It’s one thing to bake and decorate a cake at home, quite another to do it in a strange kitchen in front of a bunch of strange people under a time crunch.
That was the pressure that faced eight finalists in The Angela Day Kitchen on Saturday when they had four hours in which to recreate the cakes they had entered in The Best Chocolate Cake Competition.
Marilyn Peters, Colleen Cradick, Fatima Bharoochi, Shaakira Yacoob, Laura Arnold, Zanele Mabehena, Sue Maher, and Amber Doman earned a place in the final bake-off after winning rounds at four Joburg malls last month.
Presiding over the bake-off was Chef Stephen Billingham, president of the South African Chefs Association, whose task was to make sure rules were followed and that contestants followed their original recipes.
It was quite a challenge to bake, cool, fill, ice, assemble and decorate the cakes in the allotted time.
There were a couple of tense moments when a few of the contestants worried that their ganache would not thicken or their mousse fillings would not set. But in the end everyone managed splendidly and eight magnificent cakes were set out for judging.
Billingham gave the judges – Marty Klinzman from Kenwood appliances; well-known foodie Dorah Sitole; Saxon Hotel pastry chef Minette Smith; True Love food editor Mokgadi Itsweng; and expert Pat Borsato – the judging criteria.
After the blind tasting, the top three were announced.
The winner was Shaakira Yacoob, a 31-year-old attorney and mother of three from Roodepoort.
Lenasia’s Fatima Bharoochi, 40, a pharmacist and mother of two, came second. Third place went to 61-year-old Colleen Cradick from Primrose.
The competition was a huge success. We thank everyone who took part in it, especially our sponsors.
WINNER – SHAAKIRA YACOOB
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE
Cake
250ml cake flour
60ml cocoa
10ml baking powder
5ml salt
250ml sugar
4 egg yolks
125ml oil
125ml boiling water
5ml vanilla essence
4 egg whites
Chocolate mousse
200g milk chocolate
200g dark chocolate
500ml fresh cream
Ganache
200g milk chocolate
155g can of cream
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Mix in the sugar. Add the egg yolks, oil, water and vanilla essence and beat until smooth.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into mixture. Divide the mixture into two lined and greased 23cm cake tins and bake at 180ºC for 25 – 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
MOUSSE: Melt together the chocolates and cream in a pot over a low heat. Refrigerate overnight. Beat with electric beater until mousse-like and use to sandwich cake together.
GANACHE: Melt together the chocolate and tinned cream in the microwave. Allow to cool and when thickened pour over the cakes. Decorate with fondant roses and chocolate shards.
* To make a cake like the winning one, you will need to triple the cake mixture and pour it into 3 x 25cm cake tins and 3 x 30cm cake tins. You will also need to triple the quantity of the ganache to coat all six layers.
2nd place – FATIMA BHAROOCHI
50 SHADES OF CHOCOLATE WITH A HINT OF CREAM
5 extra large eggs
250ml castor sugar
60g butter
125ml milk
250ml cake flour
15ml baking powder
60ml cocoa powder
Hazelnut ganache
125ml thick cream
60g hazelnut spread
100g milk chocolate
Filling
125ml cream
20ml icing sugar
125ml chopped pecan nuts
Hazelnut butter cream
125g butter
250ml icing sugar
15ml cocoa
60ml hazelnut spread
CAKE: Beat eggs and castor sugar till light and fluffy. Heat the butter and milk and add to the egg mixture. Sift flour and baking powder and cocoa and gradually add to the egg mixture.
Pour into 2 x 20cm greased and lined baking tins and bake at 170ºC for 30 – 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove and cool.
GANACHE: Heat cream until just below boiling. Add hazelnut spread and chocolate. Stir to form a smooth mixture. Cool until thickened.
FILLING: Combine the cream and icing sugar and beat until stiff.
BUTTER CREAM: Cream butter until fluffy. Add icing sugar and cocoa. Add hazelnut spread and mix until smooth and spreadable.
Place one cake on a serving plate. Spread the top with a layer of the ganache. Top with the chopped nuts then with the whipped cream. Place the remaining cake on top.
Cover the top and sides of the cake with the butter cream and drizzle the remaining ganache over the top.
3rd place – COLLEEN CRADICK
GRANDMA’S CLASSIC CHOCOLATE CAKE
200ml castor sugar
6 jumbo eggs, separated
200ml sunflower oil
200ml water
2.5ml salt
10ml vanilla essence
25ml baking powder
100ml cocoa powder
350ml cake flour
Icing
150g butter, at room temperature
600ml icing sugar
1 large egg
10ml vanilla essence
125ml cream
100ml cocoa powder
500g chocolate vermicelli
13 fresh strawberries, coated in sugar
100g milk chocolate
100g white chocolate
Preheat oven to 150ºC. Grease and line two 25cm cake tins.
Beat sugar and egg yolks until creamy. Gradually add the oil while continuing to beat until the mixture resembles mayonnaise. Continue mixing while adding the water, salt and vanilla, until the mixture is thick and foamy.
Sift the baking powder, cocoa and flour together and gradually add to the creamed mixture.
Beat the egg whites until soft peaks are formed, but not dry. Fold into the mixture and mix by hand until smooth. Divide the mixture into the greased cake tins and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean. Turn out on to cake racks and allow to cool.
ICING: Whisk butter until creamy, gradually work in half of the icing sugar. Mix in the egg. Add the remaining icing sugar and add the vanilla.
Gradually add the cream and cocoa. Whisk until completely blended and smooth.
Place a third of the icing on one layer of cake and spread evenly, place second cake on top. Using another third of the icing, cover the side of the cake, but do not cover the top yet.
Place chocolate vermicelli on a sheet of wax wrap and then, holding the cake sideways in your hands, roll the cake in the vermicelli until the side is evenly coated.
Place the cake on a suitable cake stand or plate and evenly cover the top with the remaining icing (reserving a small amount for piping). Pipe top and bottom edge of cake.
Pipe 12 rosettes, evenly spaced around the top of the cake. Place the strawberries on the rosettes.
Draw two circles on each of two sheets of baking paper the same size as the cake. Separately melt the two chocolate slabs and pour on to the wax paper, flooding the circles. When chocolate is almost set, using a sharp knife, cut each into 8 wedges.
Alternately place 6 of each of the wedges of white and milk chocolate between strawberries. Finally place the last strawberry or a flower in the centre of the cake. - The Star