Tag: Ganache

Cakes · Chocolate · Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Chocolate Ganache (thank you Ina)

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, we had dinner at a sweet friends house. She served all our favorite Southern Dishes, Southern fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans. The great ending to the evening was this amazing chocolate cake, which she had found in her Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) cook book. So, needing my fix of weekly chocolate, I bought the can of chocolate syrup yesterday and made it first thing this morning. It is such a rich velvety cake with coffee granules in the ganache frosting. It actually will make you forget that the weather is not cooperating with cool temps, just because we are ready to have the fall decorations up. Treat yourself to this wonderful rich cake that is truly very simple to make.
Thanks Marilyn (and Ina) for sharing that heavenly cake with us.

Cake
1/4 lb unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 extra large eggs (this is the first cake recipe I have seen that called for extra large eggs instead of large)
1 (16 oz) can of Hershey’s chocolate syrup
1 tables pure vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour

Ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz good semisweet chocolate chips (not imitation)
1 teas instant coffee granules

Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a 8″ cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix just until combined. Don’t over beat, or the cake will be tough.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 min, or until just set in the middle. Don’t overtake. Let cool thoroughly in the pan.
For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. (I don’t have a double boiler, so just cooked over low heat until chips were completely melted and mixture was smooth. I stirred it almost the whole time)
Place the cake upside down on a wire rack and pour the glaze evenly over the top, making sure to cover the entire cake and sides. Then place cake carefully on a serving plate. it frightens me to have to transfer a cake layer from a wire rack to a plate so I * (once again, I didn’t do that. I just placed it on a cake plate and poured the ganache over the top, allowing it to flow over the sides of the cake.*
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Uncategorized

Bobby Flays Peanut Butter Cream-FIlled Cupcakes* Taken from Food Network Magazine

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

Another great chocolate recipe for Valentines Month. I am hoping that this will be the recipe that will “convince” my sweet Valentine to let me order the matching His and Her’s iPhone covers that have I (half of a heart) on his and (half of a heart) You, so when they sit side by side,the cover’s make a whole heart. Today when I called my little Cupid to tell him what I had just seen on the Today show and could I order them…..well, I’m sure he really wants me to order them, but maybe he pretended that he didn’t want them because he has already ordered them…oh my gosh, I bet that’s it! After I bake these little cupcakes, he will even let me order the Valentine pillow cases that was also being shown for His and Her’s Valentines gifts. Will keep you posted.

Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teas baking soda

1/4 teas baking powder

1/2 teas salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus 2 tables

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs, room temp

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teas vanilla

1/2 cup hot strong coffee

Filling:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Ganache:

4 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 325. Line one 12 cup and 1 (6 cup) muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

Make the cupcakes by sifting the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt together three times. Beat the butter and sugar with a mixer at high speed for 15 seconds until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Continue beating until light and fluffy. About 6 more minutes. With mixer at it’s lowest speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Beat in buttermilk and vanilla, then another 1/3 flour mixture. Beat in the coffee and then the remaining flour mixture. Fill the muffin cups 1/2 full and bake for 25 min, or until the centers spring back when lightly pressed. Set the pans on a rack to cool.

Make the peanut butter filling. Beat the butter and peanut butter with a mixer on medium until blended. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in powdered sugar. Increase the speed to high and beat 3-5 min, until smooth and fluffy. Spoon the filling into a pastry bag fitted with a medium plain tip. Insert the tip into the top of each cooled cupcake and squeeze approximately 1 1/2 tables filling into each cupcake.

Make the ganache by placing the chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until scalding. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit 1 min. Whisk until smooth. Let sit 10 min until thick but still pourable. Dunk the tops of the cupcakes into the frosting to coat, then place on a rack and sprinkle with the chopped peanuts. Cool completely to serve.