Are you getting tired of hearing about Chocolate Cloud Cake? Wasn’t this and this enough? After all, this is the third year in a row I’ve written about it. The thing is, it’s my daughter Meredith’s all-time favourite cake and her standing request for her birthday.
I wouldn’t have thought there was anything left to say about this cake, but this year I made a change that made an incredible difference. I’ve always used a standard quality semi-sweet chocolate for it, and we always thought it tasted great. This time I switched up to Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips, and oh, the difference. The cake had so much more depth of flavour and richness. I won’t be able to go back!
I took some photos while I was making it that illustrate various stages of the process. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of the final version of the cake because I generally don’t photograph my food when there are guests waiting to be served. Instead, I’m including a couple of pictures from last year’s cake. So just remember, as good as that one looked, this year’s was even better.
Oh, one more note of sweetness. My Little Miss wanted to help make her Mommy’s cake, so she assisted in whipping the cream and spooning it on top of the cake. I don’t think age three is too young to start preparing for a pastry chef career, do you?
DISCLAIMER: I don’t imagine the folks at Ghirardelli have ever heard of me or my blog. I’m not being compensated in any way for writing this post. From time to time I mention products that particularly impress me or that are key to the outcome of a recipe. Just because …
Technique: Folding
My to-do list includes making a video of this basic technique. In the meantime, I hope you will find the photographs and descriptive text helpful.
Folding is a technique whereby a light substance, like airy egg whites or whipped cream, is gently mixed into a heavier batter. The idea is to use a light touch, to avoid breaking down the airy substance. I recommend a large spatula for this job. The result is a beautiful marriage, a lightened batter with no lumps or streaks.
The technique is fairly simple, as illustrated by the photos above. Once your dense batter is completely mixed, stir in a good-sized dollop of the egg whites that have been whipped to soft peaks. This lightens the batter and makes it easier to fold in the rest. (Sorry, I didn’t get a photo after this step.) Dump the rest of the eggs whites on top of the batter, and using an under-and-over scooping Figure Eight-type motion, bring the denser batter over top of the egg whites. Turn the bowl as you’re doing so. Continue with this gentle folding until the egg whites have been incorporated and there are no (or minimal) lumps or streaks. Don’t overdo it or you risk stirring out the air and going back to a heavy batter. As you can see from the final photo, the batter is now lighter in both colour and texture. It’s ready to be decanted into the prepared pan and baked to perfection.
Kitchen Memories
One Year Ago: Peperonata ✫ Star of the Antipasti Platter
Two Years Ago: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies
I can see why your daughter loves it!
Thank you! She’s already put in her order for next year.
Wow, this looks amazing 🙂
Thanks, Sherri. When I first made this cake I got so many requests for it that for a long time I stopped making it … I needed a little more variety in the kitchen!
This is a real beauty of a cake, Mar. You can write a post about it whenever you bake it. I’ll never tire of it. 🙂
As long as I can find a new angle every year, I’ll keep writing about it! Meredith has already put her order in for her next birthday 😊