What can be better than the choc mint cake?

... a sugarless chocolate mint cake, of course. I have been thinking about it cos I didn't get to really taste the last one. This Mothers' Day seemed like a good excuse for me to try it out given my mum is also diabetic...

I have also been thinking how to do the nice zebra marbling, but I guess its best I do something else rather than keeping banging my head against the wall. What I did for this celebration was a mint cake with chocolate frosting:

Comparing the 2, I prefer this. As I cut the cake, the kids went "wow, its green inside!". Also I find this easier to prepare than the other marbling one - no need to separate the batter into 2 bowls, plus the alternating spooning of batter into the baking pan.

Mint Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting
200 gm. Self raising flour
230 gm. Butter, softened
190 gm. Castor sugar or Maltidol powder
230 gm. Eggs (~5-6 eggs, depends on the size)
Optional: ½ tsp ovalette (whisk with egg)
1/2 tsp Green colouring
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 tbsp peppermint liqueur

1. Pre-heat oven to 160C. Line a 10 " round cake pan with greaseproof paper.


2. Sieve the SR flour into a mixing bowl. Add butter and cream them together well.


3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar/matitol & ovalette (if using) until spongy. (about 6min, depends on the mixer)


4. Add colouring, peppermint extract and liqueur into the egg mixture. Beat for 30 sec to combine well.


5. Add flour paste (step 2) gradually to the egg mixture and beat till smooth. (about 2 min)


6. Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for about 35min or until done.

Note:

• this recipe above gave me just over 1 inch tall cake in a 10" pan. Much shorter than I thought, so I measured out all the ingredients all over again and made 1 more recipe to get a taller cake.
  

a rather short cake agh....

Milk Chocolate Frosting

recipe from Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito's "Baked", thru crummb:

8 ounces (224g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 ounces (224g) milk chocolate, finely chopped
1-1/2 cup heavy cream (360ml)
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1-1/2 cups (3 sticks / 339g) unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into 1-inch pieces

1. Place both chocolates into a bowl. In a saucepan, bring cream and corn syrup to a boil, then pour immediately over the chocolate. Let stand for 2-3 minutes, then stir until mixture is completely smooth. Cool to room temperature.


2. Beat in butter pieces using whisk attachment on medium speed.


3. Frosting should be smooth and silky. Chill to spreadable consistency.

This frosting is much much much better than the previous ganache. Partly of the better whipping cream I used this time round ( i used Nestle cream the last time), partly of the good chocolate that goes into it, partly of the butter beaten into it. It is silky smooth delicious, just as I expected! My only quarrel is that it is very light and could not coat the cake very thickly. When put in between the layers, all the extra got squeeze out to the sides. When put on the side, the extra "slides" its way to the cake board. Yo!

I do not know what's wrong, the cake could not sit tight on the cake board. It slid on the board, and ruined the sides. I can't imagine what if I am doing this is for some grand event? BTW, if you know something that I should have done, can you leave me a comment below?

Just a bit of thoughts - this Mothers' Day is quieter than last year. Some may think I read too much but I think it is attributed to my mum babysitting for my brother's new born and that has somewhat created some inevitable conflicts with her daughter-in-law.

We had celebrated many occasions together but this year, they chose not to turn up... how sad right?

One day I will be someone's MIL too, and I wonder how I will handle the intricate yet complex relationship :-(

Til then, I propose this toast to all the wonderful mothers out there! HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY.