Friday 20 July 2012

APOLLO LAYER CAKE (CHOCOLATE)


Do you like the Apollo Layer Cake as much as me?  The one coated with chocolate is so yummy.  I tried to make them and it tasted great.  Apollo layer cakes consist of two rectangular sponge cakes sandwiched together with butter cream.  However, in this recipe, I used jam for sandwiching instead of butter cream.  

Ingredients (Makes about 10)
50 g corn flour
50 g superfine cake flour
100 g sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
1 level teaspoon cream of tartar
For sandwiching 
75 g extra jam mixed with 2 tablespoon water
For coating
250 g chocolate (melted)

Method (Plain Sponge Method)

1.  Mix the two flours together and sift twice.

2.  Combine the eggs and sugar in a stainless-steel bowl.  Immediately set the bowl over a hot water bath and whisk until the mixture warms to a temperature of about 43°C.

If you don't have a thermometer, just place your finger in the egg mixture; it should be quite hot and the sugar is completely dissolved (not gritty when rubbed between two fingers).

3.  Take it off the water bath; add vanilla essence and cream of tartar.  Beat the eggs at high speed until they are very light and thick or until the ribbon stage is reached.  (At this point, when a figure "8" or an "S" shape is drawn with the egg foam, it should clearly retain its mark and not disappear into the batter).

4.  When the ribbon stage is reached, beat the mixture on low for 1 minute to stabilise the air bubbles in the mixture


5.  Sift in half of the flour and fold the mixture gently.  Sift in the remaining flour and fold again.

Use a fine sieve!

6.  Pour in a greased and lined Swiss roll tray (mine was 32 cm x 24 cm).  Tap the tray twice or thrice to get rid of those big bubbles of air rising on top.  Bake for 15 minutes at 190°C.  I baked the cake in an oven containing two bowls of hot boiling water to generate steam.


7.  Allow to cool on grease proof paper.  Cut 4 cm x 8 cm rectangles out of the cake sheet.  Spread the jam over the cake.  Pair the rectangles.

Mark the rectangular shapes on the cake sheet first; then spread the jam.  Finally cut and pair them.

8.  Coat the Apollo cakes with chocolate.  Allow to cool on wax paper.

Less chocolaty for my parents! 

More chocolaty for me!

Yummmmmy.  I loved the texture...

8 comments:

  1. the cakes look so spongy and moist Nashreen! Great job, wow!!!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you CoCo.... your pound cake was also amazing :-)

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  2. aslm

    the cake look so tasty but i wanted to confirm with you if i should use melting cooking chocolate for this cake ?

    and will the chocolate be liquid enough to spread it on the cake ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wassalam,

      I don't recommend cooking chocolate because of the taste. Use cadburry. Melting chocolate is really something critical. If you melt it slowly and at the right temperature, your chocolate will be smooth and easy to spread or coat or poured onto cakes and biscuits....

      Here for the apollo cake which was completed coated, I simply poured the chocolate over it. Place them on a cooling rack which is in turn placed on a baking tray. pour the chocolate over the cakes and the excess will drip on the baking tray.

      For the apollo cake with only the surface coated, I simply dipped the surface in the chocolate.

      You can use melting cooking chocolate... But make sure you melt it au bain marie on very low heat. However the coat will be a bit hard.

      Delete
  3. thanks for your advice

    i will use cadburry and as you are saying its better than cooking chocolate.

    but for all your recipes {cakes} that requires melted chocolate do you use cadburry ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Depends on the situation. For making good quality products i sometimes use Cote D'or E.g. ganache. But else, most of the times i use the block cooking chocolate from ESKO. Esko is also good for using in cake mixtures and specially for making decorations like letters with chocolates.

      As for cadbury, You cant make much decorations like chocolate letters or chocolate cigarettes or swirls with it cause its too soft.

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  4. hello

    several times i have seen that you generate steam when baking cakes can you explain to me why it is necessary ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yeahhhh, it keeps the temperature of the oven uniform thereby prevents cracking. However may be your oven, temperature is not always uniform. I use it mainly with sponge cake mixtures or cake mixtures that are supposed to rise greatly or become airy. Sometimes cakes tend to rise to such a point that when they inflate, the top cracks... So far, my sponge cakes never deflate upon removing in the oven and most of the time i have a uniform baking:-D This is a japanese style of baking sponge cakes ^___^. I also use this method for most of my high fat chocolate cakes. It makes it moister.

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