Friday, June 18, 2010

Chocolate Ganache Cake


Also well known as the double chocolate layer cake this was a chocoholics demand for his birthday. My nephew (Anubhav) wanted a super moist chocolate cake with chocolate layering with chocolate icing, chocolate drizzle..... In short 'Nothing but Chocolate' for his special birthday - Thir-TEEN-th. Catering to his demand this was the result. The cake indeed turned out to be the way he wanted it and seeing his reaction about the cake made my day. He got high on chocolate and so did we. So as you must have guessed, one main ingredient that I focused on in this cake is the chocolate.

I am personally a big fan of Trader Joes for all my baking needs and I quite like the quality of their chocolate bars as well. I always get either the dark semi sweet chocolate bar or the chocolate chips. For ganache I got the chocolate chips packet. Well if you have any specific taste for chocolate then you can use Ghirardelli cooking chocolate or any such kind as well to get the desired result.

Now let's get down to making this cake:



Ingredients:
For cake layers
  • 3 ounces finely chopped semi – sweet chocolate
  • 1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla

For ganache frosting
  • 1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

Equipment
  • two 10- by 2-inch round cake pans (I am mostly impatient so I bake one big cake in one single baking dish and then layer the cake with a cake cutter after it cools down)

Preparation:
 Make cake layers:
Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper.
Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. 

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. 

Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature. 

Make frosting:
Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth. 

Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency). 

Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.

This is surely one of the yummiest cake for any chocolate lover. This cake was wiped out and my nephew till date thinks that this was the best cake I ever made which makes me feel happy.