Spiced Chocolate-Date Cake

Today I have an easy-to-make chocolate lover's cake for you. I added dates which makes it wonderfully moist, even after a few days. Spices such as cinnamon and gingerbread spice make it perfect for Christmas time. Since it doesn't contain flour, it is also gluten-free.

Cherry-Mascarpone Cake

Happy Valentine's Day to you all! This cake combines two of my Valentine's Day favorites:  chocolate and cherries. It's not difficult to make, but still looks very special. It also comes in a small size, which makes for a perfect Valentine's Dessert for you and your sweetheart.

Strawberry-Almond Tartlets with Sour-Cream and Chocolate Topping

I hope you are having a great summer weekend. I have the perfect treat for a lazy sunny afternoon for you today. Strawberries, chocolate and cream - all combined in some wonderful tartlets. The tartlet shells contain both ground almonds and chopped almonds, and can be prepared in advance. The topping uses both heavy cream and sour cream, which gives it a nice tang. Enjoy!

Cappuccino-Mascarpone Cakes

French patisserie, especially entremets always hold a fascination for me. They are so delicate, so elegant, so perfect. When you run your dessert fork through it, you can see those different layers, each with a unique taste and texture. They take some time to make, but it's well worth it. In the end even the serving temperature can affect the tasting experience. So I have decided to try making these beauties more often, starting with some cappuccino mousse cakes.

The cakes consist of four parts: a coffee flavored sponge, a mascarpone mousse, cappuccino core, and a coffee glaze.  It flavors are similar to tiramisu. I had some problems with putting the glaze on the cakes. It was either too thick, or too hot, that the cakes started to melt right away. I didn't really like how they looked. Well, they still tasted great, and so I hope to be able to make them look better next time. If you have any tips how to perfectly apply a thin glaze, I would be very happy to hear them.

BAKED Chocolate Brownies and a wedding gift idea

I made Brownies, not any kind of brownies, the famous BAKED Chocolate Brownies. Praises for them are all over the internet. Lots of people have called them the best brownies ever. So, this was the best recipe for the occasion.

The occasion was my cousin's wedding in December. No, I didn't make them as a wedding cake, even though they taste great. And here comes the idea. My cousin's best friend collected recipes from each wedding guest before the wedding and made a cookbook out of it. It wasn't just written up pages, each guest designed their own page, with pictures or drawings of their favorite recipe. All the pages, ranging from soups, pasta, Sunday dinners, cakes to desserts, were then bound as a book. I think this was a really great gift, since it's a very personal collection, which they will enjoy and look back to for many years.

I chose the brownies, because it's a classic dish, not too complicated and is loved by everybody. You can also dress them up as a fancy dessert, maybe for Valentine's Day. Cut out shapes using a round or heart cookie cutter, serve them warm with some vanilla ice-cream and hot cherry sauce. Lovely!

Chocolate Mousse - Passion Fruit Cake

Are you still looking for an impressive, but not too difficult cake for Christmas? This could be the one! I made it a few weeks ago, just for me and my husband, in a smaller version. We loved it so much, that I will make it again to bring to our Christmas dinner. For a more Christmas style decoration you can use star cookie cutters in different sizes.

With a little practice this cake is fairly easy to make. You can prepare most of the cake the day before you serve it. Just the chocolate disk is best to put on shortly before serving. To cut the cake it's best to remove the chocolate disk, and cut the cake separately. Then put a piece of the chocolate on each serving.

Chocolate-Pumpkin Marble Cake

We are back from our wonderful vacation in Hong Kong. It was absolutely fabulous, but before I tell you more about the trip, I have to go through my many, many pictures. Going from tropical heat to frosty temperatures was a shocker for me, but I also like the bright colors of Autumn leaves.

While I am sorting out my photo collection, here is something that fits the season. Seeing all the pumpkins around, I made a chocolate-pumpkin marble cake. I used Hokkaido pumpkin, sliced it, baked it, and pureed it, but you can also used canned pumpkin. It gave a brilliant yellow color, which matches very well with the chocolate.

The cake was very flavorful, wonderful chocolaty, and moist even after a few days. I will definitely make this again.

Raspberry Chocolate Mousse Cake

Today's cake is a real taste sensation, no less. You probably had chocolate raspberry truffles before; they are one of my favorites. Raspberry and chocolate together is just heavenly. This cake tastes like a big version of it.

The recipe also uses a yoghurt mousse, which creates a delicate balance in the acidity of the yoghurt, the sweetness of the chocolate, and the tartness of the raspberry. Since the berries looked so fresh and full of life, I also think that this cakes accentuates these beautiful little jewels.

Piping the mousse took a bit of skill and lots of patience. I am still not yet fully satisfied with the results. Another thing that you need to keep in mind, is that the cake might take a while in the fridge to set, especially on a hot sunny day. I served it a little too early and the first couple slices went out of shape a little. After putting it back in the fridge, the rest was fine.

Black Forest Saint Honoré and some Chocolate Éclairs

For a long time I wanted to make a Saint Honoré cake. I never ate it before, but it always looked tempting, every time I saw it in cookbooks. On my recent trip to Tokyo I finally had my very first Saint Honoré, and from none other than Pierre Herme. It was the rose-raspberry version, which is also known as the Ispahan. After that I was determined to make one myself.

I was first thinking about making a raspberry or strawberry Saint Honoré, but I wanted to make something different. So I got this idea while I was picking sour cherries in our garden. Why not make a Black Forest St. Honoré.

It's everybody's favorite, and sour cherries are one of the most important ingredients. Of course, as with any normal black forest cake, you will also need chocolate, Kirsch and whipping cream.

This cake is quite a project, what you can see by the length of the recipe. A few components, like the cherry compote, pastry cream and chocolate glaze can be made in advance, and stored in the fridge for up to two days.

The recipe is enough to also make some extra chocolate eclairs, which share the same base recipes. They were equally good, and maybe a good starting point, if you don't want to tackle the whole recipe.

After finishing, I thought I will never make them again, since it's so much work. But taking the first bite, I immediately changed my mind, they were just so tasty.

Mango Chocolate Mousse Cake

This is the second cake I made for my Mom's birthday. At a German birthday party you usually can not have too many cakes. So, she even made another one herself. I wanted to make a mango-chocolate cake since I ate one in Vienna last year.

I made a decorative joconde to wrap around the cake, but I think next time I would do it without. The whole cake got a little bigger than I wanted it to be. It was really huge.

The cake still tasted delicious. I especially liked the chocolate mousse. I don't know if it was the use of the immersion blender, but it had a really nice consistency. Instead of the mango mousse, which was also very good, I want to try a passion fruit mousse next time. I think the tartness of passion fruit would go very well together with the chocolate mousse.

It takes some time and several steps to make this cake. Plan accordingly, since you have a few cooling cycles. I would recommend you bake the joconde (if using) and sponge the day before, and also make the chocolate mousse. Then you can start to assemble the cake. This way it has enough time to set overnight. The next day, when you serve the cake you have just the mango mousse and glaze to make.

Chocolate Truffle Tartlets [TWD]

On our second date with "Baking with Julia" (Tusdays with Dorie) we were making Chocolate Truffle Tartlets. They are a perfect Valentine's Day dessert. The chocolate pastry shell contains a baked chocolate filling made with egg yolks. The additon of white and milk chocolate pieces and amaretti cookies gave an interesting texture with a little crunch. I could imagine to also add some kind of soft caramel pieces the next time.

I made the full recipe for the tart dough and half of the filling. I managed to get six 3-inch tartlets with that and a little bit leftover pastry dough to freeze for later use.

They were not a as sweet as a chocolate ganache tartlet, but still very rich. To offset the sweetness I served it with vanilla bean ice-cream, which was a great combination.

This weeks baking adventure was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon, Spike of spike.does.stuff, Jaime of Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats and Jessica of Cookbookhabit. Please check out their blog posts, where you can also find the delicious recipe.

Enjoy and Guten Appetit!

Chocolate-Marzipan Truffles for Valentine's Day

If you are still looking for a sweet surprise for your Valentine, how about some Chocolate-Marzipan Truffles? The marzipan-cream filling is quick and easy to make. You then fill it into dark chocolate truffle shells, which are available online or at specialty gourmet stores. After the filling is set you dip them into tempered chocolate. This step can be a bit tricky, but your sweetheart will definitely love them.

I hope I can hide mine from my husband for the next two days, without sneaking another one into my mouth. They are really good, especially for marzipan lovers. Have a sweet Valentine's Day!

Mango - Plum Wine Cakes and a Happy Chinese New Year!

Today is the beginning of the Chinese year of the Dragon. It is supposedly a very good year, since the dragon is seen as strong and lucky. I always enjoyed the Chinese New Year's Parade in San Francisco or Vancouver and this year it is probably extra beautiful with lots of colorful dragons.

For the occasion I made some Asian flavor inspired cakes. We had them for our Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. They have a crunchy layer of milk chocolate and Rice Krispies. In the middle a creamy plum-wine mousse, topped with a mango glaze. The different flavors worked really well together and we enjoyed them very much.

I wish you all a very prosperous year of the Dragon. Gung hay fat choy!

Gingerbread spiced Chocolate Mousse Cake

If you are still looking for a festive cake for Christmas, this might be the one. It is a chocolate mousse cake, spiced with gingerbread spice. If you can find it, you can additionally use spiced chocolate to make the mousse. Or you just use a mix of your favorite Christmas spices to flavor the mousse.

You can make the cake base the day before. Just allow some time to cool the cake after assembling so the mousse has time to set. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas with lots of joy and time spend with your loved ones plus many many sweet indulgences.

Christmas Marble Cake

For those surprise visits from friends and family, it is always to have a marble cake on hand. Everybody likes it and it can be kept for several days without going stale. This version of marble cake has a Christmas flavor to it, which from chocolate that is filled with spices and aromas like cinnamon and coriander. The chocolate I used was already very creamy, so it is perfect to use it as a frosting.

If you can't find a specific Christmas chocolate you can infuse the flavor yourself by adding ground cinnamon and coriander into milk chocolate or even gianduia (hazelnut) chocolate. If you are using regular chocolate for the frosting, you should also add some butter or cream to thicken it up.

Chocolate Mousse Cakes

It's time for some chocolate dessert. Over the summer I made mostly fruit desserts, but now since it's getting colder my craving for some good chocolate is getting bigger every day. Don't get me wrong I can eat chocolate all year round, but in summer I prefer it in form of ice-cream.

These chocolate mousse cakes will make quite an impression. They taste wonderful and are a perfect dessert for a special occasion. There are a few different components such as shortcrust, chocolate mousse and marzipan all under a chocolate cover. If you plan for the cooling times, it will be easy to assemble.

Daring Bakers: Strawberry Pâte de Fruit & Milk Chocolate-Passion Fruit Truffles

It's Daring Bakers time again, and this month's challenge were candies and confections. There was a choice of a wide variety of recipes. One option was the Pâte de Fruit, which is fruit gelée, something I wanted to make for a long time. You can use any fruit, which would be suitable for making jam. The process is also very similar to jam making. You puree the fruit, add sugar and pectin, then boil it until it sets. I thought the recipe given by the organizers was a little too meticulous on temperature measurement. I found another recipe which is a lot easier and doesn't need a thermometer. If you made jam before, it's a really easy treat to make. And they taste fantastic!

My second choice was chocolate truffles. They were dark chocolate filled with a milk chocolate and passion fruit ganache. It was really too hot to make anything with chocolate (how do you maintain the mixture at 27 C when the room temperature is already 30 C?), but I gave it a try anyways. I have made different types of filled chocolates before, but I still find the process of tempering the chocolate intimidating. One reason is that I usually do it by feel, since my thermometer is not very precise. So I usually estimate the temperature with my lips. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This time it didn't go so well, and I got some white streaks on the chocolate. They still tasted very good, though.

I will definitely keep both choices of confections on my list for gift ideas later this year. I hope by then I will have a better candy thermometer.

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies!

Chocolate Berry Tart for my second Blog Anniversary

Exactly two years today I started my blog, Berry Lovely. I have made a lot of cakes, tried many different doughs, learned new techniques, and gained a lot of pounds. I started my blog to take more food photographs, but it gave me a lot more.

During this time I have discovered a thriving community of food bloggers and food photography enthusiasts. I learned a lot from these people and their presence, on-line or off-line, have been some the most enjoyable aspects of this blog. I thank you all for your support, and I hope to get more interesting and exciting recipes and photos for you in the time to come.

To celebrate my second Berry Lovely anniversary I made a berry tart, of course. It is a chocolate tart with a ganache filling topped with all my favorite berries. The recipe is from one of my favorite German pâtissiers Bernd Siefert. I didn't have the chance to visit his cafe yet, but I have tried many of his recipes. They are all really special and very good.

Daring Bakers: Baklava & Phyllo Pastry

For this month the Daring Bakers challenged us to make Baklava with homemade Phyllo Pastry. I have never tasted baklava before, because I always thought it is overly sweet. The real challenge was making the phyllo pastry dough, and rolling it out paper thin. I am always up to making all kinds of challenging doughs, like puff pastry, fresh yeast dough or crossaint dough, but this one was really difficult.

I managed to roll out the dough really thin, but it took a lot of arm strength. Then I made the mistake of waiting a little to long to continue making the baklava and the dough got stuck together. I thought I had floured it enough, but I had to re-roll at least a third of it. I never got it as thin as before. It was great to learn how to make phyllo, but this is one dough I will prefer buying at the store in the future.

For the filling I made a mix out of almonds, pistachios and milk chocolate, flavored with lemon and cinnamon. Since I wanted it to taste fresh but not too sweet, I made a mint sirup with some lemon zest, and only a little bit of honey. It tasted quite good, and the sweetness was okay. I have to say this will never be one of my preferred desserts, but it was a good experience.

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

Chestnut Mousse Cake

It's already been 6 month since we got married, and one year since we moved to Germany. Time really flies, and so a special cake was in order. I remembered our little honeymoon in Vienna, and the delicious chestnut mousse cake (Maroni-Obers Torte) we have been eating there.

It wasn't easy to find a recipe for it, but I managed to find a website which is a great source of inspiration for Austrian desserts. The recipes are not very straightforward and you have to do a lot of calculations yourself, but it lists a lot of great basic recipes for fillings and doughs. It is probably more catered to professionals.

The cake consists of several elements, so you have to plan ahead. The cake base and the chocolate mousse can be made a day in advance. For the chestnut mousse you have to consider several hours of cooling time, but otherwise it is not to difficult to make.

If you use canned chestnut puree, and end up having a little less than what the recipe asked for, you can skim a little on the vermicelli. The can that I had was 20 g short for example. There is no need to open another can just for a few extra grams.