Skip to main content

In the Land of Heston Bluementhal

Chocolate Exploding Cake by Bombay Foodie

I just got back from a jaunt down to London's Oxford Circus and happy to report that everything's just as it should be. Flowers and heart shaped balloons everywhere, stores decked out in pink and red and almost all guys on the bus carrying elaborately wrapped gifts. Pretty much your typical Valentine's Day.

Selfridges (one of my favorite stores) had long queues in front of chocolate and macaron counters. It's gotten slightly warmer here so I treated myself to Pinkberry frozen yogurt instead.

And here's another treat. A chocolate exploding cake, courtesy none other than legendary Heston Bluementhal. Heston does a weekly show on BBC here. He picks an ingredient and shows simple yet quirky dishes on the theme.

The week he picked chocolate, he made this cake. It's very quick to put together and is way too simple on first glance. But nothing's simple in Heston's world.

The bottom layer is store bought shortbread cookies, baked again until they are golden brown. These are then bashed up and mixed with butter, caster sugar and a secret ingredient. Depending on where you grew up, you are looking for either pop rocks or space dust. Either way, this is the exploding bit in your cake.

The top layer is ganache infused with passion fruit. What may seem like a simple addition isn't. I tasted the ganache plain and then after I added passion fruit puree and the transformation was unbelievable.

You then freeze this cake and in Heston's world, spray chocolate all over it with a paint gun. I didn't but it was a decadent dessert all the same.

A word of warning - don't unleash this on unsuspecting guests with weak hearts. This really does explode!

Comments

notyet100 said…
Cake looks delicious :)
Anonymous said…
Wow looks like a gr8 recipe simran, and so many different flavours as well.
Srivalli said…
Looks very delicious..glad you are enjoying!
Nupur said…
Hmm- I'll have to put this one on my bucket list :)

Just read that you've moved to London- how fun!
Unknown said…
Classic...

picturebite.com
El said…
It sounds amazing and looks like a great recipe!
Reeta Skeeter said…
oooohhh killer pic!
niceee back here after long and seeing you blogging still is good...
Reeta Skeeter said…
oooohhh killer pic!
niceee back here after long and seeing you blogging still is good...
Srivalli said…
Hey Simmi..hope things are fine..no updates!

Popular posts from this blog

Announcing AWED : Britain

Before I ate my first Italian wood fired pizza, before I went to that swanky Japanese sushi bar for the first time, or the neighborhood Chinese joint, the first non-Indian cuisine I encountered was British. Not real food, mind you, but the tempting, oh so delicious descriptions in my favorite novels. From Enid Blyton to Jane Austen to P.G. Wodehouse, every favorite character in every favorite novel seems to have food on their mind. Yes, British food gets ridiculed a lot. But forget their main course dishes for now, and think of the full English breakfast and the elegant afternoon teas. Then try imagining the world without cucumber sandwiches or potato chips and you will realize you can't do without British food. Which is why when I saw that DK was looking for hosts for her monthly event AWED (A Worldly Epicurean's Delight) and there has never been a British AWED, I promptly signed up. The rules are simple really: Make any vegetarian or vegan British dish (eggs are

I've found my perfect cookie

It's a bite sized cookie, with flavors of a pie, shape of a croissant and a pretty, pretty name. It's Rugelach. I first heard of this cookie when it became the baking pick for Tuesdays with Dorrie a couple of months back. The looks, the concept - everything was fascinating. And I've dreamed of making this cookie ever since. I ditched hundreds of recipes floating around and went straight to the master. It's Dorie Greenspan's recipe that I used, and ain't I glad I got it so perfect the very first time. So what's rugelach? It's cream-cheese pastry dough, rolled then cut into wedges, spread with jam and sugar and fillings of choice, rolled into crescents and baked. First the dough. Dorie did it in her processor, but I just went and did it by hand. Put 100 gms cream cheese and 100 gms butter out of the fridge until they were soft but still cold. Added both to a cup of plain flour (I omitted the salt because I use salted butter). Rubbed the flour and but

Aloo Paranthas

In all these years of blogging, I've somehow never managed to talk about aloo paranthas, the potato stuffed flatbread that's a standard breakfast in North India. Possibly because they are such a staple in our home, I found there wouldn't be enough interest in the recipe. But I've also realised over time that my mom's recipe is unique, using a combination of flavours and spices that make these paranthas delicious. But that's not the only reason for this post. I also wanted to tell you about a super cool party and some ways we found to make aloo paranthas even better and believe it or not, healthier. The party in question was hosted by Rushina at her cooking studio a few months back. For a while now, Rushina has been talking about the merits of cling film, parchment and something called cooking foil made by Asahi Kasei. Because we won't believe that you can really cook without oil but using science, she invited a bunch of us over for a potluck lunch.