Sunday, October 24, 2010

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake & Chocolate Honey Ganache

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This week has been all about inspiration, impatience and cake. I have been lacking inspiration in the baking department. You know I love to bake up something wacky and cute, but I hate to force myself to think of something when I am just not in the mood. It never results in anything as fun as the ideas that come naturally and unexpectedly. So I took my foot off the baking pedal for a few days. Then I decided I need to make a cake. I've had an intense craving for a simple, lovely cake. As Karen rightly mentioned, life should have more afternoon teas and more cake.
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And I've been very impatient this week. I am impatient to get home from work every night, and so eager to begin my holiday which is less than two weeks away. And I was too impatient to wait for my Milk Chocolate Honey Ganache to cool before I slathered it all over this beautiful Blueberry Buttermilk Cake. It looks a little thin here, but after I took these photos I poured on another layer of ganache and it was perfection.
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The buttermilk cake is based off a great picnic cake recipe from Gourmet Traveller. It's a lovely tea cake, with a nice crumb and so amazingly moist (Hi Suze!). I didn't realise that the original recipe gave you a batter that makes about 3 standard cakes, so I had to split it up and make several different cakes. But my favourite was the bundt cake, if only because it had the hole in the centre which acted like a perfect little bowl to catch all that ganache. Because in the end, the star of this cake is the ganache. (I've adjusted the quantities listed below so that it will hopefully make the right amount of batter for the cake pictured)
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I used some Lindt milk chocolate rather than my usual dark chocolate, I loved the colour it gave the ganache - it almost looked like caramel. The milk chocolate and honey combination was lovely and surprisingly not too sweet. Feel free to swap it for a semi-sweet chocolate if you're a fan of the darker chocolates, but I like that the milk chocolate is a little different.
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I had to use blueberries for this cake. There's a ridiculous amount of them around Sydney at the moment and I couldn't resist stocking up on fresh punnets. But for those who aren't lucky enough to have them around, the frozen ones are fine for the batter. But it was great having lots of fresh ones over the top of the cake, and they are so purdy ;)
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Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Milk Chocolate Honey Ganache
(adapted from this Gourmet Traveller recipe, makes one bundt cake or two small round cakes)
165g softened butter
200 g (nearly 1 cup) caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1/2 scraped vanilla bean pod
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
200g plain flour, sieved
100 gm (2/3 cup) self-raising flour, sieved
1/3 tsp bicarbonate of soda, sieved
A pinch of salt
230 ml (nearly one cup) buttermilk
125g (1 punnet, approx 1 cup) blueberries, fresh or frozen (and thawed)

200ml pouring cream
200g milk chocolate, broken into smaller pieces
6 tbsp honey
Optional: fresh blueberries to decorate

Preheat oven to 160C and butter a bundt tin (I used a 20cm diameter pan with high sides, if using a smaller tin you may need two tins or halve the quantity of batter). Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla seeds and lemon rind. Meanwhile, sieve flours and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl with a pinch of salt. With mixer on low speed, add half the flour mixture, then half the buttermilk. Repeat, then spoon mixture into cake tin. Smooth top, then bake until cake is golden and an inserted skewer withdraws clean (45-50 minutes, less if using a flatter pan). Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack and cool completely.
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Prepare the chocolate honey ganache; place cream and honey in a small saucepan on medium heat. Bring just to the boil and then take off the heat and add chocolate to hot mixture. Leave for a minute to allow chocolate to melt, then stir until mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool completely and chill in the fridge until cold and thick. Pour over the top of cake and decorate with extra fresh blueberries. Serve immediately. Can be stored in an airtight container overnight, best eaten on the day.
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29 comments:

  1. your cake looks so lovely! i'm so happy blueberries are in season in Melbourne too :)

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  2. Yum! Steph you're not helping my diet!! I've had my eye on that recipe from GT and your version is just perfect for spring :)

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  3. Hi
    This cake looks perfect!
    Unfortunately in Greece do not often find blueberries.:(

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  4. Cake looks yummy Steph. Have a great holiday! Where are you going?

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  5. HAHAHA hi moist! lol i agree with ya about bundt holes heh its like a secret reservoir for icing mmm

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  6. Omg I never imagined how deliciously glistening that honey ganache was! I would totally undo all my hard gym work and devour the whole thing.

    I happily say yes to more tea times and cake! More cake!

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  7. Mmmm great looking cake. You are right the ganache makes ones mouth water.

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  8. looks absolutely delicious!

    have a nice time!
    Paula

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  9. i am salivating at the thought of chocolate honey ganache! have a good holiday!!

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  10. I've been stocking up on fresh blueberries when they've been on cheap! Waiting in the freezer for me to do something with them. Sounds like a great idea.

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  11. This is absolutely gorgeous!! So pretty! Almost too pretty to eat... almost! Love the cute background as well ;)

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  12. Whoa, I'm mesmerised by the milk chocolate and honey ganache dripping down the sides of the cake. Sounds delightful!

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  13. Wow, this looks amazingly yummy! :P

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  14. What a delicious cake!

    I’d love for you to submit one of your beautiful photos, and a link to your post, to my new food photo gallery showcasing beautiful baking and desserts.

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  15. Looks so 'moist' and decadent. Beautiful food styling too steph! :)

    I think I need to get myself a bundt tin, seems everything come out from a bundt tin looks amazing! Wait, except blue jelly, maybe not so much.

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  16. This cake looks superb!! The taste the blueberry embedded in the moist cake from here! ... dw I'm the same with the impatience.. just gotta take it one step at a time xx

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  17. Wow, this looks to die for! Thank you for the master class!

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  18. My god this looks amazing. I love the ganache oozing down the cake. Truly beautiful.

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  19. What a beautiful bundt cake! So many delicious flavours in one place!

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  20. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm ganache bowl.

    The batter looks so tasty you could probably get around the problem of having too much of it by making yourself sick eating 2/3 of it :D

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  21. Oh my! I've just stumbled across your blog and I've subscribed. How delicious! :) I love your photography and styling too- well done!

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  22. It looks simply marvelous. I would probably use dark instead of milk chocolate, but that's just my preference. Your photos & settings are scrumptious.

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  23. grub - :) Love it when blueberries are cheap! Frozen blueberries aren't quite the same.

    Lisa - Hhaahha sorry! That recipe is amazing!!!

    kitchenStories - Aww that's a pity? Do they ever sell frozen ones? They work well in the cake batter!

    Trissa - I'm off to Malaysia for three weeks! Can't wait!

    chocolatesuze - hi moist! bundt holes are pools of awesomeness...that sounds dirty but it's not

    Leah - Thanks! It was delicious :)

    Karen @ Citrus and Candy - Heee it was very shiny indeed! Hahah I was going to offer you some but thought that would be cruel since we are meant to be good!

    Mark @ Cafe Campana - I am having a love affair with ganaches at the moment. I used to be a buttercream girl but ganache is so good

    Paula - Thanks!

    panda - The ganache was sooo good! Thank you!

    Angie Lives to Eat (and Cook)! - Ohh I always have to get the fresh ones to eat because they are sooo much better than frozen ones!

    Betty @ The Hungry Girl - Thank you!! Hehe it's from burnt orange ;)

    Emma @CakeMistress - It was dripping everywhere! But so yummy!

    Miki's scrapbook - It was! Thank you :)

    Bakeolicious - Thanks!

    billy @ a table for two - LOL moist. Thanks billy! LOL

    the dainty baker - Thanks Rhonda!

    Joe - :) You're very welcome!

    Jennifer - Thanks so much! It was very oozy :)

    LimeCake - Thanks!

    Laura - Thank you!!

    Fiona - They were very tasty

    Conor @ Hold the Beef - I know, I wanted to drink it! LOL trust me I was licking up the extra batter. I don't care if it's raw!

    Beck - Yay thanks for subscribing! xx

    Erica Lea {Cooking for Seven} - I had contemplated using dark chocolate but I was pleasantly surprised with the milk! I don't usually prefer milk chocolate! Thanks!

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  24. Gorgeous cake! I think a white chocolate ganache would be awesome too. I'm also lusting after your fresh blueberries - mmmmm... (Mexico isn't known for its blueberries and they're one thing I do miss from up north. :)

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  25. Looks absolutely amazing! I'd love to chow down on that!

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  26. Patty - Thank you! Fresh blueberries are pretty awesome, pity they're so hard to get a hold of!

    Spencer @ Moo-Lolly-Bar - Thanks so much!

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