Taillevents Chocolate Cake With Pistachio Sauce Recipes

CLAUDIA LAMASCOLO

Steps:

• Place all in a bowl, using an electric mixer beat for 3 minutes.
• Pour into a 13 x 9 greased pan or bundt pan.
• Bake 350 degrees until the middle comes clean with a toothpick.
• Around 30 to 45 minutes depending on the pan you use.
• Frost or dust with powdered sugar.
• Frosting:
• 1 - 8-ounce tub of whipped topping or heavy cream sweetened and whipped
• 1 box pistachio instant pudding
• 1/2 cup cold milk
• Mix both pudding and milk together until blended evenly, fold thawed whipped topping or real whipped cream into the mixture. Spread on cooled cake. Refrigerate. I like to decorate the top of mine with whole pistachios and some chopped or shaved chocolate.

EASY CHOCOLATE SAUCE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Mix all ingredients except the brown sugar and 4 tbsp cocoa and hot water. Spread into a 9x9 pan or equivalent.
• Mix brown sugar and cocoa and spread over batter.
• Carefully pour the hot water over all.
• Bake at 350°F for approximately 40 minutes.

TAILLEVENT'S CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH PISTACHIO SAUCE

Steps:

• To make the cake, melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and the butter and stir until melted. Whisk in the egg yolks. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Set aside to cool.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the remaining sugar and beat until glossy. Whisk 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining whites. Rinse 4 4-ounce heart-shaped molds or ramekins with water; do not dry. Divide the chocolate mixture among the molds. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
• To make the sauce, remove as much skin as possible from the pistachios. Rinse quickly with boiling water, drain and then remove as much of the remaining skin as possible. Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse until ground. Add 1/3 cup of sugar and the egg white and process until mixture forms a paste.
• Place 3 tablespoons of the pistachio paste in a medium-size saucepan (save the rest for another use). Add the milk and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and let steep for 5 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into another medium-size saucepan. Set aside.
• Whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining sugar until thick and light. Whisk in half the strained milk; then whisk the mixture back into the remaining milk. Cook the sauce over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon; do not let the mixture come to a boil. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
• To serve, spoon a pool of the sauce onto the center of each of 4 plates. Run the tip of a small knife around the inside edge of the molds. Dip them briefly in a bowl of hot water and invert them onto the plates. Serve.

HONEYED PISTACHIO MOONCAKES

Steps:

• Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oil, syrup and lye water. Using a flexible spatula, mix to form a shaggy dough, then knead with your hands to form a smooth, cohesive dough. Form the dough into a thick disk, wrap in plastic and let rest at room temperature for 45 minutes.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Make the filling: In a food processor, pulse the pistachios until coarsely ground. Add the honey, coconut oil, cornstarch and salt, and pulse a few more times until the filling is a little crumbly but sticks together when pressed. Avoid overprocessing: You don't want to end up with pistachio butter. Divide the filling into 12 equal portions (each about 1 rounded tablespoon) and roll each piece into a ball.
• Divide the disk of dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth ball. Working with one ball at a time and keeping the rest covered with plastic wrap, flatten a dough ball with your palm. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll into a 4-inch round (about 3/16-inch/ 1/2-centimeter thick), lightly dusting with flour if sticking. Gently lift the dough with a bench scraper or spatula, and center a ball of filling on the round. Bring the edges of the dough up around the filling. If the dough doesn't initially cover all filling, just pinch it together until it completely encases the filling. If there is excess, pinch it off. Pinch together any cracks that form and roll each round into a smooth ball.
• As you form the balls, arrange them on the prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 2 inches apart. Lightly dust a 1.7-ounce/50-gram mooncake mold with flour. Place a ball in the mold and press the plunger down to apply pressure, but take care not to press too hard. Gently release from the mold and return to the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling to form all 12 mooncakes. If you don't have a mooncake mold, skip this step and bake the mooncakes as balls.
• Bake until the edges are light golden brown, 9 to 11 minutes. Remove the sheet from the oven and allow the cakes to cool on the sheet for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, mix together the egg and 2 tablespoons water. With a pastry brush, lightly coat the mooncakes with egg wash. Return to the oven and bake until darker golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and allow the mooncakes to cool completely on the sheet. Before serving, store mooncakes in an airtight container or a resealable bag at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. This step is optional, but the extra time allows the crust to soften and become a little chewier. Mooncakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C. Grease and flour three 8 inch round cake pans with non stick cooking spray or Cake release (I use Wilton Cake Release)
• In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) until well combined. Set aside.
• Heat milk in microwave for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes until warm. In a separate bowl, heat white chocolate at 50% power for 2 minutes until melted. Whisk milk and melted chocolate together in one bowl, then return to microwave for 1 more minute at 50% power.
• Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or an electric hand beater), cream butter and sugar on medium -high until fluffy (about 3 minutes) then reduce speed to medium- low and add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
• Alternate adding flour mixture and milk/white chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with flour, making sure it's fully incorporated after each addition. Fold in 1.5 cups of ground pistachios.
• Pour batter into 3 greased pans and bake for 35- 40 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Cool cake in pan for 5 minutes, then loosen edges and turn onto wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Cool completely.
• When cool, trim humps off cake.
• Prepare instant pudding as per package directions, reducing milk by 1/4 cup for each package. **2 (99g) packages will require 1 1/2 cups milk instead of the 2 the directions call for.
• Add 1 cup of prepared chocolate whipped cream frosting to pistachio pudding and mix together.
• Place 1st cake on a surface so smooth side is facing up.
• Pipe a border around the rim of the top of the layer of cake.
• Add about 1/3 the pistachio pudding/whipped cream mixture to the first layer and spread evenly
• Then add another cake layer and another 1/3 of the pudding (approx)* You will have some pudding left over, but there was no way around this!)
• Smooth around cake, scraping off any filling that seeped out. Then frost cake with white chocolate whipped cream frosting,
• Adding a border (with a pastry bag and 1 M tip) around the bottom of the cake. Then add 6 dollops to the top of the cake.
• Add a Lindt white chocolate truffle to each dollop.
• Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top of the cake.
• "Toss" crushed pistachios at sides of cake (this is how I do it - I literally 'toss' the pistachios at the sides of the cake)
• Keep refrigerated until ready to serve!