Super Chocolate Cake

February 21, 2023.Reading time 5 minutes.

At work, I have been coming across more and more co-workers that are choosing not to have gluten for dietary reasons. And as some of you may know, dealing with teenagers on a daily basis can be a challenge sometimes, and sometimes a slice of cake is just what you need to sweeten up the day. The kids and I were able to come up with a recipe that is gluten free for some teachers/staff with (and without) gluten allergies to enjoy. This is an official version of the cake that we originally made for last year’s super birthday.

Homemade Deep’n Delicious Cake

September 29, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

There’s something really nostalgic about having a Deep’n Delicious Cake. I remember as a kid when we used to order takeout for dinner, maybe from pizza hut or some other fast food establishment, and we would specifically look for the meals that came with a Deep ‘n Delicious cake. Nowadays, you can find this in the freeze aisle of every grocery store. I’m not sure if that was the case back then since I didn’t go to the grocery store with my mom, (unless it was Costco).

Chocolate (Swiss Meringue) Buttercream

September 29, 2021.Reading time 4 minutes.

There are many versions of buttercream: American, Swiss, French and Italian. There are subtle differences in overall texture, but beyond that each has its own advantages and disadvantages. With similar ingredients like sugar and butter, it comes down to technique and execution. This recipe is for a Swiss (meringue) buttercream. Swiss meringue buttercream is one of the easier, stable buttercream to execute (compared to Italian and French). Compared to American, it is definitely less sweet and has more of a velvety texture. This recipe adds dark chocolate at the end and is used to top my version of a Deep N’ Delicious cake.

Basic Dark Chocolate Ganache

September 18, 2021.Reading time 3 minutes.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganache

This is a basic dark chocolate ganache recipe that is a go-to recipe for me. I like the consistency and mouth feel with these specific proportions. Whenever I am starting new recipes, I often use this as a base ganache recipe and then tweak it based on the final flavouring I want. I use it in tarts, cakes, truffles, the list goes on…

Chocolate Mahjong Tiles

September 6, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

Finally!!! I bought these Mahjong tile chocolate moulds in January of 2013, and they had been stowed away from direct sunlight for the past 8+ years. A recent dinner with my sister motivated me to finally dig these out. Let’s get started! After a quick polish with cheesecloth, I cast some chocolate into the moulds leaving roughly 1/4″ gap at the top. Next, I sprayed the mould with a light green cocoa butter colour. Once the colour was set and the chocolate that was cast into the bottom was crystallized, I released the chocolate from the mould, leaving a clean green line around the top. I then sprayed several layers of white cocoa butter into the moulds. Once that set, I cast the moulds in white chocolate, filled them with a ganache and capped them. Lastly, once the chocolate crystallized and was removed from the moulds, I use tempered, blue and green cocoa butter and filled in the outlines of the tiles’ characters with the right colour using a pin.