Pardon the French, but after over a month in a French speaking territory and three and a half years of French class, I was able to utter four phrases in French to a cab driver yesterday. Les petits gadeaux, or little cakes, is what I made today and I refuse to call them by its proper English term of "bite size" cakes. I've never taken to the idea of bite size food. Don't get me wrong, I love party appetizers and fancy h'orderves as much as the next person, but the idea of taking regular food and shrinking it to "bite size" portions just doesn't sit well with me. Call me a hypocrite, but why oh why would one prefer something that's a quarter the size of what it's intended to be?Cake is the exception. See, for me, eating cake is all about the frosting to cake ratio and I like me extra frosting. I figured out that the ratio of frosting to cake is dependent upon the surface area of the cake, so simply put, increase the cake surface area and the amount of frosting goes up! With a smaller cake, every piece is a corner piece with at least three frosted sides; none of that middle piece nonsense where there's frosting on only the top side.
I am quite proud of this frosting. I like a frosting that is light and easy to make, none of the precarious nonsense where you whip, whip, whip and it never comes together. (I had a mishap once with a Swiss buttercream frosting, and though I will still devour it if presented to me, I will think twice about attempting to make it again.) Unlike egg white, which I have never had success with, cream will never let you down, provided you give it a bit of time, and it's not as heavy as cream cheese. You can increase the maple syrup by one or two more tablespoons if you want a sweeter frosting, but I felt that with a heavy chocolate cake, three tablespoons was just enough to provide a subtle maple flavor without drowning out the flavor of the chocolate cake.
I am quite proud of this frosting. I like a frosting that is light and easy to make, none of the precarious nonsense where you whip, whip, whip and it never comes together. (I had a mishap once with a Swiss buttercream frosting, and though I will still devour it if presented to me, I will think twice about attempting to make it again.) Unlike egg white, which I have never had success with, cream will never let you down, provided you give it a bit of time, and it's not as heavy as cream cheese. You can increase the maple syrup by one or two more tablespoons if you want a sweeter frosting, but I felt that with a heavy chocolate cake, three tablespoons was just enough to provide a subtle maple flavor without drowning out the flavor of the chocolate cake.
CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CITRUS MAPLE FROSTING
(makes about six 2"square cakes)
For the Cake:
(Adapted from a chocolate Madeline recipe)
(makes about six 2"square cakes)
For the Cake:
(Adapted from a chocolate Madeline recipe)
- 1/2 cup butter, softened and cut into small chunks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened coco powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Frosting:
- 3/4 cup heavy cream (or whipping cream)
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup
- zest of one grapefruit (orange or lemon will also work well)
CAKE:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenhait.
Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in egg one at a time until blended in completely with the butter and sugar.
In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture a little at a time until well blended.
Bake in a greased 4"x 8" pan for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Cool cake on a wire rack. Once cooled, trim the edges off and cut cake into 6 pieces.
FROSTING:
Pour the cream into a bowl with most of the citrus zest and whip, whip, whip until the cream peaks. (This can be done with an electric mixer but the manual labor method comes with free anger management. No matter how much you yell and scream and curse at the still runny cream that you've been beating for ages and ages, it will not talk back and it will, eventually, transform itself into light, yummy frosting)
When the cream has been beaten enough, i.e. when there are peaks in the cream, pour in the maple syrup one table spoon at a time and fold it into the cream with a spatula.
Using a small spatula, spread the frosting all over the cake squares as evenly and thoroughly as possible. Sprinkle the reserved zest on top. If you have leftover frosting, dip the cake edge strips in them and enjoy!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenhait.
Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in egg one at a time until blended in completely with the butter and sugar.
In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture a little at a time until well blended.
Bake in a greased 4"x 8" pan for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Cool cake on a wire rack. Once cooled, trim the edges off and cut cake into 6 pieces.
FROSTING:
Pour the cream into a bowl with most of the citrus zest and whip, whip, whip until the cream peaks. (This can be done with an electric mixer but the manual labor method comes with free anger management. No matter how much you yell and scream and curse at the still runny cream that you've been beating for ages and ages, it will not talk back and it will, eventually, transform itself into light, yummy frosting)
When the cream has been beaten enough, i.e. when there are peaks in the cream, pour in the maple syrup one table spoon at a time and fold it into the cream with a spatula.
Using a small spatula, spread the frosting all over the cake squares as evenly and thoroughly as possible. Sprinkle the reserved zest on top. If you have leftover frosting, dip the cake edge strips in them and enjoy!
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so fine you could put a dress on it an take it out to a show before you eat it, leaving just a chocolate covered dress
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