This is my boyfriend. My boyfriend likes to workout. My boyfriend
like to listens to intense rap music when he works out. While I do not
share his enthusiasm for the rap game, I recently had a spat with what
seemed to be a delicious cake, which would be just as easy to make. It
wasn't easy. Equally NOT easy has been finding a name for my blog. But,
when in doubt, make cake. I sat there so angry, trying to fix a that
crumbled cake, thinking the entire time that I would never forgive the
blogger who was successful with this recipe. Luckily, the recipe for the
frosting was actually a ganache--thick, flowing ganache. Ahah! Like Tina did Ike in the limo, it finally hit me! Ganache forgives...I don't (see Rick Ross GFID).So now that I have a proper name for my blog, I guess I'll share the cake that brought about this roller coaster of unfortunate and fortunate events. I give you the three layer, strawberry filled, chocolate cake of horror:
The recipe is from recipe girl:
CAKE:
3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips)
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups granulated 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, at room temperature
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
FROSTING:
1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
FILLING:
One (10-ounce) bag frozen raspberries, thawed
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
Rule number one, when someone says put parchment paper on the bottom of a pan, do it.
Anyway...
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease three 8-inch cake pans. Line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper, then spray paper too. Set aside.
In a medium bowl combine the chocolate and hot coffee. Stir together and let sit until chocolate is melted. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl beat eggs for 3-5 minutes. Add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and coffee until well combined. In a separate bowl combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
Divide batter amongst the three pans and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Meanwhile, bring the cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over
medium heat. Remove pan from heat and stir in chocolate until melted.
Add butter and stir until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and place in
refrigerator until it reaches spreading consistency (mine took about 45
minutes).
To make filling, puree strawberries in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a small saucepan and combine with sugar and cornstarch. Stir constantly over medium low heat. Mixture will thicken as it boils. Let cool completely before use. (I strained my strawberries into the saucepan.)
To
assemble the cake, run a small knife around the cake edges and
remove from pans. Get out that ganach (resisting the urge to devour it)
and put a layer of it on the cake. Spread half of the strawberry
filling over the top of that. (I also sliced strawberries and arranged
them here.) Top with second layer do the same as the first layer. Place
final layer on top then cover and frost with ganache.
Sounds easy enough, right? haha. Here is the first layer of ganache. Rocky Mountain Top? To
fix this cake, I simple did a "crumb coat" of ganache, put in the
freezer for thirty minutes, took it out, and put a final layer of
ganache on it.
I ran a mile and a half for three bites of this cake. It
was worth every bit of the heartache. Did I mention I also made fondant
for the first time today? That would explain the decorations, just to
set up the next post.
xoxo,
alexis
3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips)
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups granulated 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, at room temperature
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
FROSTING:
1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
FILLING:
One (10-ounce) bag frozen raspberries, thawed
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
Rule number one, when someone says put parchment paper on the bottom of a pan, do it.
Anyway...
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease three 8-inch cake pans. Line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper, then spray paper too. Set aside.
In a medium bowl combine the chocolate and hot coffee. Stir together and let sit until chocolate is melted. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl beat eggs for 3-5 minutes. Add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and coffee until well combined. In a separate bowl combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
Divide batter amongst the three pans and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Meanwhile, bring the cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over
medium heat. Remove pan from heat and stir in chocolate until melted.
Add butter and stir until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and place in
refrigerator until it reaches spreading consistency (mine took about 45
minutes).To make filling, puree strawberries in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a small saucepan and combine with sugar and cornstarch. Stir constantly over medium low heat. Mixture will thicken as it boils. Let cool completely before use. (I strained my strawberries into the saucepan.)
To
assemble the cake, run a small knife around the cake edges and
remove from pans. Get out that ganach (resisting the urge to devour it)
and put a layer of it on the cake. Spread half of the strawberry
filling over the top of that. (I also sliced strawberries and arranged
them here.) Top with second layer do the same as the first layer. Place
final layer on top then cover and frost with ganache.Sounds easy enough, right? haha. Here is the first layer of ganache. Rocky Mountain Top? To
fix this cake, I simple did a "crumb coat" of ganache, put in the
freezer for thirty minutes, took it out, and put a final layer of
ganache on it.xoxo,
alexis
That looks and sounds delicious. You should totally put the fondant recipe on here! :-) Have you ever tried marshmallow fondant?
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm going to put the fondant up soon; it actually is marshmallow fondant!
ReplyDeleteAWESOME lol. I have been wanting to work with fondant. I really need to get some piping bags and decorating tips, but this kitchen has no storage!
ReplyDelete