Killer Chocolate Cake
KillerChocolate Cake
6 cups flour sifted[1]
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips[2]
2 cups light brown sugar, tightly packed.
5 cups white sugar
12 oz raspberries[3]
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1½ cup heavy cream
1 cup butter
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoonsalt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 oz Crème de Cacao (may be cognac)
2 oz Cognac
2 oz fruit brandy, to match your fruit (may be cognac)
2 9” spring cake pan, each with extra bottom.
350 F oven with two racks
This is a 4 layer chocolate cake, with ganach frosting and berry jam filling (I’vealso used homemade orange marmalade). Layers are made two at a time (unless youhave two ovens, very large mixer, etc.) Left over berry jam can be canned or refrigerated and used as jam. Alcohol may be replaced with water.
Berry filling:
12 oz berries
3 cups sugar
2 oz fruit brandy.
Place berries in heavy sauce pan, crushing some to get juice. Add sugar. Cook overmoderate heat, stirring as needed until mixture is at 220 F by candythermometer. Remove from hat, add brandy, let cool. May cool in ice bath ifneeded.
Chocolate layers to be done twice:
6 oz semisweet chocolate
½ cup milk
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg yolk.
Make custard of 6 oz melted semi-sweetchocolate and remainder of above ingredients. Set aside.
Flour mixture:
1 teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt.
Sift above ingredients together. Set aside.
1 cup white sugar – sifted
½ cup butter
2 egg yolks
Put butter in mixer, start on slow, add sugar slowly. Add egg yolks one at a time.
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 oz cognac
Flour mixture from above. Liquid mixture from above
In three separate steps, mix the two sets of ingredients into mixer.
Stir mixture until smooth and then add chocolate custard from above. Leave mixer onslow.
3 egg whites, beat until stiff and fold into mixer. You may wish to add flour at this point to thicken, this is optional and only if the you think it needs it.
Split mixture between greased spring pans, bake for about 30 minutes[4]
After a few minutes of cooling, remove spring pan, but not bottom and remount onspare bottom (or wait longer and remove bottom to reuse).
Repeat above for 2nd two layers.
After all four layers are cool, remove from bottoms and stack, spreading the jambetween layers. Some jam should be left.
Ganach (done twice or in two pots)
¾ cup heavy cream
12 oz dark chocolate
1 oz Crème de Cacao
Scald cream, remove from heat, add chocolate chips and Crème de Cacao. Stir tillchips are fully melted. Let cool, pour over assembled layer cake, spreading ontop and side.
Chill
Will keep 10+ days under refrigeration.
[1]More than needed, return excess to flour bin when done.
[2]Chocolates may be other form than chips, they get melted.
[3]May be blackberries or strawberries, or you can use a previously home madejam/marmalade.
[4]Test for doneness is when tooth pick can be inserted in baked cake and removedclean.
Most of the mise above.
The raspberries.
Raspberries, sugar and heat.
Milk, egg yolk, chocolate and heat. The brown sugar goes in next.
The result.
Butter and sugar
One egg yolk left to put in.
The batter.
Final Mix
Two of four layers
/To be continued later today, I hope/
/ Later today/
Our four layers, still in the spring pans. Undo the spring, and run a sharp knife around the edge to free the cake from the pan, but don't take it off the bottom, yet.
A cake turntable on a full sheet. I've an oven which takes full sheets., but the dishwasher doesn't and they don't fit in the sink well either. However both the raspberry and the ganach are going to drip.
Take your second best layer, after you have removed them from the spring pans. Put the layer, bottom still on, face down on the turntable. Then slip a long, thin sharp knife between the layer and the pan, work out to the edge, and then the same in the other direction.
A couple of big spoonfuls of the warm raspberry jam, and spread over the layer. Big spoon here means commercial kitchen sized.
Second verse same as the first, saving the best looking layer for the top.
Repeat
Four layers. Becareful when you put them down that they don't lean.
The raw ganach. Regardless of theories that cooking wine should be something you are willing to drink at the meal, the same is not true of cooking brandies. Do not sample to see if has gone bad, however sampling the Reme Martin to see if it is still good is fine.
Scald the heavy cream. That means boil, hard boil. As soon as it starts to do that, with the top fully engaged, turn it off.
Add the chocolate, 12 oz 60% Cacao bittersweet. I use chip, but you could break up a bar, just as well. And use something better than Nestles or Hershey.
Add the Creme de Caco
Stir
Stir until even, dark and smooth, no lumps. You don't want this on your skin, it will burn (good article on minor kitchen burns here.)
Pour over cake.
Smooth, and remember there is a second batch of ganach coming up.
Done.
And it is ok, to lick fingers, spoons and bowls, but anything that falls to the floor legally belongs to the dog.
Camera unknown, probably Nikon Coolpix
Killer
Chocolate Cake Downloadable PDF Link
doesn’t work on the PDF itself
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© 2011 Virginia L. Dyson & Warner W. Johnston
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