*An extraction from an article explains that chocolate contains theobromine, an alkaloid that dogs can't metabolize quickly. If a dog ingests a large amount of chocolate, the theobromine can build up and reach a toxic level of concentration, leading to cardiac arrest. Different types of chocolate are more harmful than others, and the effects will vary, depending upon the size and weight of the dog. However, it is potentially lethal.
So this year, I decided to bake her a cake! And to sort of reduce the possibility of failure, I chose to make the relatively simplier Ice-Cream cake.
RASPBERRY ICE-CREAM CAKE
Ingredients:
1.5 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup + 1 tbs granulated white sugar; separate I put less quantity of each
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
4 large egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
5 cups vanilla ice-cream I used blueberry ice-cream instead
1+1/2 cups fresh raspberries, lightly crushed
1 small packet of digestive biscuit (decided to improvish a little)
Method:
(1) Preheat oven to 180°C and place rack in center of oven. Grease and line with parchment paper an 8" square cake pan. Set aside.
(2) In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
(3) In electric mixer bowl, beat the butter until soft (~ 1-2 mins). Gradually add 1 cup sugar and beat until light and fluffy (~ 2-3 mins). Add vanilla extract and beat until combined.
(4) Add flour mixture and milk, in 3 additions, beginning and ending with flour. (I think by not following this sequence, I still got quite a nice cake)
(5) In a clean bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form.
(6) Gradually add remaining 1 tbs of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
(7) With a rubber spatula, gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it and then fold in remaining whiltes until combined. Do not overmix or it will deflate. (I used a large metal spoon instead)
(8) Pour batter into pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake for approximately 30 mins, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. (I just used the same metal spoon to smoothen the top of the batter)
(9) Cook cake on wire rack for ~ 10mins. Remove cake from pan and leave to ool completely.
(10) Using a serrated knife, cut cake horizontally into two layers. Place one layer onto the bottom of a clean 8" pan that has been lined with plastic wrap.
(11) Lightly crush raspberries and spread them over top of cake.
(12) Let the ice-cream soften until it is spreadable and spoon the ice-cream evenly on top of raspberries. Cover with second cake layer. (my own creation: after adding the ice-cream layer, I topped it with the crushed digestive biscuits. Then I added another layer of ice-cream before covering it with the second cake layer)
(13) Press down to compact the cake, ice-cream and berries and then cover with plastic wrap.
(14) Freeze for at least an hour.
(15) About 30 mins before serving, take cake from freezer and remove it from cake pan.
Verdict:
(+) If you got the cake right, what else can go wrong??
(+) Such cake (to be stored in freezer) can be kept longer without much compromise to the flavour and texture of the cake.
(+) Suprisingly, the cake turned out to be not too sweet!
(-) I should have mixed abit of the ice-cream with the biscuit crumps because the cake keeps separating at the dry biscuit crump layer
(-) Should add more ice-cream to have the more shiok taste!
(=) The dog likes it! That is what's important!
1 comment:
Thanks for writing this.
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