Better than the bakery's Greek Pastries! Chocolate Kokakia cream puffs

hi everyone to another episode of Dimitri's dishes today we're going to be making chocolate flavored gokakia kokake our little sponge cake cream puffs they're so good traditionally they're made vanilla flavored and I did share my recipe for that dessert about a year ago maybe a few months ago I don't remember they're so good I use the same base recipe except I made everything chocolate flavored this recipe was requested on my Instagram stories you guys asked for it I honestly had never had it before I've never even seen it so I recipe tested and I created my version at home and it is going to be better than anyone that you've had at a bakery I guarantee you that they're moist they're light and they're so Juicy and Delicious beautiful to look at they're so dainty and elegant perfect with a nice cup of coffee let's get started so we're going to begin by making the simple syrup sponge cake tends to be a little dry so it does need some sweetness and moisture in a small saucepan you're going to add one cup of granulated sugar one cup of water and the juice of half a lemon you can use an orange instead if you prefer mix that all up and bring it to a boil once the sugar has dissolved take it off of the Heat and stir in a half a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract set it aside to cool completely and now we're going to move on to making the sponge cakes before we actually make the batter for the sponge cakes we're going to prepare the baking pan and the parchment paper so you're going to need three baking pans lined with parchment paper and I like to line them out first draw out some circles I have a two inch round cookie cutter you can use a cup whatever is two inches in diameter is going to work use a pen or a pencil and Trace out little circles make sure to space them a good distance apart maybe like two fingers because the batter it does rise and sometimes it can spread too and it has happened to me when I was recipe testing that they all stuck together then you're not going to have kokakya it's better to use three trays instead of two and just space them out the way I'm doing don't do more than three or four per row and no more than five rows if you have the same baking tray that I have make sure that you flip it over otherwise this ink will transfer onto your little cakes and you don't want that continue doing that with the other two baking trays and then we're gonna make the sponge cake now it's time to make the sponge cakes make sure that your oven is preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit because this moves fairly quickly I've separated six eggs that have the egg whites in my Mixing Bowl here and I have the egg yolks here waiting we're going to mix those up after begin with the egg whites so that way you don't have to wash your whisk again once you get any kind of fat in your egg whites they're not going to whisk up into a meringue so beat the egg whites first until they're nice and frothy for a couple of seconds then go ahead and add some of the sugar I have one and a quarter cups of granulated sugar here I'm only going to add about less than half of it to my whites the rest is going to be saved for the egg yolks so add about half of it to the whites and then beat them on high speed until a stiff meringue is formed that's going to take about three or four minutes so my egg whites are ready I'm just going to transfer them to this mixing bowl over here so that way we can prepare the rest of the ingredients look at that look at how shiny that is okay we're going to use the same whisk and the same Bowl if you're going to start off by mixing up the egg yolks you would have to wash everything and then do the egg whites that's why we would begin with the egg whites so I'm going to add the six yolks to The Mixing Bowl along with the remaining sugar about two teaspoons of pure vanilla extract I always go a little heavier with vanilla it's such a nice flavor one teaspoon of either instant coffee powder or instant espresso powder it really deepens the flavor of the chocolate you won't even taste the coffee you won't even know it's there two tablespoons of a light olive oil or your favorite vegetable oil that's very light in flavor and then we're just going to beat this on high speed until it's thick and pale for about two minutes before we do that let me tell you about the dry ingredients in my little bowl over here I have one and three quarter cups of all-purpose flour I have a quarter of a cup of corn starch a quarter of a cup of cocoa powder that's unsweetened two teaspoons of baking powder half a teaspoon of baking soda and a quarter teaspoon of salt I'm going to whisk that all together so now they're ready okay so now we're just going to lighten up the mixture with about a third of these egg whites [Music] and then go ahead and add the flour while the mixer is beating on low a little bit at a time [Music] and before it's all mixed add the remaining egg whites so that way everything is incorporated and the mixture stays nice and light you the last thing you want to do is over beat the mixture once the flour is added because then they're not going to be as light as they could be once it looks like it's pretty much almost mixed then stop the mixer and take the beater off and just go in with your hand using the Whisk and just whisk everything all together so that way anything that's stuck to the bottom gets Incorporated and everything is going to be nice and smooth you know it's ready once all the white streaks are gone just take care not to over beat this or over mix it you could also use your spatula for the last few turns and that's it once the batter looks like this it's ready it almost looks like whipped cream or buttercream so now I have a pastry bag here I like to buy these reusable pastry bags from Amazon I will put the link in the blog post so that way you can get one if you don't have one I just cut a little bit of the tip off so that way it's round if you don't have one of these you could use a Ziploc bag these are just much easier to work with so all you have to do is fill the bag up halfway not more than that otherwise it's going to be hard to handle and I like to put it in a large glass or a jar or something like that so that way the bag is very easy to fill and then I'll remind you one more time to make sure that the parchment paper is face side down you don't want the ink part to be touching your cakes and then just pipe out little rounds you want them to be about a quarter inch high keep in mind they are going to spread a little and they are going to rise a little bit so leave sufficient space in between and once the first batch is done you could put it in the oven they're going to bake for about 10 to 12 minutes once they're done take them out and put the next tray in I'm going to put these in the oven and I'm going to continue piping My Little Cakes out onto the trays and then we're going to move on to the next step so my oven Cooks these little cakes and about 10 to 11 minutes I never like to over bake these otherwise they dry out so once they come out of the oven let them sit at room temperature for about five ten minutes and then if you have an offset spatula use for decorating icing on cakes or putting icing on cakes it's a good tool to use to help lift these off otherwise a regular spatula will work if you carefully slide it under a few of these at a time it'll lift them up flip them over because then we're going to brush them with simple syrup but before we do that we're going to make the chocolate ganache that we're going to use for dipping the tops of these I'm making a double batch there's going to be lots left over but I'd rather have more than less and you could use this chocolate ganache to put in your coffee to make like a mocha you can put it you can make little rolls with phyllo with the with the chocolate and the nuts in them there's so many things you could do once it cools you can make little chocolate truffles and roll them in nuts or sprinkles the options are endless chocolate ganache will not go to waste the last weeks in the refrigerator to make the ganache you're going to need 12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate I also like to add a little bit of coffee to this as well a teaspoon of instant coffee half half a teaspoon to a teaspoon you can put as much as you like in there it really makes it very chocolatey a teaspoon or two of vegetable oil to help it stay nice and shiny and a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract bring one and a half cups of heavy whipping cream to a boil and add it to the chocolate mix it all up once the chocolate sits and it starts to soften it'll be much easier to mix up if it's still a little bit on the cooler side you can pop it in the microwave for about 15 seconds and then whisk it all up until the chocolate is melted and the ganache is beautiful and shiny set it aside and then it's time to make the whipped cream so traditionally a pastry cream is put in between these that is a lot of work I think whipped cream tastes much better in this recipe and we're going to make it chocolate flavored using the ganache so in the bowl of my tabletop mixer that's been fitted with the Whisk attachment I'm going to add 1 full cup of heavy whipping cream I'm actually going to add a little bit more because I want to have a little tiny bit left over or just the right amount and then I'm going to add a quarter of a cup of confectioner sugar one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract you could add another teaspoon if you want and then whisk that all up until it starts to thicken once it thickens I like to add four tablespoons heaping tablespoons of that ganache that's cooled down a little bit and then whisk that on high speed until a whipped cream is formed you want it to be nice and thick and taste it and then at this point if you want to add more chocolate or more confectioner sugar you can now it's time to put it put them all together so I added a star tip attachment to my pastry bag and then I just put all of the whipped cream in here it's going to sit in this tall glass so that way it doesn't start to seep out we're going to start by putting some syrup on these so we can get them nice and moist [Music] foreign [Music] next go ahead and pipe some whipped cream on the round you don't want to do it on all of them because half of them are the bottom and half of them are the tops and then you're going to take the tops and you're going to dip them in the ganache and place them on top of the whipped cream and you're going to see that you're going to have some bigger ones and some smaller ones just kind of match them up as best as you can now at this point I like to also roll them in some chocolate sprinkles but you're gonna in order to do that you have to let them set a little bit so I like to put them in the freezer for about 15 or 20 minutes the good thing about this is you can make these ahead of time even a month ahead of time make these freeze them once they're frozen solid wrap them carefully with some plastic wrap it's best to put them in a tray or in a container leave the parchment paper underneath because they do get a little bit sticky once they're set then it's time to roll them into the sprinkles now in order for the sprinkles to stick to them they cannot be frozen solid there still has to be a little bit of stickiness to the cake and to the filling and to the ganache so just let them thaw out on the counter for about five minutes before you roll them in the sprinkle then go ahead and roll them in the sprinkles a bakery tip to give it a little bit of a professional look it is more work and I wouldn't do it if I'm making it at home but if you want to take the extra step you can take that left over ganache and just ice the sides of the cakes and then roll them into the sprinkles and they're going to be fully covered with sprinkles on the side it's up to you this is already a lot of work I know but it's totally worth it because just take a look at how beautiful they are once they're done as many as you're going to be serving put them on a serving tray or a serving platter and they're best served either nice and cool or or slightly at room temperature I like it when the inside is a little bit cool but the longer they sit at room temperature the juicier and moisture they get and it's time for the taste test and of course I wouldn't use a knife to cut through this I would just pick one up and bite it but just to be a little bit neater for the video um oh my goodness which means perfect so delicious the cake is super juicy and moist that filling is light and Airy and just the perfect amount of chocolate the cake like I said is nice and moist and light and that ganache on top is Rich and dense sprinkles give a little bit of a crunch I love it I think they are so delicious you're gonna love these like I said these are a little bit more advanced but if you follow all the steps I know that you can do it one main main tip that I want you guys to pay attention to is when you're piping these out leave more room than you think in between them so when you draw the circles in the beginning if you have to use more trays use more trays it is not worth it to go through all of these steps and then have them all stick together on you in the oven they spread and they rise a little bit so keep that in mind let me know how yours turn out share pictures with me on Facebook and on Instagram I love to see them thank you guys so much for spending time with me today if you want to print out this recipe it's on the website Dimitris dishes.com if you want to learn how to make the vanilla version click over here and I'll see you right over there yes

Channel: Dimitra's Dishes

Views: 9,984

Keywords: cooking show, greek food, greek recipes, Dimitra Khan, euro bakery and cafe, easy recipes

Id: kc18HSSa3Zs

Length: 12min 56sec (776 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 21 2023