Ingredients:
200 gr butter (salted or not, your choice) (room temperature)
200 gr sugar (100 gr brown, 100 gr white)
4 eggs (room tempe
200 gr Flour (white flour)
40 gr choccolate powder
1 tables baking powder
For filling: (filling is optional)
125 gr dark chocolate (with sugar)
50 gr butter
50 ml milk
1 egg
2 big pears
gr=grams
Why is this in grams?
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sorry but i will not convert this into US measures. here is a good website for conversion http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/cooking/
Hardware:
Cooking pan, suggested dimension: 23 cm round (i had only this rectangle one)
Hand batter (i left mine at friends house, thats why i' m using this wood one)
bowls
oven
burner
lots of love and care
Procedure & instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 190 degree celsius .
2) beat the butter in a big bowl until soft. Add sugar gradually and beat together (by hand)
3) take 1 egg, divide it and put the yellow part into the batter. Save the white part in a big bowl
4) mix the egg into the batter. repeat with 4 eggs.(mix after each egg) (save the 4 white parts in a big bowl)
5) Sift (or add gradually if you have no sifter) the flour with the baking powder into the compost,
6) put aside the compost for now. put aside the white egg part for now.
Start working on the filling:
0) clean, cut and work the pears: take out the middle and ends with a spoon and small knife.
1) take a small, heavy pot, and put it on a very low flame (40 C° to 50°) (this is the lowest on your burner possible probably) . (the professional way is on a double burner) (stir as much as possible)
2)heat for 2 minutes, then melt gently 50 gr of butter.
3)when butter is melted, add in 1 yellow of the egg. (put the white part in bowl you put aside with the others)
4)add in the milk. Continue stirring as much as you can, slowly. Prevent bobbling or boiling at this stage.
5) break the chocolate into pieces by hand, and melt it into the filling. When the chocolate is melted, turn off and mix in gently the pears that you cut beforehand. Set aside.
- clean and prepare your baking pan, if you have' t already: wash and dry, and butter the shit out of it. You can use cooking paper alternatively -
7)take the batter bowl of before. Add in chocolate powder. The batter will be very hard to work. Think of it as a workout.
8) take the white of the eggs, and beat WITH ELECTRIC BEATER for 3 to 5 minutes, or until it has foamed.
9) add this foam to the batter, mix, gently, slowly BY HAND. Mix with movements toward the ceiling. Do not mix too much in this part, mix until the compost looks mixed.
10) add a small layer of the batter (remember it will rise a bit, don' t worry if layer looks thin, just make sure to cover all the surface
11)pour in the filling.
12) cover what you can with the rest of the batter: the more you manage to cover the better. Remember that for the third layer, it will not be easy to spread out, once you put it in the baking pan
13) open the oven, leave open for 30 seconds, then put the baking pan in.
14) cook for 30 minutes 190 degrees C° . Check after 3 minutes, and again after 20 minutes. If it seems to be burning, lower the heat. Remember every oven is different and will yield different cooking times. if after 30 minutes it looks a bit raw, turn off oven and let it cook in its own heat for 10 minutes.
I usually spend the cooking time cleaning the kitchen. You can do this or leave this part to the maid, if you have one.
15) leave to cool for 20 or more minutes, then its ready to eat.
Tips & Tricks:
- Spend money on the ingredients. Even the best Chef in the world can only make mediocre food with low quality ingredients.
- If you trust me, then beat everything by hand. Only the whites of the egg beat with electric beater.
- Follow you intuition. If its wrong, you can use the experience for next time.
- If you are unfamiliar with the oven, check frequently, adjust the temperature.
- Use every ingredient at room temperature. Especially the butter, eggs and flour.
Sorry for no pictures at the beginning