Sweet Briar Patch Chocolate Cake, my celebration cake for August babies and Singapore.

Recently, there was a medical emergency in our family; I’m thankful we were protected and it passed without event. Grateful to be able to bake this Sweet Briar Patch Chocolate to celebrate with loved ones. 

My delightful garden patch in cake!

Why Sweet Briar Patch Chocolate Cake? Because it’s baked rectangular and adorned like a charming garden patch with sweet mint and blueberries. Perhaps it’s also beautiful and poetic to celebrate life like a sweet briar patch. Meeting life head on, taking the good with the bad, embracing the sweet with the sharp. 

Want a slice? 😄

This Sweet Briar Patch Chocolate Cake is a dark luxurious chocolate sponge filled with oreos and blueberries. Bitter sweet, creamy, light and resplendent with crunch, fruit and a most silky chocolate frosting. 

Happy Birthday Boy!

Celebrating the sweetness of family .. always ❤️

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT!

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here 😊

If you like my Sweet Briar Patch Chocolate Cake, you may also like these other recipes:

• Green Apple Mousse Cheesecake
• Salt Coffee Mousse Cake
• Orange Chocolate Peanut Butter Burnt Cheesecake
• Strawberry Jelly Heart Cheesecake
• Easy Fig & Berry Cobbler
• Putu Piring Cake
• Light it Up Dulce de Leche Cake
• Coriander Chiffon Cake
• Eton Mess
  
• Merry Wreath Pavlova
• Coffee Doorstop Cake
• Easy Genoise Strawberry Shortcake

What to watch out for ..

#1 Adding lemon juice to the egg whites

Adding acidity when whipping egg whites helps to stabilize the foam and creates a firmer meringue or whipped egg white structure. If you don’t have lemon juice on hand, you can substitute it with 1/2 tsp cream of tartare or white vinegar.

Acidity reinforces structure in meringue

In essence, lemon juice (or other acids) acts as a stabilizing agent, helping the egg whites to hold their shape and volume while being whipped, resulting in a more stable and desirable meringue. 

#2 Chilled egg whites vs egg whites @room temperature

Ok, there are really two schools of thought on this. In the beginning when I started to bake, it is always recommended to bring your egg whites to room temperature. Why? Because it will whisk up more voluminous and also melt and absorb the sugar more easily. In recent years, I find that there is a 2nd school of thought advocating using cold or highly chilled whites for meringue which whips up more gradually and therefore gives a more stable structure.

Chilled whites or @room temperature?

So which is right? 

From my experience, both works. I used room temperature egg whites for my Genoise Strawberry Shortcake, Coriander Chiffon Cake, and even my Putu Piring Cake(which incorporates a gluten free sponge using rice flour) and they baked beautifully. 

Since my curiosity was piqued about chilled egg whites, I started using them (even slightly icy at the edges) to whisk my meringue for sponge cakes and it similarly produces a lovely and fluffy bake like my Imperfectly Perfect Swiss Roll.

I find the main difference is the chilled whites whip up more gradually (takes a longer time) and hence provides a more stable albeit less voluminous meringue. One is also less likely to over-whisk the meringue as the whites whip up more gradually. 

Whichever one you choose, mind these tips and your meringue should turn out nicely!

• Fat-free please. As yolks contain fats, be careful when separating the eggs to not get any yolk in the whites. Make sure your whisking gear and bowl are clean and free of grease.  Any hint of fat or grease can cause the meringue to fail to whip up properly. 

• Slow and steady does it. This is the key rule for whisking a stable meringue. Start slow whipping the whites until foamy. Up the speed slowly so that you do not over-beat and gradually add the sugar. Once the sugar is added, switch to high speed and whip until the meringue is thick and glossy.

• Be careful not to under or over whisk the meringue. The ideal stiff peak stage for making chiffon cake is somewhere between medium and firm stiffness. How do you recognize that? As you lift the whisk with the meringue, it should hold a firm shape and droop just a bit, a small but firm half curl (see photo below).

This firm curl is what you want ..

#3 Chocolate sponge 

The chocolate sponge attains its airy crumb very much from the air in the meringue. Therefore always whisk and mix gently so as not to deflate the air built up in the batter. I find it useful to fold in with a whisk as the meringue incorporates well and with minimal loss of volume.

Mix in gently gently ..

Mix the cocoa yolk mixture into the meringue until just combined, do not over-mix. To reduce air pockets in the batter, so that there are no big gaping holes in the sponge, after filling the tin with the cake batter, I also like to tap the pan gently on the work station or run through with a skewer just before baking.

#4 Make Ahead & Storage 

I usually bake my chocolate sponge a couple of days ahead and store it cling-wrapped and refrigerated (whole and not sliced or layered) to keep it fresh and moist. On the morning of the celebration, I whip up the chocolate frosting, layer the chocolate sponge, assemble and keep it chilled till just before serving. 

This Sweet Briar Patch Chocolate Cake is best served chilled, and is most delicious consumed within the first two days.  It can be stored up to 3-5 days in a well sealed container and refrigerated. 

Baker’s mega slice ☺️!