Stout Spice Cakes

Stout Spice Cakes
Easy
Makes: 40 Yield
  • Quick & easy (production)
  • Good for freezing
The dark, rich flavors of spices, molasses, and stout beer in these individual cakes from Chef Mark Seaman are offset by a Callebaut® Gold glaze both visually and in terms of flavor. The salted caramel Crispearls™ not only add crunch, but they also contribute another layer of flavor. The result is a visually-tempting, not-too-sweet, perfect small-bite dessert. Created for a bar near Chef Mark’s bakery, they’d be an excellent way to collaborate with a local brewery or to showcase a specific brand of Irish Cream. Be sure to heed Chef Mark’s note about pan size in the recipe for the cake component. In the first step, you’ll see the baking soda react with the acidic molasses to create a foam reminiscent of childhood science experiments. Make certain you’ve got plenty of room in the pot you choose! You’ll also want to note his advice about the right temperature for using the ganache glaze: too warm and you’ll have a too-thin and visually uninspiring result; too cold and the glaze won’t drip attractively. Get it just right, and you’ll see gorgeous, professional results.
The dark, rich flavors of spices, molasses, and stout beer in these individual cakes from Chef Mark Seaman are offset by a Callebaut® Gold glaze both visually and in terms of flavor. The salted caramel Crispearls™ not only add crunch, but they also contribute another layer of flavor. The result is a visually-tempting, not-too-sweet, perfect small-bite dessert. Created for a bar near Chef Mark’s bakery, they’d be an excellent way to collaborate with a local brewery or to showcase a specific brand of Irish Cream. Be sure to heed Chef Mark’s note about pan size in the recipe for the cake component. In the first step, you’ll see the baking soda react with the acidic molasses to create a foam reminiscent of childhood science experiments. Make certain you’ve got plenty of room in the pot you choose! You’ll also want to note his advice about the right temperature for using the ganache glaze: too warm and you’ll have a too-thin and visually uninspiring result; too cold and the glaze won’t drip attractively. Get it just right, and you’ll see gorgeous, professional results.
Shelf life:
3 days
Conservation:
Room temperature, dry
Containing: 3 Components
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Featured Ingredients

For an Optimal Taste and Visual Appeal of your Finished Products

Irish Cream Gold Ganache

Ingredients

Preparation

  1. Combine the heavy cream, sugar, and glucose syrup in a saucepan and heat on medium-low to 40°C (104°F).
  2. In the meantime, melt the chocolate and butter in short increments of 30-60 seconds on full power in the microwave until it reaches 35-38°C (95-100°F).
  3. Remove the chocolate from the microwave and stir well.
  4. Pour the warm cream mixture over the melted chocolate mixture and begin emulsifying the ganache with a whisk.
  5. Start in the center of the bowl and slowly work outwards, incorporating all of the chocolate into the cream. Whisk in the Irish cream liqueur.
  6. Blend the ganache with an immersion blender to ensure that it is perfectly smooth and well-emulsified. The ganache should look smooth, shiny, and uniform.
  7. Pour the ganache into a piping bag and reserve at room temperature.
  8. The ganache is ready to use at 31°C (88°F). You will need to warm the ganache gently if it has cooled too much.

View tools

  • Cooktop
  • Saucepan
  • Whisk
  • Immersion blender
  • Piping Bag
  • Mixing bowl (s)
  • Infrared Thermometer
  • Spatula(s)

Stout Beer and Spice Cake

Ingredients

  • 340 g
    molasses
  • 236 g
    Stout Beer
  • 8 g
    baking soda
  • 285 g
    All purpose flour
  • 3 g
    ground ginger
  • 3 g
    baking powder
  • 4 g
    ground cinnamon
  • 1 g
    ground cloves
  • 1 g
    ground nutmeg
  • 0.5 g
    ground cardamom
  • 168 g
    Eggs, whole
  • 100 g
    sugar
  • 115 g
    light brown sugar
  • 165 g
    Vegetable oil
  • Q.S.
    fresh ginger, grated

Preparation

  1. In a medium saucepan, combine the molasses and the stout beer and heat on medium until the molasses dissolves into the beer. Once the molasses has dissolved, turn the heat to high and bring the mixture just to the boil. It is important to use the correct size of saucepan as the mixture will expand a great deal when the baking soda is added.
  2. Turn off the heat and stir in the baking soda. Allow the mixture to sit until the foam mostly dissipates.
  3. Sift together the flour, ground ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom and set aside.
  4. Whisk together the eggs and both sugars, followed by the oil.
  5. Transfer this mixture to the mixer and mix with the paddle attachment on low speed until smooth and homogeneous.
  6. Ensure the level of the foam in the beer mixture has decreased by at least half, then slowly add all of the beer mixture to the egg mixture in the mixer while on low speed.
  7. Continuing with the mixer on low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients little by little until combined.
  8. Stop and scrape the bowl from time to time while adding the dry ingredients to ensure everything is properly incorporated into the batter.
  9. Add the fresh ginger and stir by hand to incorporate it into the batter.
  10. Transfer the batter to a piping bag and deposit batter into the Flexipan cavities, filling them approximately 2/3 full. This will be 30-35 g (1-1.2 oz) of batter per cavity.
  11. Bake in a convection oven at 150°C (300°F) for 12-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  12. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely. Once cool, place the cakes (still in the molds) into the freezer just until firm enough to be unmolded. Then unmold the cakes onto a parchment-lined tray.
  13. Reserve the cakes at room temperature until needed in the assembly.
  14. Well-wrapped, these cakes can also be frozen for up to one month before being glazed.

View tools

  • Saucepan
  • Piping Bag
  • Bowl(s)
  • Parchment paper
  • Spoon
  • Small paring knife
  • Cutting board
  • Microplane
  • Tabletop mixer, mixing bowl and a paddle attachment
  • Demarle Flexipan® Origine - Mini-Muffin FP1032
  • Spatula(s)

Assembly/Finishing

Ingredients

Preparation

  1. Place the cakes upside down on a glazing rack on top of a tray lined with plastic wrap.
  2. Ensure the temperature of the ganache inside the piping bag is 31°C (88°F). If needed, you can rewarm the ganache gently in the microwave in 10-second intervals until the desired temperature is achieved. If the ganache is too warm when applied to the cakes, it will be too thin, and conversely, if the ganache is too cold, it will be too thick to achieve the desired look.
  3. Cut a small opening in the tip of the piping bag and then pipe a small amount of ganache onto the top of each cake, allowing a small amount of ganache to drip down the sides of the cakes.
  4. Immediately after piping the ganache, sprinkle both flavors of Crispearls™ on top of the ganache before it sets.
  5. Transfer the cakes to a platter for serving, or reserve covered at room temperature.

View tools

  • Scissors
  • Plastic film
  • Rack
  • Metal Tray (s)

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