Sunday, March 20, 2016

Decadent Chocolate Ganache Cake

We made the most rich and chocolaty cake we have every had today. This cake is covered in ridiculous amounts of chocolate ganache! It was delicious but maybe a little too chocolaty (we didn't think that was possible).  The original recipe is here: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/triple-layer-sour-cream-chocolate-cake. As you can see, ours did not quite turn out like their picture. We suspect this is because we used real chocolate instead of the Hershey/Tollhouse/Nestle baking chips that have an oil/wax to stabilize them.

Completed Cake - DRENCHED in chocolate

Inside of the cake

Cake slice
   

Ingredients:

CAKE
Unsalted butter, for greasing
3 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting
9 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
2 cups hot brewed coffee
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canola oil
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fine sea salt

GANACHE
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 pounds semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup hot brewed coffee
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

MAKE THE CAKE
1) Preheat the oven to 350° and position the racks in the center and lower thirds. Butter three 9-by-2-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper. Butter the paper and dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess.
2) In a medium bowl, combine the chocolate with the coffee and vanilla and let stand for 2 minutes, then stir until the chocolate is melted. In another medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil until pale yellow, then whisk in the sour cream. Gradually whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth.
3) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the 3 cups of flour with the sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well. At medium speed, beat in the wet ingredients in 3 batches until just incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and beat until the batter is smooth.
4) Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Gently tap the pans on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean; shift the pans halfway through baking. Let the cakes cool completely, then carefully invert onto a rack and peel off the parchment.

MEANWHILE, MAKE THE GANACHE
1) In a medium saucepan, bring the cream, butter, sugar and salt just to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Let stand for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth. Stir in the coffee and vanilla. Let cool completely, stirring occasionally.

2) Transfer 1 cake to a plate. Spoon one-fourth of the ganache on top and spread in an even layer. Top with another cake and one-fourth of the ganache. Cover with the third cake and spread the remaining ganache over the top and side 
of the cake; decoratively swirl the ganache on top. 

What we liked:

It was oh so good! It was so rich and satisfied everyone's chocolate need!

What we didn't like:

The cake was too tall! We couldn't cut it and serve in one go. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

We thought he would love this cake as he love all things chocolate, but we bought a jar of jelly beans for the first time in his life today and he only had eyes for the green, blue and orange jelly beans! Did you know that jelly beans can be transported in matchbox cars - this makes them extra awesome (both the cars and the jelly beans).

Next time:

Make it two layers instead of 3 and maybe try to use the waxy baking chocolate chips (ugh! Not sure if we can make that sacrifice). Another option might be to use a little bit less of heavy cream to see if that will thicken up the ganache.

1 comment:

  1. I just wanted to say I made this cake for my sons second birthday and everyone said it was the best cake they ever had! Thank you!!!!!

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