Ho Ho Ho Hawaii

Dec 31, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose

Never too late for a Xmas card of this extraordinary beauty from star blogger Hector of Hawaii! (if you don't know Hector, visit the forums!)

HECTOR SAYS: 5 months ago, while doing my daily run to empty the kitchen trash at my bakery internship, I noticed 7 full size sheet pans of dark chocolate macadamia nut bars. The bars were over-stirred while adding the nuts, so it cooled as the most 'unnaceptably' streaked dark choclate bars with delicious highlights of blonde nut oil! I no longer have this dirty task on my job description as I have been promoted to the cake team, but I still have over 7 kilos of this chocolate! When I came home with the precious trash, I placed the bars on a suspended big holed colander overnight in my oven with the lights on, so I removed the nuts.

Therefore, I made Cake Bible's Chocolate Pine Cone cake, in my opinion is the most chocolatey cake in the book, so chocolatey I am naming my rendition as the Chocolate Pine Truffle. This was my first cake in my new apartment, and you won't belief how relief I feel that I was able to bake! The cake celebrated my uncle's 60th birthday.

Be sure to include the cute whole pine nuts, if time permits place a pine nut under each and every petal! The caramel pine tree branches are entirelly optional, this time I brought these back and plan to keep in my airtight containers for reduce-reuse-recycle causes!

Merry Christmas dearest bloggers, it has been the best year yet, and may 2009 bring many high energy (and calories) joy joys.

Love. /H

Pasta Guy
01/12/2009 02:53 PM

Oh wow! That is the most amazing looking cake I have ever seen. Bravo! I've seen some great cake art in my day, but that (excuse the pun) takes the cake!

Hector
01/07/2009 06:45 PM

The pine cone petals, 1 evening.

The ganache and the baking of the cake, 1 evening.

The assembly, 1 evening.

Glad my aunty gave me 2 months advanced order.

Naomi's aka porky pine and Roxanne's aka pineapple, took only 1 evening to make, sans caramel branches and with a much simplified pine cone petal technique.

Also, this is like Master Card: PRICELESS.

Patrincia
01/07/2009 06:17 PM

Wow... sounds like the caramel branches took as long to make as the chocolate pine cone thingies. Hector, your dedication to detail is amazing.

Hector
01/07/2009 03:45 PM

thanks Rozanne,

Patrincia, glad you like this pine cone, please compare it with the real ones that grow where you live!

The caramel pine tree branches were made with my corrugated cardboard technique. I made the needles first, then glue them with small dots of caramel to the main branch. The main branch was made by pouring caramel on a little aluminum foil mold I made, this mold looks like a worm on one of the pictures (the picture with my turntable and the foiled cake cardboards).

As I reheat the caramel, it turns darker in color, I totally used this to my advantage to make the pine tree branches more colorful and tridimensional.

I made 3 pine tree branches, took me a morning to do. I asked my uncle if I could take these back after his birthday party. Glad he agreed, as I had to make 2 more pinecones right after his!

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/_guess.html

Need to report preliminary results that I am loving my little induction stove to make caramel, it really heats evenly. Also, there is zero residual heat, so when I turn off the stove or when I remove the pot from the stove, it stops heating immediately. My kitchen used to get so hot using my old gas stove when making caramel, that my range hood would shut off due to overheating!

See, with induction, only the bottom of the pot is heated and instantly, and there is zero heat escaping around the pot. The pot sides don't get as hot, which helps immensely to stop the heating when the stove is turned off, which is critical when working with caramel. This only happens with a sided non-clad pot which sides are designed to heat by conduction; and also not with cast iron which retains heat.

Reheating was simple, right on the same pot. Induction is so fast, that it beats reheating by microwave, plus you can see what is going on. Often, I have burned caramel in my microwave.

Patrincia
01/07/2009 11:19 AM

Oops, forgot to ask - how did you make the caramel branches?

Patrincia
01/07/2009 11:14 AM

Oh Hector... I don't know how I missed this post until now, but GORGEOUS CAKE!!!!!! Your creativity really shines through on this one. I love the greenery accents, and thanks for posting the additional photos as well as the detailed description of the cake interior!

Geejay - me thinks the same :).

Rozanne
01/05/2009 03:58 PM

Great job Hector!!! Looks wonderful.

Bill
01/04/2009 01:49 PM

Hector:
As always...BEAUTIFUL! I don't think I have the patience to do such labor intensive work. Good for you...beautiful and yummy!

Hector
01/03/2009 06:08 PM

aloha andi! glad I delivered. when is your next hawaii trip?

geejay, dede's method sounds great, my concern/style would be that all petals turns out be of the same size, maybe we could shrink/enlarge a few with a spatula. it was important I get petals of different sizes for a more botanical rendtion. I will also experiment by filling a parchment cone with melted chocolate and make assorted dots on a sheet, then spread with spatula into petals, it is actually near impossible to pipe clean dots with melted chocolate, so actually you end up connecting the dots with thin strings of chocolate each time you move your bag from dot to dot, just break these off and make this the end inserted on the cake.

happy new year again.

geejay
01/03/2009 12:42 AM

Great effort Hector. I especially like the photo of the cut cake.
Did you see this pointer from Rose when she reviewed Dede Wilson's new book last October and what Dede did when making this pine cone:
"Dede ... came up with the brilliant and original solution: She placed chocolate chips on a sheet pan and melted them in a very low oven. Then she took the pan and dropped it on the floor so that the chips skidded out into perfect ovals."
What do you reckon? Methinks chocolate all over the floor if I tried it.

Andi*
01/02/2009 09:48 PM

Hector,
once again you never disapoint me.....this looks good enough to eat....yummmmm
Happy 2009 to you Hector and all the regular bloggers..and especially to Rose and Elliot and her sweet dad.
This blog is my best inspiration for yummy treats to make for my family and friends....
Thanks Rose love you..
Andi in Vegas

Hector
01/02/2009 06:55 PM

Great Virginia, please do and we should more since these are the only pine cones that "grow" in Hawaii!!!

I need to strongly point out this "cake" is actually a "truffle" more than a "chocolate cake." When you bite on the sliced "cake" you find a dense texture, like a chocolate truffle confectionery.

The layers of flourless chocolate souffle cake are very thin. The chocolate ganache filling is unwhipped thus the most chocolatey and dense. Moreover, the ganache is mixed with the cake scraps, making the ganache denser thus shape better. These factors, plus the pure chocolate petals, makes this "cake" a "truffle."

My sister was disappointed because she expected a fluffy chocolate roll or sponge cake. My niece loved it because she loves CHOCOLATE, and indeed this "cake" is perhaps the purest and most natural way to present chocolate.

I loved this "cake" and now I am know what to expect. It is the real thing, the real chocolate thing, and the texture transitions from flourless chocolate cake, to ganache, to chocolate petals, to pine nuts, is just wonderful. For years, I have been offering the Triple Chocolate Cake as my signature chocolate cake. Now, I will give the option of the Chocolate Pine Cone as my signature chocolate truffle.

Needless to say, keep this refrigerated if living in 80oF weather, otherwise you risk the petals melting down. But never serve cold... be sure to take it out and display for 2 hours prior to slicing, so the chocolate ganache can soften. If you live in colder weather, you should display it for at least 4 hours prior to slicing.

virginia howard
01/02/2009 03:16 PM

Al Right! I am taking my Cake Bible to Maui next Christmas to make this! I have been stuck on a few of the cakes, now I will add this one! Maybe I will test if first, it looks amazing. Thanks for the inspiration!!!!!

Hector
01/02/2009 01:33 PM

Thank you Shimi! Rose confirmed the chocolate streaks are due to heating dark chocolate above 91oF, as well documented on Cake Bible. But, agreed, this normally unsightly appeal is plus perfect for the pine cone!

Julie, glad you had a chance to see my picture, I know I've been eager to see this posted on the blog! Yes, I find perfect my macadamianized streaked chocolate as a chocolate pine cone. I totally see a round/flower shape, perhaps you can use white chocolate, and gradually make larger petals outwards with streaks of brown and eventually ending with dark chocolate. It will give a sense of depth to a otherwise cream colored flower. Make a rose! Another reason I believe a flower can be made out of this cake is because my friend Scott from Portland immediately felt honored when I served this cake as a Pacific NorthWest pine cone, while my friend Roxanne from Hawaii thought this was a pineapple! Moreover, my friend Naomi's take was a porky pine!

And, agreed and bowing, this cake is gorgeous, and by design done by Rose.

Now, let me post a picture of the same cake, but using a much faster petal making technique. The results are different, but honestly, unless you look at it in a picture or over and over in a book, if you are just having this cake to eat at a gathering, the commosion is so big due to the novelty shape that you won't notice the petals has been made faster and without that much detail! Am I lowering the standards?

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/ChocolatePineTruffleFasterPetalMaking.html

There are several faster ways to make the chocolate petals. For the best detail and control, use Cake Bible's method, which I did on our first and sliced photos posted. For this latest pine cone, I used a long thin silicone spatula to make small puddles of chocolate on silpat, then swirl out each puddle in circles till a round petal was formed, skipping the tapered end. You can notice the swirling circles and also a tipped center where I lifter the spatula.

Another way is to fill a parchment cone with melted chocolate, and quickly draw puddles of chocolate and then with your fingers spread them in circles.

LittleIsland
01/02/2009 08:25 AM

Gorgeous cake as always, Hector, but this one is amazing for the fact that you took the time to place a pine nut under each petal!!!

Warmest wishes for a happy and blessed New Year to all the regulars and visitors to this website! Happy Baking everyone!

LittleIsland
01/02/2009 08:24 AM

Julie
01/02/2009 06:49 AM

Hector, this may be your most gorgeous cake yet! I'm amazed at how well the streaked chocolate and macadamia flavor are suited to this recipe. Love the picture of the slice, I've always wondered what the cake beneath looked like.

I have been thinking of doing something similar, but in a round/flower shape, for my daughter's next birthday.

And I'm so happy to picture you baking at home again!

Shimi
01/02/2009 01:31 AM

Such a beautiful cake Hector, and I'm sure it was yummy too! Love the streaky chocolate colour on the pine cones.

Happy new year everyone!

Paulette Pasquale
01/01/2009 08:45 PM

I love peanut butter cookies that are crumbly on top. Do you know what makes them like this? I'm thinking it has something to do with either the sugars (brown, white, or both) or which shortening(s) you use. Any ideas?
Also, I am copying some old recipes and all say to sift the flour. Is this still necessary and why?
Thanks for the help!

Hector
01/01/2009 06:02 AM

thank you, most people thought this was a real pine cone, but I had to say it was a real cake instead. Here it is sliced. Happy New Year, just welcomed mine's, perhaps the last one on the world at this latitude.

Jeannette
01/01/2009 04:41 AM

A Happy New Year, Hector and everyone else on Rose's forum, especially Rose herself.

Jeannette
01/01/2009 04:40 AM

Lynne
12/31/2008 10:56 PM

I made the Triple Layer Devil's Food cake - frosted it w/chocolate Neoclassic Buttercream... mmm - this is my New Year's celebration cake. It turned out WONDERFUL. I'm recuperating from a tooth extraction - made the cake to relax (yeah, I bake to relax)

Now I need to try this one, too. (Photo is gorgeous!)

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Welcome to Real Baking with Rose, the personal blog of author Rose Levy Beranbaum.

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Ho Ho Ho Hawaii