking was the last bit of precision and a lot of patience which I am always short of. During my first attempt I used the wrong baking form, traditional recipe calls for a flat rectangular baking form called Backblech in German, as I didn't have one, I tried making it in a normal round form, the result was a tasty cake that took way longer to bake, had messed up layers (thanks to my short patience) and did not look like a Donauwelle. As I have a mild OCD, I cannot rest till the goal is achieved, so the very next day I was back with a Backblech some observations at one of the best Bakeries in Bremen (Cafe Knigge for those of you who know it) and a lot of patience, really lots of it. The result was a near perfect Donauwelle.

 Now a little about the subject, Donauwelle is a traditional south German cake literally meaning  "waves of Danube", Danube is a river that originates in south Germany and flows all the way across eastern Europe and empties into the Black sea. Coming  back to the Donauwelle, it is a very rich marbled cake topped with cherries, vanilla butter cream and a namesake chocolate layer with a wave like pattern. As pictures speak a thousand words so here we go, the picture of a Donauwelle.)

  I hope the picture will motivate you to read further, but I am short of time and the recipe will be added soon in the next post. Bye for now !

The Concoction

Finally squeezed in some time to add the recipe for the Ambrosia cheese cake, so here you go!

Ambrosia cheese cake

Preparation time: 30 minutes; baking and resting time: 3 hours

Ingredients

Dark chocolate cake (base)

• 4 tbsp (35 g) plain all purpose flour (maida)
• 1 tbsp (8 g) unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
•  3 tbsp (40 g) Castor sugar
• 40 g butter
• 25 g dark chocolate
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp milk

Chocolate cheese cake

• 4 tbsp (60 gm) Magerquark/Philadelphia cream cheese or (chakka)
• 5 tbsp (75 ml) Unsweetened condensed milk
• 3 tbsp (40 g) light brown sugar 

(if you have sweetened condensed milk at hand use 100 ml of it instead of the sugar and the unsweetened condensed milk separately)

• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp Rum (optional)
• 50 gm Milk chocolate
• 1 tbsp starch

Caramel mousse

• 100 ml whipping cream (30% milk fat) cooled (warm cream does not form stiff peaks)
• 4 tbsp light brown sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tbsp water

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2. Line the bottom of a 24 cm baking pan with baking parchment and butter the sides.
3. For the cake melt the dark chocolate on a water bath and keep aside to cool. Beat the suagr and butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Slowly add in the cooled melted chocolate and beat on low. Whisk the egg separately and incorporate it slowly into the chocolate mixture.
4. Now sift the flour, baking powder and the cocoa together and slowly sift it into the chocolate mixture little at a time. Mix well and adjust the consistency of the mixture with 3 tbsp of milk. 
5. Put the cake batter in the readied baking pan, tap down to remove the air bubbles and bake it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until the surface of the cake is firm.
6. While the cake is baking, melt the milk chocolate on a water bath and set aside to cool. Beat the cream cheese, condensed milk and sugar till light and fluffy, add the cooled melted chocolate and rum and mix well. Beat in the whisked egg and sifted starch.
7. Remove the dark chocolate base from the oven and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes remove the baking parchment from the bottom and replace the cake in the baking tray, then pour the cheese cake batter on top of the cake and again put it in the oven and let it bake for another 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature of the oven to 150 degrees Celsius and bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes until a knife inserted in the cheese cake comes out clean and the surface is firm. Switch off the oven, remove the cake from the oven after 10 minutes and let it cool on the wire rack.
8. Now for the caramel mousse, take the brown sugar and water in a sauce pan and turn on the heat on medium high. Let the sugar melt without stirring, once it gets a golden amber colour, stir the mixture until the syrup starts foaming, add 20 ml cream and mix well and again bring it to boil, remove from heat and let it cool slightly. Then add the 2 egg yolks one by one and beat on high till the mixture is nicely incorporated. Slowly cook the mixture on a water bath till it thickens, then remove from heat mix in the butter and let it cool in a refrigerator.
9. Whisk the remaining cooled cream with vanilla till it forms stiff peaks, now slowly fold in the caramel mixture till it is nicely mixed in.
10. Now layer the caramel mousse on the cooled cheese cake and spread it evenly on the surface. Top it with your favourite toppings like caramelized almonds, chocolate chips etc and refrigerated for atleast 3 hours. Ambrosia is ready !!!

Comments are welcomed, do try out this recipe and let me know how you like it. You can also simplify the recipe if you want by omitting one of the layers for eg. double the amounts for the dark chocolate cake and layer it up with just either the cheese cake or the caramel mousse, that would also taste good.

Ambrosia - Its time we tasted it

According to Greek and Hindu mythology Gods feasted on, or drank a substance called Ambrosia (Amrut) that supposedly gave them immortality and divine powers. Also gods created Ambrosia to their liking so it must have tasted good, (contrary to the wheat grass and Aloe juice which we humans have penned as ambrosia YUCK)
  So making a long story short, if I were a God what would I make Ambrosia out of? hmm the first thing that comes to my mind would be COCOA (I am not the only one, the latin botanists also named the cocoa tree as Theobroma cocoa which also means food of the goods in latin). Cocoa in itself is very bitter and dry, so what is better to complement it but sweet, gooey CARAMEL! Put in some luscious creamy CHEESE and voila you have become the alchemist and discovered Ambrosia.
  So here I present to you the very first creation in my kitchen after starting the blog, the Ambrosia cheese cake, made out of the most basic ingredients yet so divine in taste.

Ps. Its my original recipe

                                              Ambrosia cheese cake

                                                                       

The next post will be about the most important part for most of you LOL, the recipe, keep folllowing, see ya !