Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard

BBC lifestyle and HyppTV brought down Eric Lanlard, a master baker who has made a name for himself with his extraordinary cakes for A-listers such as Madonna, Claudia Schiffer and even the Queen Mother herself! He was in Kuala Lumpur to promote his show on BBC Lifestyle “Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard“.

Eric Lanlard, Master Patissier and twice winner of the prestigious Continental Patissier of the Year at the British Baking Awards, has changed the face of British Patisserie.

Eric has 4 TV series’ to his name, with the most recent being Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard. Each programme sees Eric sharing his tips and skills – teaching bakers how to produce mouth-watering cakes and desserts with ease and speed. Before Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard were 2 series of Glamour Puds.

Eric also appears regularly on other television shows, with recent appearances including The Great British Bake Off and Junior Bake Off as well as MasterChef – The Professionals and Mary Queen of Shops.

Eric’s first book, Glamour Cakes was published in 2008 and was renamed Master Cakes in 2010, the same year, he had his second book, Home Baked published. This was closely followed by Cox Cookies and Cake in July 2011 and his most recent book – Tart it Up!

When not baking, Eric’s passions include art, travelling, cars, his home and wine. In 2014, Eric will become the first chef to travel to space with Virgin Galactic (how awesome!)

Eric Lanlard with the HyppTV tea, BBC lifestyle team and the founder of Starhill Culinary Studio (far right)

While Eric was in town, I managed to attend the media event (yay!) During the event, we got to make a dark chocolate cake, which Eric calls it Dark Chocolate Moelleux’ – a dark chocolate sponge cake filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and decorated with chocolate ganache.

Everyone loves chocolate and while the holiday season is just around the corner, why not try to make this cake at home ?

It can be made even without a mixer. A big mixing bowl, spatula, whisk and a sift are some of the utensils needed. Baking is not rocket science, follow the recipe and just take your time 🙂

To make the cake even tastier, layer it with a chocolate buttercream for an extra edge. Spreading ganache over the top makes it more droolalicious. You know, the ‘dripping’ factor makes it so much more tempting.

Winter berries and fruits brings the Christmas-y ambiance. In fact it looks a little like a wreath. So says who a chocolate cake is boring!

Dark Chocolate Moelleux

 

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Author: Eric Lanlard

Serves: 12

Ingredients

For the sponge cake

• 350g butter, softened
• 50g dark chocolate
• 350g golden caster sugar
• 50g black treacle
• 8 eggs, lightly beaten
• 300g self-raising flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 50g ground almonds

For the ganache

• 200ml whipping cream
• 200g dark chocolate, chopped

For the chocolate buttercream

• 25g dark chocolate, chopped
• 200g icing sugar, sifted
• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp double cream
• Berries or dried fruits and nuts to decorate

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Then grease two 22cm diameter shallow cake tins and line them with baking paper.
2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.
3. In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the black treacle and eggs gradually, then add the melted chocolate.
4. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, and fold them into the mixture with the ground almonds till you get a smooth, glossy consistency.
5. Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and level the tops. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Leave to cool.
6. To make the ganache, heat the whipping cream in a saucepan and heat till warm. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, beating until melted and move. Leave to cool.
7. To make the buttercream, melt the chocolate as above and leave to cool. Cream the icing sugar and butter in a bowl until light and fluffy.
8. Beat in the vanilla, cooled chocolate and double cream to form a stiff spreading consistency.
9. To assemble the cake, level to top of the sponge cakes using a sharp knife. Spread the buttercream over the top of one sponge cake and place the other sponge cake on top of the cake with buttercream.
10. Pour the ganache over the cake and smooth with a flat knife and leave to set. Decorate the top with berries.

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This recipe above is originally by Eric Lanlard

Or, make them into tiny cakes and serve them individually!

Oh oh! and I also was one of the 3 lucky winners to win one of his cookbook; Tart it Up! Lots of interesting recipes inside. I shall make some sometime soon. 🙂

Now you can catch Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard (series 1) every Monday, from 16th December 2013, 8.00 pm on BBC Lifestyle (HyppTV Channel 620)

For more information on Eric Lanlard, visit his website a thttp://www.cake-boy.com/. You can also follow him on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eric-Lanlard/254743271226573, or Twitter @eric_lanlard.

For more information on the show, check out the programme’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BakingMadwithEricLanlard.