Chocolate Fire Cake Food

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE I'VE EVER HAD (AND A PAR-TAAAY!)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 2 9-inch cake pans with butter, then coat with flour. Then trace the bottom of the cake pans onto parchment paper, cut out the circles, and put them in the bottom of the pan.*
• In a medium saucepan, melt 1 cup butter over medium heat. Stir in the water and cocoa and whisk until combined. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for about 30 seconds. Remove pot from heat and let sit aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the white sugar, flour, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
• In another medium bowl, whisk together 2 eggs. Slowly sprinkle baking soda and baking powder over the top while you whisk. Beat until there are no lumps. The mixture may foam, and that's ok!
• Stir in the vanilla and 1 cup brown sugar.
• When the chocolate mixture in the pot has cooled enough to handle, stir it into the flour mixture. Then add the egg mixture. Each time mix only until combined.
• Lastly, fold in the sour cream. DON'T over mix!!
• Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans (I use a scale). Drop the cakes on the counter from a few inches above to get out some of the air bubbles.
• Bake for about 34-40 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Remove from the oven when a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
• Let cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then carefully loosen edges with a knife and invert onto a cooling wrack. Let cakes cool completely.
• Wrap the cakes securely in plastic wrap and freeze for about an hour or 2. (This is only so that it's easy to frost the cake. If you are in a hurry and presentation isn't an issue, frost as soon as they are cool!)

FIRE AND ICE CAKE

Steps:

• The habanero peppers can be roasted on a gas stove top or in an oven. Before roasting the peppers, turn on the kitchen or stove exhaust fan.
• To roast the peppers on a gas stove top, soak 3 wooden skewers in water until saturated. Skewer 1 pepper and hold over a medium-high flame. Slowly rotate the pepper over the flame until the skin is blackened and blistered. Repeat with the remaining peppers and skewers. After each pepper is roasted place in plastic bag covered with a dish towel to steam, which will help to remove the skins.
• To roast the peppers in the oven, place an oven rack in the highest position and preheat the broiler. Put the peppers on a cookie sheet and place under the broiler. Using long handled metal tongs to rotate the peppers and broil until the skin is blackened and blistered. After each pepper is roasted place in plastic bag covered with a dish towel to steam, which will help to remove the skins.
• Wearing gloves, remove skin, the veins, and the seeds from the habaneros. (When removing the skins, it's important to wear double layer of latex gloves or else your hands burn.)
• To make the paste, blend the habaneros with the sugar using a mortar and pestle or a food processor (the latter is much faster).
• Combine the habanero paste into the softened vanilla ice cream and refreeze until firm but still spreadable
• Assemble cake in springform pan by alternating cake, lime sorbet, cake, habanero ice cream, cake and freeze until firm (8 hours or overnight).
• Garnish with powered sugar or whipped cream and sprinkles.

FIRE ENGINE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and base line a 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment. Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, almond extract, flour, ground almonds and milk and beat very well until light and pale in colour. Spread into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 35-40 mins. Remove and allow to become completely cold before cutting and icing.
• To make the butter icing, put the butter into a bowl and beat well. Gradually beat in the icing sugar until smooth and creamy. Cut the cake in half to make two rectangles each 10x20cm. Take one half and cut into two pieces measuring 10x14cm and 10x6cm. Using a little butter icing, attach the 10x6cm piece to one end of the 10x20cm piece. This is the cab part of the engine. Take the 10x14cm piece and slice in half horizontally. Spread a little butter icing on the main part of the fire engine (behind the cab) and stick on one of the 10x14cm pieces. The remaining piece of cake is not required.
• Using a sharp knife, slice the front of the cab at an angle where the windows will be placed. Spread the whole cake with butter icing. Roll out the red fondant and use to cover the fire engine. Trim around the base.
• Roll out all but 50g of the grey icing to an irregular strip and place on a 30cm cake board. Carefully lift the fire engine onto the board.
• Unroll about half the liquorice from each of the four wheels. Attach the strips, using a little of the red icing, to make a double border around the base of the cake. Again using the icing, attach the four wheels. Use leftover liquorice to make strips to mark the centre of the road.
• Roll out the reserved grey icing and cut out 6 shutters and two wing mirrors. Attach to the cake using red icing. Use the white icing to make two front and two side windows for the cab. Attach with red royal icing and pipe around each window and pipe the cab doors.
• Stick on dolly mixtures to represent headlights, roof lights and ladder supports. Make a ladder from the chocolate covered biscuit or mint sticks, chopping and sticking with icing. Attach to the top of the engine with icing.
• Stick together the two party rings and attach to the side of the fire engine. Roll the yellow fondant icing into a long sausage and wrap around the biscuits to represent the hose, snake out onto the board and then make a small circle of yellow icing and stick on the end for the nozzle. Colour the remaining royal icing a pale blue colour. Thin with a little water if necessary and drizzle onto the cake board to represent water flowing from the hose.
• Using a little blue colouring thinned with water, paint the windows with a fine paint brush. Using black colouring, paint windscreen wipers on the front windows.

EASY CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line two 20cm/8in sandwich tins.
• For the cake, place all of the cake ingredients, except the boiling water, into a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, or electric whisk, beat the mixture until smooth and well combined.
• Add the boiling water to the mixture, a little at a time, until smooth. (The cake mixture will now be very liquid.)
• Divide the cake batter between the sandwich tins and bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely, still in their tins, before icing.
• For the chocolate icing, heat the chocolate and cream in a saucepan over a low heat until the chocolate melts. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk the mixture until smooth, glossy and thickened. Set aside to cool for 1-2 hours, or until thick enough to spread over the cake.
• To assemble the cake, run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the cake tins to loosen the cakes. Carefully remove the cakes from the tins.
• Spread a little chocolate icing over the top of one of the chocolate cakes, then carefully top with the other cake.
• Transfer the cake to a serving plate and ice the cake all over with the chocolate icing, using a palette knife.

CHOCOLATE FIRE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350*.
• Beat sugar and butter at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 5 minutes).
• Add egg, beating well, Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.
• Combine flour and next 5 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Combine milk and vanilla.
• Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
• Pour batter into a 9-inch round cake pan coated with baking spray. Bake at 350* for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool cake completely on wire rack.
• Place chips in a small heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag, and seal. Submerge bag in very hot water until chips melt, or microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until melted. Snip a tiny hole in 1 corner of bag; drizzle chocolate over cake.