Chocolate Velvet, Peppermint Ganache Cake & Last Weeks in Manila

Been awhile! :) my last few months in Manila is occupied by local travels, local cafe hopping, eats, concerts, spending time at home and with friends.... Or some migration errands.

As much as I wanted to update my blog often and feature recipes that are out of the box, competition par  like those in Chefs-Talk and the flocks in Instagram, I just can't find the time. And so, I'm trying to make recipes that are easy to make and to replicate at home, let's be basic for now, after all, I will soon have the opportunity to create beautiful pastries again and share to all of you.

Soon,  I will be off to a better adventure. I will be a different nomad than I already am. My goals in jumping off to this excursion are simple; to become a better pastry chef. To outgrow thy loser self, haha. To meet more experienced chefs. To gain experience as I wanted to become a food historian. To study again, and to earn more so I have the means to invest in future endeavors such as traveling, studying and much more.

Sydney could be a good start. Yes, you read it, a good 'start'...I have so many places to see, so many food to try, so much more to learn. Im excited yet scared. I guess this is the first time I'm officially sharing this, I will be working in Sydney for a year (to start) and then another one if opportunity strikes.Then I will figure where exactly to head next (Stockholm, Seoul or San Francisco are my tight choices, I love places that starts with 'S', yes!)

Nomad life isn't easy for me, if you have some advice how to un-clutter my mess, please be kind to email me. Haha. I  started packing already and packed four boxes of my stuff, I'm re-sorting, throwing away trinkets, til I get just one final, can't live without, box.

I suddenly don't know how to pack light my shit 

While sorting my things, I wanted to also make a recipe that I can run easily in a busy day, I realized how inevitable Chocolate cake is.  I think all pastry chefs, home bakers,  and house wives should have a decent Chocolate cake recipe that we can flex, tweak, and pair with frostings of our hype. And so I created this recipe, I will be honest with all of you, I use chocolate cake premix a lot of time, something I mastered at work for its convenience and low cost. But what if there's no premix ever, this will be one of my Chocolate cake base. One of, yes, many more in the future! (I will share soon my Melt In The Mouth Childhood Chocolate Cake) but for now, let me share this Chocolate Velvet Cake with Peppermint Ganache .

Peppermint Ganache

All Purpose Cream 180ml

Dark Chocolate 500g

Drops of Peppermint Essence (to taste)

Chocolate Velvet Cake

All Purpose Flour 3 c

Cocoa 6 Tbsp (90 ml)

Baking soda 3t

Fresh Milk 1 1/2c

Sugar 21/4c

Vegetable oil 2 1/4c

Eggs 3 pcs

The ingredients are grouped into 3; dry ingredients, oil & sugar, and the liquid ingredients of egg and fresh milk.

Whisk together vegetable oil and sugar until the granules are 

smaller. Add the eggs one at a time and continue whisking til mixture is uniformed.  

Add in the sifted dry ingredients in about two-three batches, mixing the batter until just combined but uniformed.

The mixture has to be a smooth, lump-free and fully combined batter.

Pour into a 10" diameter x 2" height pan, covering til 3/4's full.

Pop in a preheated oven of 375 F and bake for about 40 minutes or until the cake is done.

Rest and cool down the cake before unmolding from the pan... while cooling down, you can prepare the Peppermint Ganache.

Once fully cooled down, slice the Chocolate Velvet sponge into three layers, filling each layer with Peppermint Ganache

To make the Peppermint Ganache, scald cream over low heat, add in chopped dark chocolate off the heat and mix until all the chocolate has completely melted. Add the drops of Peppermint essence, and transfer into another bowl to cool down faster, chill and mix occasionally until thick but spreadable. 

Mask the cake with more Peppermint Ganache and decorate with piped rosettes

Sprinkle with red, white and green dragees for the complete Peppermint feel

Chill before serving, best with strong black brewed coffee on ice!

I gave this cake to my dear friend Vincent, Polar Beer for his past birth day, and decided to use the occasion to share this recipe.

The versatility of this recipe is endless, this Mothers' Day sunday, why don't you spice up the Ganache with chili? Or spiked it with Bailey's?  You can also mask the basic Ganache and Chocolate Velvet Cake in toasted desiccated coconut or chopped Iranian pistachio nuts.  It will be a sweet mom and daughter/son bonding. Or why don't you bake and dedicate it to your mom, I just did.

It's not really her presence that made me who I am now, but her absence. And though she isn't there for more than half of my life already..I'm always trying to be right so that she won't get upset, eh sakit kaya mangurot.

I got this mommmey, keep chillin', kisses to the heavens! <3

Always,