Sweet Briar Patch Chocolate Cake
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.
Servings: 1 9 1/2 inch x 6 1/2 inch baking tin
Ingredients
Chocolate sponge cake
- 10 eggs
- 50 g cake flour
- 50 g dark cocoa powder
- 95 g milk
- 90 g oil
- 120 g fine sugar
Chocolate ganache
- 1 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 350 ml heavy cream
Chocolate Frosting
- 750 ml heavy cream
- 2/3 cup cooled chocolate ganache
Filling
- 90 g black biscuits chunks
- 200 g blueberries
Decor
- 12 Ferrero Rocher chocolate
- Fresh mint leaves
Instructions
Chocolate Sponge
- Separate 10 eggs into yolks and whites. Do this when the eggs are cold. Freeze the whites for 20-30 minutes and start on the yolk mixture.
- Combine 95g milk and 90g oil in a bowl and microwave for 45 seconds to warm it up. Pour into a large bowl and mix well. Sieve in 50g dark cocoa powder and 50g cake flour and whisk into a thick paste. Then add in the yolks and mix until a nice smooth drippy consistency.
- Pour in the slightly frozen whites into a mixing bowl. Add 2 tsp of lemon juice and whisk on medium speed until foamy. Then add in 120g sugar in three parts and whisk on medium till firm peaks. *the meringue should be smooth and shiny* Add 1/3 of the meringue to the cocoa batter. Gently mix to loosen it up. Then pour in the cocoa batter into the rest of the meringue and mix with a gentle hand until just combined. (Note: Mix gently to not deflate the meringue and *do not over-mix*)
- Line the base of a 9 1/2 inch x 6 1/2 inch baking tin with parchment. *Do not grease the sides* Pour in the batter. Tap the tin a few times on the work table to release any air bubbles or gently run through the batter several times with a skewer. Bake @ 150C (middle rack) for 50min or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool upside down for 10 min. Then gently run a knife around the edges and remove the cake from the tin to cool completely.
Chocolate frosting
- Place the chocolate and heavy cream in a large mixing cup and microwave the mixture in 30 second bursts to melt the chocolate. Stir after each interval until the chocolate is completely melted and is shiny smooth. The chocolate ganache is ready. Set aside to cool.
- Whisk 750ml heavy cream until firm peaks. Adding 2/3 cup cooled chocolate ganache and mix till just combined. Taste for sweetness and add more ganache if required. When adding the ganache, whisk to just combine and do not over-mix. The frosting is ready.
Assembly
- Slice the chocolate cake into 3 even layers. Place the 1st layer onto a cake board. Drizzle chocolate ganache over and spread out evenly with a pastry brush. Pipe a border of frosting all around. Fill the middle with 90g oreo chunks and drizzle with more ganache. Pipe and cover the oreo biscuits evenly with frosting.
- Repeat with the 2nd cake layer and this time filling it with 200g fresh blueberries. Repeat with the last layer and cover the entire cake with frosting. If not good with smooth sides (like me), using an offset spatula, do rustic smudges all over.
- For the decor on top, pipe a chocolate rosette border about an inch apart and drizzle ganache on alternate blooms. Top off each rosette with a Ferrero Rocher chocolate and fill in the spaces in the rosette border with fresh blueberries.
- Finally, adorn the briar patch with fresh mint leaves and the Sweet Briar Chocolate Cake is all ready for the celebration. Enjoy.
Notes
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#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.
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.
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 produces 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 above in the blogpost).