Saturday, February 28, 2009

Daring Bakers - Chocolate Valentino Cake with Baci Icecream


Ahhh, February - the month of romance and love, culminating in Valentine's Day on 14 February. To coincide with this, our Daring Bakers challenge this month was to make a Chocolate Valentino Cake (a heart-shaped flourless chocolate cake) and icecream to accompany it. You didn't have to make your cake heart-shaped, and you didn't have to use the icecream recipes given by our hosts, Dharm and Wendy (to whose blogs I have linked at the foot of this post, if you would like the cake recipe).

I chose to make one large heart shaped cake with 8 mini cakes:


The cake recipe uses a large quantity (454g) of chocolate. I chose Cadbury's Old Gold original dark chocolate for my cake.

The end result is a fudgy, dense, chocolate packed punch of a cake, with a crispy, brownie-like top:



I paired my Valentino cakes with Baci icecream (which I thought was very appropriate for Valentine's Day, given that "baci" means "kisses" in Italian) that I made especially for this challenge, and some strawberry icecream that I made some time ago for visual contrast:




The Baci icecream recipe is by Vera Kuznetsova, and can be found on page 120 of Issue 6 of Desserts Magazine. This stuff is addictive - it is silky smooth and super soft, and the taste is heaven itself. However, given its ingredients (including half and half, full cream, hazelnut spread and hazelnut meal), I can only imagine how highly calorific it is, so I will be urging my colleagues to share this with me.

I have previously posted the recipe for the strawberry icecream, by Nigella Lawson, here. Although it tastes fine, it is not a patch in my view on the chocolate hazelnut variety.

To check out all the other wonderful chocolate cakes and icecream varieties from the other Daring Bakers, visit the Daring Bakers blogroll. Thanks to our hosts, Dharm and Wendy, for hosting this month's challenge.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.
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29 comments:

  1. Engineer BakerFebruary 28, 2009 at 5:22 AM

    Oh, that baci ice cream sounds fantastic. And dangerous. Nice work!

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 28, 2009 at 5:28 AM

    Baci ice cream sounds delicious. To me, the ice cream was the winner of this challenge.

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  3. SaraFebruary 28, 2009 at 5:38 AM

    This is so pretty, that ice cream sounds amazing!

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  4. CakelawFebruary 28, 2009 at 9:07 AM

    Hi Caitlin, it is oh so dangerous, because it tastes wonderful. The rest of mine is currently living in the freezer at work so that I have to go a long way to get some when I am not there.

    Hi Pinkstripes, making the icecream was good for me because I had only made it once before and was not terribly excited by the results - this time, the icecream was superb, so I have learned that you have to choose the right recipe.

    Thanks Sara - the icecream is lovey, and I can really recommend Vera's recipe (I have learned that Vera is from the Baking Obsession blog).

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  5. MariaFebruary 28, 2009 at 11:04 AM

    Love the heart and the baci ice cream sounds heavenly!

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  6. AnonymousFebruary 28, 2009 at 12:55 PM

    Two ice creams! Very ambitious and delicious.

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  7. CakelawFebruary 28, 2009 at 3:54 PM

    Thanks Maria - do try the Baci icecream if you love chocolate icecream, because it is sooooooooo good.

    Hi Dana, I cheated a little in that I had already made the strawberry before this month :)

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  8. AnonymousFebruary 28, 2009 at 5:49 PM

    Baci ice cream sounds wonderful. Your presentation is very sweet - perfect for your heart shaped cake! Nicely done!

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  9. AnonymousFebruary 28, 2009 at 7:44 PM

    It looks delicious and I love your idea of Baci ice cream too Cakelaw. Well done! :D

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  10. Rosa's Yummy YumsFebruary 28, 2009 at 8:58 PM

    These ice creams look delicious! Very well done!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  11. CakelawFebruary 28, 2009 at 10:15 PM

    Thanks Chez US - it was fun creating this arrangement.

    Thanks Lorraine.

    Hi Rosa, thanks for your kind words.

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  12. gizMarch 1, 2009 at 12:06 AM

    I've never tried baci ice cream - something new for me to find. Wasn't this challenge a fun one - not crazy long days in the kitchen and beautiful outcome.

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  13. Deeba PABMarch 1, 2009 at 12:23 AM

    Oh that does look wickedly addictive my dear. Beautiful pairing too...wow!! Was a totally enjoyable & delicious challenge indeed!!

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  14. Anne ColemanMarch 1, 2009 at 12:37 AM

    Beautiful! The ice cream sounds fabulous, as well.

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  15. DharmMarch 1, 2009 at 1:00 AM

    Old Gold Choc would taste just great with this cake. So glad you liked the challenge and I must say the ice cream sounds super!

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  16. LaurenMarch 1, 2009 at 3:03 AM

    Mmm, your cake looks wonderful, and that baci ice cream sounds divine!!

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  17. Heather BMarch 1, 2009 at 3:30 AM

    Great job this month! Your cake and ice cream look delicious!

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  18. Susan @ SGCCMarch 1, 2009 at 8:05 AM

    What a scrumptious looking cake! I love what you did with it. The Baci ice cream fits perfectly with the theme. Beautiful job!

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  19. CakelawMarch 1, 2009 at 9:40 AM

    Hi Giz, I am so with you on that one - I find it harder to get motivated if I perceive that it's a tall mountain to climb.

    Thanks Deeba, so agreed - this was fun!

    Thanks Anne :)

    Hi Dharm, this was a super challenge - thanks again.

    Hi Lauren, thanks.

    Thanks Heather - much appreciated.

    Thanks Susan - it was definitely a fun challenge, especially choosing the icecream flavour.

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  20. AnonymousMarch 1, 2009 at 7:50 PM

    Yum, I love baci ice cream. I will try it soon.

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  21. nataliaMarch 2, 2009 at 2:03 AM

    Ciao ! Bacio is one of my favorites !!!

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  22. AnonymousMarch 2, 2009 at 4:26 AM

    Beautiful! And the baci ice cream sounds divine!

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  23. TammyMarch 2, 2009 at 7:55 AM

    baci ice-cream sounds delicious and I love your heart shaped cake pan!

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  24. AllyMarch 2, 2009 at 12:14 PM

    Oh wow, that ice cream sounds delicious, and you're right, very appropriate for this challenge! Well done!

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  25. AnonymousMarch 2, 2009 at 8:01 PM

    I love the idea of the baci ice cream, so fitting with this cake too. Great job!

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  26. breadchickMarch 3, 2009 at 12:44 PM

    Lots of chocolate going on over here! And the baci ice cream is very cool sounding.

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  27. CakelawMarch 3, 2009 at 9:02 PM

    Hi Zorra, do try it - it's heavenly.

    Hi Natalia, it is good, yeah?

    Thanks Culinography :)

    Thanks Tammy - there are never enough chnaces to use the heart shaped pan, so I was happy about this.

    Thanks Ally - I liked the idea of Baci for Valentines Day.

    Thanks Kitchen Goddess - it was a fun challenge.

    Hi Mary - I know - naughty but ever so nice ...

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  28. JoMarch 4, 2009 at 4:56 AM

    Well done and great job on this month's challenge.

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  29. YMarch 4, 2009 at 5:04 PM

    Yum yum! I love your ratio of cake to ice cream! :D

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Thanks for dropping by!