I love a good challenge.
A few days ago I was helping out a friend glue labels onto bottles of his own organic coffee and cinnamon liqueur (akaQuick Brown Fox).
For my efforts I was rewarded with product. Delicious product. I may or may not be sipping away at it right now as I write this post (watch out for typos!!).
Since I am always looking for new ideas I proposed that I would attempt to include the delicious digestif in some sort of culinary quest.
The obvious choice was to pair it with chocolate.
And so I did. Twice.
This tale here depicts my adventures with baby mocha chocolate cakes and Quick Brown Fox spiked ganache. The sequel: chilli and cinnamon truffles.
Brace yourselves.
After making that monster of a wedding cake I vowed never to make another chocolate cake for a good long time. It would seem I am breaking that vow. I'm a terrible person I know. It is just such a good moist cake, perfect for pairing with the QBF.
When sipping away on beverages such as this you are usually in smallish groups. In groups of small sizes there is no need for massive cakes especially when they are super rich chocolate cakes. This is why I have decided to make baby cakes.
This recipe here makes six 11cm cakes. If wrapped up in baking paper and sealed in a heavy duty snap lock bag, these cakes can be frozen for up to three months and removed when an occasion demands a cake of you. The extra cakes are perfect for using as mini birthday cakes too. Who doesn't like mini cake?
Now that I think about it (and as I wrap up four cakes and pop them in the freezer) I may do a 'three ways with cake' segment. Flip, I am in my flat for one more week and I have five (four chocolate, 1 red velvet) baby cakes in my freezer.
Chocolate Mocha Cake
Makes six 11cm cakes
2 cups plain flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup strong black coffee
1 cup of buttermilk (or half and half milk and yoghurt)
2 eggs
1/2 cup sunflower oil
vanilla essence
Quick Brown Fox Ganache
Enough to ice two two-tiered cakes
1/2 cup cream
250g dark chocolate (60ish%), chopped up
5 tablespoons QBF (or other coffee liqueur) (to find your nearest supply click
)
To make the cakes, preheat the oven to 180 degrees on bake.
Line and grease your 11cm cake tins. If you only have a few (I only have two) wait half an hour before turning the baked cakes out and reusing the tins).
Beat together the sugar and eggs until pale. Add in the oil, beat well then carefully mix in the buttermilk (or milk-yoghurt mixture) and the vanilla.
Sieve in the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and baking powder and mix to combine. Carefully stir in the black coffee (if using a stand mixer it can slosh everywhere!).
Into each cake tin, pour 230g. Bake for 30 minutes and leave to cool before turning out of the tin. If you want, you can drizzle a teaspoon of QBF over the tops of the cakes while they are still hot.
To make the ganache heat the cream in a double boiler until just below a simmer then add in the chocolate. Leave to sit for a minute then stir in. Once cooled slightly, stir in the QBF. Leave to cool to room temperature before lightly covering and leaving to set in the fridge.
Once the ganache has thickened, use it to gently ice two chocolate cakes together. You may need to level the cakes with a serrated knife. If the ganache is to hard pop it in the microwave for a few seconds at a time to soften it until it is spreadable. Be careful not to tear the cakes as you ice over them.
Top with pretty decorations of your choice.
Enjoy!!
