Today is Al's 38th birthday, and to celebrate the occasion I made him the most awesome double chocolate cake with truffle icing. SO YUMMY, if I do say so myself. It looks beautiful, too.
Happy Birthday, my love!
After all this time...I never knew Al's birthday is the day before mine! Happy Birthday, Al! I hope your 38th year is your best yet. But how can it not be with those two adorable faces to look at each day?!
Posted by: Josie ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.avocado8.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 19, 2005 11:13 AM
Send me the recipe!
Posted by: Melinda at July 19, 2005 8:40 PM
The recipe is from the March 1999 issue of Gourmet; it can be found online here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/101275
I followed it to the letter except for the pan size. I only had 9" cake pans, not 10", so I made my best guess about how much batter to put in each pan and then used the excess to make four cupcakes. I ended up taking the cupcakes out of the oven after about 40 minutes and the layers after about 51 1/2 minutes, and I worried that I'd left the layers in too long. They tasted great, however, so I'd say 50-52 minutes is about right for the size layers I had.
For the frosting, I used a recipe from the Williams-Sonoma Dessert cookbook rather than the ganache that's in the Gourmet one. The W-S recipe is very ganache-like, but it was simpler. Here's the gist:
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Callebut 52.8%)
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
pinch of salt
In the top part of a double boiler, combine the chocolate and heavy cream. Set over barely simmering water until the chocolate melts, then whisk until well blended. Let cool slightly. [For me, the mixture was never very hot, so it didn't really need to cool.] Add the sour cream and salt and stir just until blended. Set aside, stirring occasionally, until room temperature. Whisk the frosting briefly until lighter in color and thick enough to spread. [Again, since the mixture was never hot, the addition of the sour cream brought it to room temperature immediately; I ended up putting it in the fridge for about 15 minutes, then whisking it fairly energetically for another two or three, and then despairing slightly that it would ever thicken enough to spread. At that point the doorbell rang and a package was delivered. In the 10 minutes or so it took to unwrap it, inspect the contents, read the note that came with it, and speculate whether the baby clothes inside would fit Austen, the frosting magically became thick enough to spread. I honestly don't know what happened there, but I advise walking away for 10 minutes if you start to despair.]
I served the cake at room temperature as instructed, but it tastes even better from the refigerator the next morning, IMHO. (Not that I would have chocolate cake for breakfast, mind you! Who in their right mind would do that??? OK, well, maybe I had a *small* piece with my poached egg.)
Posted by: Lori at July 20, 2005 10:10 AM
OH MY CHOCOLATEY GOODNESS! Happy Birthday Al!
Posted by: Shannon at July 20, 2005 4:17 PM
Comments (4)
After all this time...I never knew Al's birthday is the day before mine! Happy Birthday, Al! I hope your 38th year is your best yet. But how can it not be with those two adorable faces to look at each day?!
Posted by Josie![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.avocado8.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
|
July 19, 2005 11:13 AM
Posted on July 19, 2005 11:13
Send me the recipe!
Posted by Melinda | July 19, 2005 8:40 PM
Posted on July 19, 2005 20:40
The recipe is from the March 1999 issue of Gourmet; it can be found online here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/101275
I followed it to the letter except for the pan size. I only had 9" cake pans, not 10", so I made my best guess about how much batter to put in each pan and then used the excess to make four cupcakes. I ended up taking the cupcakes out of the oven after about 40 minutes and the layers after about 51 1/2 minutes, and I worried that I'd left the layers in too long. They tasted great, however, so I'd say 50-52 minutes is about right for the size layers I had.
For the frosting, I used a recipe from the Williams-Sonoma Dessert cookbook rather than the ganache that's in the Gourmet one. The W-S recipe is very ganache-like, but it was simpler. Here's the gist:
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Callebut 52.8%)
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
pinch of salt
In the top part of a double boiler, combine the chocolate and heavy cream. Set over barely simmering water until the chocolate melts, then whisk until well blended. Let cool slightly. [For me, the mixture was never very hot, so it didn't really need to cool.] Add the sour cream and salt and stir just until blended. Set aside, stirring occasionally, until room temperature. Whisk the frosting briefly until lighter in color and thick enough to spread. [Again, since the mixture was never hot, the addition of the sour cream brought it to room temperature immediately; I ended up putting it in the fridge for about 15 minutes, then whisking it fairly energetically for another two or three, and then despairing slightly that it would ever thicken enough to spread. At that point the doorbell rang and a package was delivered. In the 10 minutes or so it took to unwrap it, inspect the contents, read the note that came with it, and speculate whether the baby clothes inside would fit Austen, the frosting magically became thick enough to spread. I honestly don't know what happened there, but I advise walking away for 10 minutes if you start to despair.]
I served the cake at room temperature as instructed, but it tastes even better from the refigerator the next morning, IMHO. (Not that I would have chocolate cake for breakfast, mind you! Who in their right mind would do that??? OK, well, maybe I had a *small* piece with my poached egg.)
Posted by Lori![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.avocado8.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
|
July 20, 2005 10:10 AM
Posted on July 20, 2005 10:10
OH MY CHOCOLATEY GOODNESS! Happy Birthday Al!
Posted by Shannon | July 20, 2005 4:17 PM
Posted on July 20, 2005 16:17