Arthur's Dream

Apologies for the long silence... have been traveling for a short while for work then the lazy bones strike! hehehe... I know I'm sooo late to post this up in tribute to Arthur Guinness Day on 27 September 2012 but what the heck!

I have always wanted to make this combination of an adult chocolate cake aka my christened Chocolate Velvet Cake which is essentially a Chocolate Guinness Stout Cake layered with peanut butter, banana slices, more chocolate and to finish off with some crunch by way of almond pralines. Managed to achieved this and it tasted so good that it got thumbs of approval from Capt'n Hook who doesn't fancy chocolate cakes.

The cake recipe can be found in my old post of Chocolate Guinness Cake. And here are the recipes for the other 3 elements:

Peanut Butter Frosting

160 g icing sugar
280 g smooth peanut butter
80 g butter
80 ml whipping cream

Beat icing sugar, peanut butter and butter until light and fluffy. Add in whipping cream and beat further for another 3 minutes or so until it's light.


Chocolate Ganache

150 g dark chocolate couverture, roughly chopped
180 g whipping cream

Melt chocolate and cream over low heat until glossy. Refrigerate to cool.


Almond Praline

80 g (1/3 cup) whole almonds
115 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
60 ml (1/4 cup) water

Place almonds on baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. Cool down.

Place sugar and water in saucepan over medium heat until dissolved. Increase heat and cook until golden. Turn off the heat and add in almonds. Quickly pour onto lined tray. Once cooled, break praline into pieces.

To assemble, I've sliced my cake into two discs. Placed the bottom part back inside the loose based cake tin. Slater on Peanut Butter Frosting followed by sliced bananas. Drizzle over Chocolate Ganache thickly before placing the top part of cake. Carefully spread Peanut Butter Frosting all over on top before spreading out the Chocolate Ganache. Sprinkle on Almond Praline. Chill for a couple of hours. Remove from fridge for about 10 minutes before slicing to serve. Yummy!

Enjoy and "yam seng" (cheers)!