Triple Chocolate Ganache Torte

Actually, if you include the little chocolate jimmies around the bottom, it would be a quadruple chocolate torte, but who's counting anyway?

I am desperately trying to get caught up here on the blog and the other site I write for, Honest Cooking, before things get crazy and I start my pastry job. I have so many pictures of goodies that I want to share with all of you, but I am already having trouble finding time to sit down and get my writing on. I began my third quarter of school this week, and I can't believe how fast it is flying by. I have to say so long to all the tortes and cakes we have been focusing on for the first half of my schooling, and switch gears over to savories (meaning spending 4 hours mincing and julienning vegetables) and plated desserts.

We will get a sneak peek this quarter into the world of restaurant pastry production, and I can't wait. I have been pretty set that I want to be in a bakery and would never want to work on the line, but I am keeping an open mind and trying to soak up as much knowledge as humanly possible.

This chocolate torte was one of my favorites from last quarter, it was chocolate-ly, but not overly rich, and had nice strawberry surprise providing just a hint of fruitiness in the middle layer. The chocolate shavings on the top came from a really really thick hazelnut chocolate bar, but you can substitute smaller ones from any chocolate bar you have on hand. In class we used a 2-stage cake recipe with emulsified shortening, but since the vaseline-like fluid flex kind of squicks me out a little, I am going to give you my favorite devils food chocolate cake recipe instead.

Chocolate Ganache Torte
adapted from Zoe Bakes and Professional Baking

Cake:
3 cups granulated sugar
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/8 cups dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup hot coffee
1/4 cup amaretto liqueur

Butter and flour the sides of two 9" cake pans, and line bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and vegetable oil until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking until thoroughly incorporated after each addition. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and wisk to combine.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined. Add the hot coffee and amaretto and whisk until incorporated.

Fill each cake pan 2/3 the way full and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and center springs back when pressed gently with your finger, about 35-40 minutes.

Let cakes cool completely before assembling.

Ganache:
1 1/2 lb. heavy cream
1 1/2 lb. dark or bitter sweet chocolate, chopped

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat heavy cream over medium heat until it comes to a simmer, then pour over chocolate. Let sit for a minute or two, then gently whisk until smooth. Let ganache cool until it is a spreadable consistency. You can make this ahead of time and chill until ready to use. Just put the chilled ganache in a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment until it becomes soft and spreadable.

Strawberries:
6-8 strawberries, hulled and sliced thinly
1-2 tablespoons grand marnier
1 tablespoon sugar

Mix strawberries, grand marnier, and sugar in a small bowl and let sit at room temp for 10-15 minutes.

Assembly:
Slice each cake in half so you have four layers of cake. Place the first layer of cake on a flat plate or cake stand and spread a thin layer of chocolate ganache all the way to the edges. Place the second layer of cake on top, and again spread a thin layer of ganache to the edges. Arrange a single layer of strawberries over the ganache, and top with another layer of cake. Fill with ganache, and top the cake with the last layer. With the remaining ganache, cover the outside of the cake, if you find the ganache hard to spread at any point place bowl of ganache over gently simmering water for just a few seconds to help loosen it up.

Decorate as you wish with chocolate sprinkles and/or chocolate shavings. You could also garnish with a little cocoa powder and some strawberries. This would be made even better with a big ol scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Amaretto Brownies & Salted Butter Caramel Sauce (Gluten Free!)

I wish every weekend was cabin weekend...

Cabin weekend means good friends, great food, copious amounts of wine and beer, hot tubbing, and pontoon rides. Exciting news was shared between friends who had gone FAR too long in between visits. Raucous games of cutthroat bocce ball were played. There were too many smiles and laughs to count.

As usual though, the weekend mostly revolved around food, and there was disaster at almost every turn. More on that later, but one thing that did not get screwed up was the dessert. One of my best friends, (and brand new mom-to-be!!), has a gluten allergy, so it is always challenging to find a gluten free dessert that everyone will enjoy. Luckily, there is Tartelette to the rescue. If you ever need a gluten free dessert, please visit her site, she doesn't alter what she eats because of her intolerance, rather, she makes it work for her, and then is nice enough to share it with the rest of us.

Of course I edited the recipe slightly (I can't help myself, I had to add some booze) and I simplified it a bit. Instead of using a combination of hard to find, not to mention expensive, gluten-free flour substitutes, I used an all-purpose gluten-free baking mix. The texture of the brownies may have not been exactly like Tartelette's version, but they were still great. Moist and rich, we didn't miss the gluten at all. Topped with vanilla ice cream, and a salted butter caramel sauce, and heck, the brownie could have been missing for all I knew.

Dark Chocolate Amaretto Brownies & Salted Butter Caramel Sauce
adapted from Tartelette
makes about 20 3-1/2 inch round brownies

*I made the brownies in tartlet molds, and originally served them like that with a scoop of ice cream  and caramel sauce drizzle on top. If you want to make sandwiches like I did in the pictures, bake the brownies in a thin layer in two parchment paper-lined baking dishes and cut circles once they have cooled.

For the brownies:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
6 ounces dark chocolate
1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose gluten-free baking mix (or all purpose flour)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup amaretto (or if you want to omit the alcohol, substitute 1/4 cup strong coffee)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Brush 20 3-1/2 inch tartlet molds with a bit of melted butter, or butter and line a baking dish with parchment paper, set aside.

In a small bowl set over barely simmering water, combine the butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder. Whisk gently, until chocolate and butter are melted, and mixture is fully combined and smooth. This will only take a minute or two. Remove from heat, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the "flour", baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs, sugar, and vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed about 4-5 minutes. Add chocolate mixture and beat until combined. Add amaretto and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture in two additions and beat just until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Fill each tart mold about 3/4 the way full, and bake for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (start checking around 15 minutes or so). Let brownies cool in the molds on a wire rack completely, then un-mold and store in an air tight container until ready to serve.

For the caramel sauce:

1-1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 stick salted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the sugar and the water. Simmer just until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter, and let it boil until it turns a deep amber color. Remove from heat and carefully add the cream. Whisk to combine, and place back over medium-low heat and cook for about 30 minutes, until it has thickened and is nice and creamy.

Now get your vanilla ice cream out.

Grab a spoon...you know what to do.

Just go for it.

Stay tuned for some exciting news, a giveaway, and more recipes from cabin weekend!

My First, and Hopefully Not Last, Wedding Cake

It ain't perfect, but in my opinion, it ain't too shabby for my first attempt. This was my first time working with fondant, my first time making a multi-tiered cake, my first time handling a 60-year old vintage cake topper and attempting not to break it. Early on this summer, two of my friends from college asked me if I would be so kind as to make their wedding cake. At first I laughed...then I realized they were serious.

These two blindly trusted my baking skills, and I thank them for it. This was an amazing learning experience, starting from scratch, with only a few online video tutorials, back episodes of "Amazing Wedding Cakes" from WE tv on my DVR, and a giant fondant rolling pin to assist me in this endeavor.

I spent a few months planning for this thing. I met with the bride and groom to discuss what they were looking for in their cake (size, shape, flavors, buttercream vs. fondant, colors, decorations etc.). From there we decided on a simple, two-tier, small-ish square cake. They were serving a tiramisu dessert at the end of dinner (they did get married at the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame after all) so they wouldn't need cake for everyone, just those who wanted a little extra something after a night of dancing and drinking. Also, we wanted to keep it simple because they were using the cake topper that their grandparents used back in 1954, and wanted to keep the focus on that, rather than any fancy decorations on the rest of the cake (not to mention that I have no business getting fancy on my first cake). Look at this thing, how awesome is this cake topper?

I cannot tell you how relieved I was to drop the topper off with the cake. The groom was teetering on one leg, and the bride was chipped at the hip, and I did not want to be responsible for destroying a family heirloom. I think I was almost more nervous about dropping the topper than the cake itself. Luckily none of the above occurred and everything got there in one piece.

We did a tasting about a month out from the wedding day. I presented them with four flavors of cake and four fillings, and they were able to mix and match and decide exactly what their wedding cake would taste like. The groom picked flavors for one tier, a devil's food dark chocolate cake with amaretto buttercream, and the bride picked flavors for the other tier; a banana cake with a banana cream filling. Hows that for cooperation? Now came the fun part...the baking!

Since I am no expert at this yet, I will show you my pictures and walk you through my schedule instead of going into detail with recipes and methods. Someday I hope to show you an exhaustive, detailed, perfect to the T, explanation of how to make a wedding cake, but I fear we are a long, long way from that day. So for now, here goes.

The wedding was on a friday at 3:00 pm. I needed to drop off the cake by noon that day to have enough time to go back home, get ready, and be presentable with no visible frosting in my hair in my pew at the church before the ceremony started.

Two weeks before the wedding, I began baking the layers. Cake freezes wonderfully, as long as you wrap it up well. Two to three coats of plastic wrap and a final layer of tin foil will do the job. One week before the wedding, I made and froze the buttercream, and made the fondant. Two days before the wedding, I made the banana cream filling and refrigerated it. I also cut all the cake boards to size and cut the ribbons to the correct length.

Crunch time. The day before the wedding, I torted, filled, and crumb coated both tiers. I also put the final, smooth-as-I-could-get-it layer of buttercream on each tier and left them in the refrigerator overnight.

If you are using non-perishable fillings such as a buttercream or ganache you can fondant your cakes a day ahead and leave them at room temp overnight. Since I had the banana filling, I had to refrigerate them up until right before the delivery.

It is apparently not a good thing to put a fondant covered cake in the the fridge. Bad things will happen, or so I hear. I chose not to push my luck.

I also made a little stand for the cake topper with a small round cut out of cardboard, covered with a piece of ribbon.

The morning of the wedding I woke up around 6 am to finish the cakes. I let the tiers sit out at room temp for about 20 minutes before covering them with fondant so that the buttercream underneath would have a little give and I would be able to smooth it better. I rolled out my fondant with a generous amount of powdered sugar, and covered my cakes. I had a good amount of air bubbles, so I got out a sterilized needle and went to town. I chalk this up to it being my first time using fondant if you don't count the styrofoam 'cakes' I covered a few months back for practice.

Using a small amount of hot glue, I secured the ribbon around the base of each layer. I then stuck some plastic dowels into each tier of the cake, removed them and cut them to proper size, the replaced them back into their holes. This helped support the second tier and the topper, making sure it they didn't sink down into the layer below.

Then I held on for dear life in the back seat of the car, yelling at my boyfriend every few blocks to drive slower and more carefully (in reality, he was doing a fine job, I was just really tired and scared that we were going to hit a pothole and the cake would going flying into the back of the driver seat. It didn't).

The cake was delivered without a hitch, and about fifteen minutes later I was a happy little clam with a strong bloody mary in my hand. I firmly believe that if you successfully make a two tiered wedding cake in your two-bedroom apartment kitchen, you deserve to drink hard alcohol before noon.

The wedding was beautiful, the reception amazingly fun, and the cake, delicious. Of course I was in the bathroom during the cake cutting...that just figures. Its okay though, hopefully, in time, there will be many more couples cutting into one of my cakes.

Here are the wonderful recipes I used:

Chocolate Devil's Food Cake
Banana Cake
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
Banana Cream Filling
Marshmallow Fondant