Chocolate Ganache Cake

Today's recipe is because I was commissioned to make a birthday cake for someone who loves dark chocolate! I gladly accepted because making chocolate cakes are my specialty! I think you'll really love this recipe. Very basic yet rich and delicious.

Recipe:

CAKE:

3/4 cup boiling water

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder- NOT dutch-process (once again I used dark)

1 tsp instant espresso powder (this is actually a great ingredient to keep in the house!)

1/2 cup whole milk (you can interchange depending on what is in your house)

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened

2 cup packed dark brown sugar

4 large eggs

GANACHE:

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

20 oz bittersweet (not un-sweetened) fine quality chocolate, chopped (or chips are fine)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*.

Make ganache (it needs to cool for a few hrs). Bring cream just to a boil. Once boils remove immediately and pour over bittersweet chocolate. Let sit for a second before whisking til creamy. Plastic wrap it (so it's touching the chocolate) and put in the fridge til just set. If it's too thick let it stand at room temp til soft.

Prepare pans by lining 2- 8 inch round cake pans with parchment. Then butter and flour the pans. You may need to spray the bottom (or butter) before you put the parchment down so it sticks.

To make the cake. Whisk boiling water, cocoa powder and espresso powder til smooth. Add vanilla and milk. Set aside. Mix flour, soda, and salt. Set aside. In a mixer (kitchen aid or handheld) beat butter and brown sugar til fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add flour mixture and cocoa mixture in batches starting and ending with flour mixing at low speed.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans evenly. Cook until set. About 25 min. Let cool completely on a rack before removing from the pan and remove the paper.

ASSEMBLE:

Make sure the ganache is spreadable, yet not too runny. Now you can make either two layers or 4 if you want to cut the cake rounds into two. I preferred to make two layers. Using a turntable (it's helpful if you have one) slice off the top of the round so it's flat. Top one layer with a cup of the ganache and spread. Place other layer on top. Place in the fridge so the ganache hardens up and cake gets cold (maybe 1 hr or so). Next crumb coat the cake with the ganache. This basically means a very thin layer of ganache on the entire cake so it's sealed. Then put the cake back in the fridge for about 30 min so it hardens as well. Then you can proceed to cover the entire cake in ganache as you would a frosting. I hope the pictures help explain it, but they are hard to tell. Keep in mind, ganache isn't supposed to be spreadable, so it's not like your typical frosting. It will look a bit messy and you can cover it up with decorations like I did. The best way to smooth out ganache is by taking your spatula and running it under the water. The heat and the dampness will help out with the smoothness of the cake. But if it's not perfect, that's ok! It's rustic :)

*Cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cooled completely then wrapped and chilled.

*Ganache can be made also 1 day ahead. On day of usage bring to room temp.

*Assembled cake can keep for up to 3 days, covered and chilled.

CRUMB COATING:


FINISHED PRODUCT:

lemon pound cake

Today I stayed basic. I wanted to make a gift for Ron's Parents and you can't go wrong with pound cake! Super simple recipe and easy directions. Again, a great gift!

Recipe:

1 3/4 cup cake flour (cake flour has a different consistency that all purpose. It will make your product lighter. I highly advice you don't substitute all purpose)

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar (superfine or castor if possible- if not you can use regular or you can make your own superfine by processing your sugar in a food processor for about 30 seconds)

2 tsp vanilla extract

zest of one lemon (i always use more- the flavor is great! can substitute orange zest too!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix flour, soda and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer (hand mixer or kitchen aid) beat butter til creamy. Add sugar gradually and beat until light and fluffy. Should look white. Keep scraping down the sides so it's all incorporated!! This should take about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time (continue to scrape the sides). The mixture will look like it's curdling- that is ok! Add vanilla and zest. Add flour and mix until just incorporated. Pour into a loaf pan (recipe calls for one 9X5X3, but I used two 8X4X2.5) that is buttered and floured (explained in a post a few before this one!) Bake for about and hr or until golden brown on top. This cake, because of the butter and sugar, can be kept for several days if wrapped very well. Or you can freeze it for a month and defrost when hungry!!!

Chocolate Stout Cake

Sounds interesting huh? That's what I thought. I LOVE dark beer and I thought what a brilliant idea to put beer, chocolate, and a bit of coffee together! I found this recipe in the October 2009 Bon Appetit and thought it was very fitting that 1) it was guinness' 250th bday and 2) it's oktoberfest!!! I didn't use guinness though. I found an Ohio brewed stout called Edmund Fitzgerald from Great Lakes Brewing Co. The description on the bottle was "porter combines a complex, roasty aroma with a bittersweet, chocolate-coffee taste". It was perfect for this recipe, which also uses dark chocolate and coffee. The recipe can be found at epicurious.com, one of my favorite websites! However, I have a problem with not stocking enough ingredients in my house so I had to alter the recipe. Instead of 14 T of butter (198 g) I used about 166 g and the rest vegetable oil. Also, for the frosting I didn't have 1 lb of bittersweet chocolate, so I used about 13 oz of bittersweet, 1 oz unsweetened, and 2 oz milk chocolate. I also didn't have instant espresso so I used 1tsp of coffee extract! The cake seemed to turn out just great, so I don't think my changes made a huge difference. Try it for yourself and I don't think you'll be dissapointed!

Pardon me!

So I already have questions from my readers :) I guess I need to take more time to spell out a few things since not everyone who reads this will understand it. So I will try and be more simple on my next posts.

So- to cook squash. Cut it into small pieces like a potato. The smaller you cut it, the quicker it cooks. Boil it in water til tender or it crushes between your fingers. You can then mash it, by itself, with a spoon, fork, your hands (but don't burn them!) or what I used was an immersion blender. I'm sure you could even put it in a kitchen aid or cuisinart as well.

The reason you wrap it in a towel is not to "wrap it in a towel" but just to guide you as you roll. I rolled it by myself, but that is because I wasn't scared of it :) However, the powdered sugar prevents it from sticking to the surface ie; the towel. Also, you pre-roll it before it's cool in order for the cake to take its shape. If it cools in the flat position it will be harder to roll and will probably break. That may be the reason mine cracked, was because I waited too long to roll it. Once cool, you can unroll it, fill it and when you re-roll it it will be easier.

Please feel free to ask questions! Hope this helps.

Butternut Squash Ricotta Roll

For my first post I tried to find something to make with leftover food I had in the house. The ingredients happened to be Butternut Squash and Ricotta Cheese. This was a fairly easy recipe and I tweaked it using some more spices to kick it up a notch! I hope you enjoy this.

For the Cake Roll:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup mashed cooked butternut sqaush

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp all spice (cloves, nutmeg, whatever you chose)

pinch salt

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Filling:

8 oz ricotta cheese (fresh and whole milk!)

2 tbsp soft butter

1 cup confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar for those who aren't familiar with that term)

3/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:

preheat oven to 375*. Use a jelly roll pan (approx 15x10- i used a smaller one) lined with waxed paper and butter and flour the paper.

Beat eggs for 3 min. Add sugar and beat til thick and light in color (about 2-3 min). Stir in squash. Combine flour and spices. Fold into egg mixture. Spread out batter evening. Sprinkle on nuts. Bake for about 15 min or until toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then transfer cake to a dish towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Remove the wax paper. Starting with the short end, roll the cake up in the towel. At the point- mine cracked. I think it looks rustic! Let COMPLETELY cool on rack.

Once cooled, unroll and evenly spread out filling. Re-roll. I cut the edges off to make them pretty. Cover and refrigerate for at least and hr before serving. Dust with powdered sugar if you want before you serve. Voila!