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baronessekatEver since a bunch of Australians introduced me to a little bit of chocolatey decadence many years ago at Pennsic, I have been a fan of the Tim Tam Cookie. I became very excited to discover a store near my sister in Maryland sells them and I get several packages when I go to visit.
So of course I was intrigued when I came across a recipe on my facebook wall called a Tim Tam Cake.
But, I'm not enough of a chocolate fan to make one for just me and waited for the right time. That came when my company's holiday party had a dessert contest. So I broke out the recipe and tried it.
From: http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/2011/04/tim-tam-cake.html
Tim Tam Cake
(Chocolate sponge recipe from Gourmet Traveller, serves 10)
NOTE: To beginner bakers, if you are unfamiliar with sponge recipes you might want to read up on some tips on how to make a successful sponge cake before starting. Gourmet Traveller has a great article. If you prefer a higher cake to icing ratio, double the quantities below for the cake batter. You can also substitute the cake recipe for any light chocolate cake that you are more comfortable making.
4 large eggs
110g (½ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
65g cornflour (cornstarch)
35g (¼ cup) Good quality cocoa powder
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the cake filling:
100g butter, removed from the fridge 30 minutes before starting
150g chocolate, melted (I used semi-sweet, you can also use milk)
3 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp milk
Optional: 1 packet of Tim Tam biscuits, crushed
(If you wanted to mix things up a bit so it's not just all chocolate, you could mix a cup of raspberries into this icing, or maybe use mint chocolate instead?)
For the chocolate ganache topping:
300ml pouring cream (min. 35% milk fat pure cream)
400g milk chocolate (I only had 200g milk so I had to use some dark, which is why my ganache is a bit darker than I would prefer for a tim tam)
Line two 17x27cm rectangular slice/brownie tins, or one larger sheet cake tin with non-stick baking paper. (I actually only had one small tin, so I split all the ingredients in half and baked two separate cakes one after the other and it worked great!) Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Whisk eggs and sugar in an electric mixer until thick and pale (5-6 minutes, go nuts and don't underwhip). Sift over cornflour, cocoa, flour, cream of tartar and bicarb soda, fold in with spatula. Fold in butter, spoon into prepared tin. Bake in centre of oven until the centre of the cake springs back when lightly pressed (10-12 minutes). Turn onto baking paper covered wire rack and cool completely. (If you baked one large cake, cut into two equal sized rectangular cakes)
To prepare chocolate icing filling, beat butter light and fluffy and then gradually add sifted icing sugar and beat until smooth and pale. Add melted chocolate and milk and beat until smooth. (You can adjust the amount of milk you add to get the icing to the texture you want) Spread icing over the top of one of the cakes (Note: you don't need to use all of it, I made it about 1-2cm thick), and leave space to (if you want) place tim tams along the centre of the icing. (I saw a great tip from someone who made it, that it's even better if you crush up the tim tams before you put them in the middle to make it a lot easier to cut the cake later.) Sandwich other cake on top of the icing and biscuits. To prepare the chocolate ganache topping, break up chocolate into small pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Slowly heat cream in a small saucepan. Just as it starts to come to the boil, remove from the heat and cool for a couple minutes. Pour hot cream over chocolate and set aside 10 minutes to allow chocolate to melt. Mix cream and chocolate together until smooth using a whisk, then cool (I placed mine in the fridge for about 15 mins) until it reaches room temperature and thickens. Pour over the top of the cake, using a spatula to ensure the ganache covers all the top and sides of the cake (the excess will drip off everywhere so make sure you lay down some baking paper to catch the drips). Chill in the fridge until the ganache sets, then peel off the bottom baking paper and serve cake at room temperature. P.S. I used a big cookie cutter to cut out a 'bite' of the cake, which I really liked the look of. The cake looks less Tim Tam-like when it's whole!
Notes
I did not have the time to make the chocolate sponge cake. I've made such in the past and I was on a tight time crunch for it. So I just used a devil's food cake mix. I would like to try it again at some point using the chocolate sponge cake.
It broke my heart to crush up an entire package of tim tams for the cake but I did. And I'm glad I did. I like the crunch it gave to the cream center.
Overall the cake was well received by all who had it. Though it was a BIG cake.
I honestly don't know if I will ever make it again, but if I do, I may leave out the crushed up cookies because they are hard to get and all.
Rating 4 out of 5
So of course I was intrigued when I came across a recipe on my facebook wall called a Tim Tam Cake.
But, I'm not enough of a chocolate fan to make one for just me and waited for the right time. That came when my company's holiday party had a dessert contest. So I broke out the recipe and tried it.
From: http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/2011/04/tim-tam-cake.html
Tim Tam Cake
(Chocolate sponge recipe from Gourmet Traveller, serves 10)
NOTE: To beginner bakers, if you are unfamiliar with sponge recipes you might want to read up on some tips on how to make a successful sponge cake before starting. Gourmet Traveller has a great article. If you prefer a higher cake to icing ratio, double the quantities below for the cake batter. You can also substitute the cake recipe for any light chocolate cake that you are more comfortable making.
4 large eggs
110g (½ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
65g cornflour (cornstarch)
35g (¼ cup) Good quality cocoa powder
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the cake filling:
100g butter, removed from the fridge 30 minutes before starting
150g chocolate, melted (I used semi-sweet, you can also use milk)
3 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp milk
Optional: 1 packet of Tim Tam biscuits, crushed
(If you wanted to mix things up a bit so it's not just all chocolate, you could mix a cup of raspberries into this icing, or maybe use mint chocolate instead?)
For the chocolate ganache topping:
300ml pouring cream (min. 35% milk fat pure cream)
400g milk chocolate (I only had 200g milk so I had to use some dark, which is why my ganache is a bit darker than I would prefer for a tim tam)
Line two 17x27cm rectangular slice/brownie tins, or one larger sheet cake tin with non-stick baking paper. (I actually only had one small tin, so I split all the ingredients in half and baked two separate cakes one after the other and it worked great!) Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Whisk eggs and sugar in an electric mixer until thick and pale (5-6 minutes, go nuts and don't underwhip). Sift over cornflour, cocoa, flour, cream of tartar and bicarb soda, fold in with spatula. Fold in butter, spoon into prepared tin. Bake in centre of oven until the centre of the cake springs back when lightly pressed (10-12 minutes). Turn onto baking paper covered wire rack and cool completely. (If you baked one large cake, cut into two equal sized rectangular cakes)
To prepare chocolate icing filling, beat butter light and fluffy and then gradually add sifted icing sugar and beat until smooth and pale. Add melted chocolate and milk and beat until smooth. (You can adjust the amount of milk you add to get the icing to the texture you want) Spread icing over the top of one of the cakes (Note: you don't need to use all of it, I made it about 1-2cm thick), and leave space to (if you want) place tim tams along the centre of the icing. (I saw a great tip from someone who made it, that it's even better if you crush up the tim tams before you put them in the middle to make it a lot easier to cut the cake later.) Sandwich other cake on top of the icing and biscuits. To prepare the chocolate ganache topping, break up chocolate into small pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Slowly heat cream in a small saucepan. Just as it starts to come to the boil, remove from the heat and cool for a couple minutes. Pour hot cream over chocolate and set aside 10 minutes to allow chocolate to melt. Mix cream and chocolate together until smooth using a whisk, then cool (I placed mine in the fridge for about 15 mins) until it reaches room temperature and thickens. Pour over the top of the cake, using a spatula to ensure the ganache covers all the top and sides of the cake (the excess will drip off everywhere so make sure you lay down some baking paper to catch the drips). Chill in the fridge until the ganache sets, then peel off the bottom baking paper and serve cake at room temperature. P.S. I used a big cookie cutter to cut out a 'bite' of the cake, which I really liked the look of. The cake looks less Tim Tam-like when it's whole!
Notes
I did not have the time to make the chocolate sponge cake. I've made such in the past and I was on a tight time crunch for it. So I just used a devil's food cake mix. I would like to try it again at some point using the chocolate sponge cake.
It broke my heart to crush up an entire package of tim tams for the cake but I did. And I'm glad I did. I like the crunch it gave to the cream center.
Overall the cake was well received by all who had it. Though it was a BIG cake.
I honestly don't know if I will ever make it again, but if I do, I may leave out the crushed up cookies because they are hard to get and all.
Rating 4 out of 5
