Chocolate Cake

Don't you just want to dive in?!? I'm ashamed to admit that it was created YESTERDAY and this is literally all that's left...

It started with a couple of slices, as you can see here:

Then, I shared a slice with a friend, and another few slices of the cake with a lunch group today. The rest of the damage was done by my chocolate-cake-obsessed husband and me!! In just over twenty-four hours!! I'm so ashamed of myself. Actually, it's my husband who should be ashamed of himself - I think I had only two reasonable slices. He went to TOWN on this cake.

I blame The Cake Bible (TCB) again. As I mentioned in my About Me section, I love to try lots of recipes to be sure I'm using the absolute, all-time best. Have you ever read Cook's Illustrated magazine? It's published by America's Test Kitchen and it doesn't accept ads. So, I trust the recipes and reviews inside. The testers assemble scores of recipes for, say, vanilla ice cream, test each one, and determine which is the best by their definition. I'm fascinated by the differences the testers uncover in the different mixing techniques, quality of products used, baking times and temperatures, etc. I went so far as to sign up on the website to be a recipe tester - I'm not sure how much they take into account the reviews of those of us that are signed up for that job, since we're not employed by them, but it's fun to try new recipes to see if they "work." I've only attempted two of the recipes I've been sent - one for a delicious Chicken Tikka Masala that I'll try to post at a later date and one for Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownies that didn't float my boat.

Anyway, I digress. Back to the chocolate cake and TCB. I have been taking this cake decorating class and have a tiny little whisper in the back of my head telling me to start a business selling cakes, cookies, and other baked goodies. So, I've taken it upon myself to test my recipes to be sure I would be going to market with the best of the best. I LOVE Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Buttercream Cake (there's a photo of the cake right here), but some of the ingredients are a little more difficult to keep on hand - namely sour cream and buttermilk. With no resistance from my husband, I decided that I should try the Perfect All-American Chocolate Butter Cake with the Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting from TCB. Wow - what a combination. The cake is super-moist and chocolately and the texture and consistency of the ganache is amazing. The ganache is incredibly easy to make - it took me about ten minutes, but it does have to cool overnight before frosting a cake, so be sure you factor that into your equation. All you do is process chocolate in a Cuisinart, add warmed cream while the food processor is running and that is IT! Piece of cake! (oops - no pun intended...)

I am probably going to try making the cake again because for some reason, it didn't release well from the pan and fell apart when I tried to level it with a serrated knife. But, before I do, I'm going to try the Chocolate Fudge Cake from the same cookbook. I'll post that another day, too.

How can I harness all of the recipe testing that I'm so compelled to do?!? I have such a long list: the aforementioned Chocolate Fudge Cake, the also aforementioned Chicken Tikka Masala, another batch of the Mousseline Buttercream frosting to experiment with flavor-wise and piping-wise, as well as all of my tried-and-true cookie recipes? Does anyone else get all aflutter and anxious inside because there are so many fun and exciting things you want to do, but just not enough hours in the day to do them? On good days, I make myself do the nonnegotiables (that I regrettably turn into negotiables a lot of days...) like laundry, fixing dinner, changing diapers, etc. before I allow myself to piddle in the kitchen. That, unfortunately, leaves me little time to do the things I'm more passionate about - playing with my children, baking, and so on. I'm so dependent on a good night's sleep, too, so I have to make time for that. What's a poor girl to do?!?

Okay, I'm digressing again. So, anyway, I love how you can makeover a cake from this:



to this:



simply by adding a handful of strawberries. My cake decorating class at Michael's has been fun, but I've got a long way to go before I master shells, star flowers, and roses attractively and consistently. So, while I work on my piping skills, I'll just use the trick above. I also like to put chocolate-covered anything on top of a chocolate cake - coffee beans, almonds... They are a quick makeover helper, too.

Oh, one last thing, my two precious older children can't stand not to be in a photo. I told them they could pose with the cake.



Without further ado, here is the recipe for the ganache. It is so easy to make and to spread. I didn't spend much time getting the cake to look good - I could have made it smoother, but I was ready to eat it!! I can't wait for you to try the frosting. Let me know what you think!!!

Dark Chocolate Ganache Filling, Frosting, and Sauce, adapted from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Makes 2 3/4 cups to 3 cups

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used plain ol' Nestle Toll House morsels)
1 2/3 liquid cups heavy cream

Break chocolate into pieces and process in a food processor until very fine. Heat the cream to the boiling point and, with the motor running, pour it through the feed tube in a steady stream. Process a few seconds until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely until of frosting consistency.

To use ganache as a sauce, reheat until pourable if made ahead, using a double boiler or microwave on low power, stirring every 15 seconds.