Sour Milk? Make Chocolate Cake!

Sour Milk Chocolate Cake

I overbought on the milk one week and ended up with gallons of "sour milk".  I googled and found this recipe -

http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post.html

So I made 3 batches of Sour Milk Chocolate Cake over the course of a couple of nights, froze them and then served them up at my son's baptism (iced with the brown sugar icing from the same recipe, cut into squares and topped with a malteser on each (I had a lot of maltesers to use up as well!)

Here is the recipe converted to Thermotalk:

INGREDIENTS
75g butter
1 large egg
250ml sour milk
60ml hot water
1 Tbsp vanilla
225g plain flour
60g cocoa
240g sugar (reduced to 200g sugar)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

METHOD
Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 cake tin and lightly dust it with flour, shaking out any excess. Set aside.
Melt butter at 50C for 2 minutes on speed 4 .
Add egg, sour milk, hot water and vanilla and mix for 3 secs on speed 5.
Add flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt and mix for 10 secs on speed 5. 
Scrape down sides, mix for another 5 secs on speed 5.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until it tests done when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. NO need to remove from the pan.

BROWN SUGAR FROSTING
Makes enough to frost the top of one cake

60g butter
30g soft light brown sugar
90g icing sugar
30g cream

Place the butter and brown sugar in TM bowl and mix speed 2 at 50C for 1 minute or until butter melts and sugar dissolves.
Add cream and icing sugar and mix for 30 seconds on speed 4.
Spread on top of cooled cake.
Sprinkle with chopped nuts, choc chips, maltesers etc!


Here's another batch made into cupcakes, iced with a chocolate icing (cocoa, icing sugar, butter mix) and topped with smashed candy canes (my kids received way too many for me to let them consume last Christmas!)

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

From Isabella's recipe on Junior Masterchef Australia 2010 - http://www.masterchef.com.au/lemon-meringue-cup-cakes.htm
(Perfect for the Thermomix as no need to cream butter and sugar!) 
Converted to Thermotalk:


INGREDIENTS
Cupcakes
Rind of 1 lemon
225g sugar (I reduced this to 150g and used raw sugar)
250g pure cream
2 eggs
225g self raising flour
Lemon Curd
I just used some Thermomix lemon butter which I had already made and was in the fridge (see p 147 of the EDC)
Meringue
3 egg whites
70g icing sugar


METHOD

Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 180'C. Place 12 patty cake liners in a 12 hole 1/2-cup capacity muffin pan.
Place rind and sugar into TM bowl and pulverise for 20 seconds on speed 9. Scrape down lemon rind and sugar from sides of the bowl.
Add remaining ingredients and mix for 30 seconds on speed 5.
Divide mixture between prepared liners and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cakes spring back to touch. Cool in muffin pan.


Meringue
I just followed the Meringue method from the Lemon Meringue Pie recipe on page 153 of the EDC.  Keep an eye on the egg whites as you don't want to overbeat them.  The EDC says 3-5 mins but I now err on the side of the lower time limit.
Spoon meringue mixture into a piping bag. (I made a whole ring cake and was too lazy to pipe it so just slathered it on with a spatula!)


To serve, preheat grill to medium-high. Cut a small hole in the top of each cupcake and fill with 1-2 teaspoons of lemon curd. Pipe a swirl of meringue mixture on the top of each cupcake and place under heated grill for 60-90 seconds or until golden. Arrange on a serving plate with spoonfuls of lemon curd if desired.