chocolate cake

[glennbech]

Some friends of mine are of the conception that I know my way around a kitchen (Probably because I talk of my sourdough baking all the time *S*). They have asked me do to a chocolate cake for their child's baptism party.

I have about one week to experiment, but I don't mind doing the cake(s) 2-3 times as "practice runs". I've read through a lot of the material in the eGullet "let's make the perfect chocolate cake" thread , and are starting to get an Idea of what's going on when baking such a thing... (Plastic wrapping, freezing, low temperatures, tooth picks and all that stuff.)

In my head, I have this Idea of a very dark chocolate cake with a dark "mirror" frosting If you know what I mean. I've seen some photos on this forum I believe, but I was not able to recall where. That's what I really want to do.

I want loads of High quality unhealthy delicious chocolate, I'll probably gain a few pounds just tasting and baking, but who cares .-)

I also don't mind jumping in to learn to swim, so ideas on fancy toppings and presentation ideas are also welcome .-)

So! If anyone can point me in the right direction for a recipe for the cake, maybe a "Ganache" and a black mirror frosting... I'd be very happy. I will of course post my progress in this thread.

The b-party is 11. June, So I better start practicing some techniques .-)

Maybe this can be one of thos experiments on how a totallty beginner cake-baker can get help from experienced ones to create a masterpiece in only one week !? Only time will show I guess

Edited June 3, 2006 by glennbech (log)

[rooftop1000]

Glenn the chocolate "frosting" you want is Ganache. It is a thing of beauty and not too hard, I did it.

At christmas I made a chocolate cake filled with white chocolate mousse

(which crashed and had to be remelted and rewhipped) and topped with ganache just poured over and running down the sides

tracey

[glennbech]

Glenn the chocolate "frosting" you want is Ganache. It is a thing of beauty and not too hard, I did it.

At christmas I made a chocolate cake filled with white chocolate mousse

(which crashed and had to be remelted and rewhipped) and topped with ganache just poured over and running down the sides

tracey

←

So the mirror like frosting is "ganache". Thanks for the info, I'll dig up some recipies. And try it out.

Is the technique just to bake a cake, split it in two horizontaly, put some good tasting thing in between, and pour the ganache over until it covers the cake ?

[glennbech]

I already have some problems Im afraid :-)

1) Why baking soda AND baking powder ? Im not sure if I can get my hands on both here in Norway. Are both common in other countries ? Baking poweder is common supermarket stuff. Baking Soda is not.

2) Buttermilk. Is this a rare ingredient? Im not sure I can get it easily. What does it do, and can it be substituted ?

Answers welcome

Edited June 3, 2006 by glennbech (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I already have some problems Im afraid :-)

1) Why baking soda AND baking powder ? Im not sure if I can get my hands on both here in Norway. Are both common in other countries ? Baking poweder is common supermarket stuff. Baking Soda is not.

2) Buttermilk. Is this a rare ingredient? Im not sure I can get it easily. What does it do, and can it be substituted ?

Answers welcome

←

Are you sure you can't get bicarbonate of soda = baking soda? Substitute plain yogurt diluted with some milk for the buttermilk.

[SweetSide]

Glenn the chocolate "frosting" you want is Ganache. It is a thing of beauty and not too hard, I did it.

At christmas I made a chocolate cake filled with white chocolate mousse

(which crashed and had to be remelted and rewhipped) and topped with ganache just poured over and running down the sides

tracey

←

So the mirror like frosting is "ganache". Thanks for the info, I'll dig up some recipies. And try it out.

Is the technique just to bake a cake, split it in two horizontaly, put some good tasting thing in between, and pour the ganache over until it covers the cake ?

←

Regular ganach is not a mirror-like frosting. Delish, but if you really want it to shine like a mirror, you need a mirror recipe. Not knocking ganache here -- I always make more than I need just so we can lick the bowl...

I have a mirror recipe, and I know someone (can't remember who) posted a killer picture using a mirror glaze. Found it -- it was dejaq (michael) and here is a demo CLICK.

As for the baking soda and baking powder -- baking soda reacts immediately in combination with liquid and acid (the old dump some baking soda in vinegar trick). Baking powder comes with its own acid, reacts in combination with liquid, and then AGAIN with heat. All a balance there -- they aren't interchangeable without other modifications.

As Kerry said, baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. Common stuff -- you must have that over there...

Best of luck -- in my mind (and practice) this is WAY easier than your sourdough!

[glennbech]

I have a mirror recipe, and I know someone (can't remember who) posted a killer picture using a mirror glaze. Found it -- it was dejaq (michael) and here is a demo

That's the kind of look Im after .-) Well... I'd of course be happy with something much much less professional looking than Michael's Demo .-) Would you mind posting , or PM me the Mirror Recipe? Trade secret ?

As for "baking soda", I just didn't recognize the name, the chemical name made sense, and Im sure I can get it .-)

[sanrensho]

If you're having problems finding baking soda, why not go for a genoise-style cake without added leaveners. The ingredient list is much simpler. For a beginner, I would recommend something like Pierre Herme's cocoa cake with a whipped ganache filling (similar to his black forest cake), then covered with ganache. Very chocolatey. If you use a milk or semisweet chocolate for the whipped ganache, you'll get a triple hit of cocoa in the cake, milk/semisweet chocolate between the layers, and bittersweet chocolate in the ganache. Some fruit between the layers is optional.

For a mirror glaze, look for a cocoa "glacage" recipe.

[Saara]

I already have some problems Im afraid :-)

<snip>

2) Buttermilk. Is this a rare ingredient? Im not sure I can get it easily. What does it do, and can it be substituted ?

←

Anglo-Finno-Russo-Scandinavian Food Glossary

Du saknar bara ekta piimää. Det finns!

[glennbech]

Saara, thank you !!! :-) You have no idea how long I've been searching for such a list .-)

[SweetSide]

If you're having problems finding baking soda, why not go for a genoise-style cake without added leaveners. The ingredient list is much simpler. For a beginner, I would  recommend something like Pierre Herme's cocoa cake with a whipped ganache filling (similar to his black forest cake), then covered with ganache. Very chocolatey. If you use a milk or semisweet chocolate for the whipped ganache, you'll get a triple hit of cocoa in the cake, milk/semisweet chocolate between the layers, and bittersweet chocolate in the ganache. Some fruit between the layers is optional.

For a mirror glaze, look for a cocoa "glacage" recipe.

←

Yeah! to that cake. Excellent idea. I made it, and it is wonderfully moist and rich. Filled with a whipped ganache, it would be an extreme chocolate hit. Do it, do it....

[glennbech]

First atempt ; Have to say Im a bit demotivated .-) But! I will prevail. Maybe try again later tonight, need to lick my woulds first.

[CanadianBakin']

A disappointment for sure! I think you'll find most of us have had something similar happen at one time or another. I dropped a completed lemon meringue pie at about 10pm one night and had to start again right away as I needed it for the next day.

[K8memphis]

Well, sh*t! Baby Shugar!!!

Man and you did it good too--allll over the place. How did you do that??? Geez looweez. I mean I can drop stuff but man you did it up nuclear, it's dripping everywhere. Don't hate me for saying, "BAM!"

The next one will be great! Umm, put one oven mitt on your hand, set the ready cake pan on the top of the stove, open the oven door all the way, pull out the rack with the mitted hand, set the cake on the rack, push in the rack, close the oven door. Do this quickly so as to loose as little oven heat as possible.

What's that cord doing hanging out there???

[SweetSide]

First atempt ; Have to say Im a bit demotivated .-) But! I will prevail. Maybe try again later tonight, need to lick my woulds first.

←

Hmm, my first reaction was "That's not a chocolate cake..." Perhaps that is why it was fated to land on the floor! And the oven... and the radiator...

Back to the mixing bowl for you!

[Lindacakes]

The cord, I think, is a Polder thermometer, the kind you insert in meat?

There's a question at the top about What's Buttermilk?

Here's some information on buttermilk --

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/BUTTERMILK.HTM

Often folks do sub yogurt for buttermilk, but I think buttermilk is unique and delicious. I can't find enough recipes to display it's fine qualities . . .

Give it a try.

[K8memphis]

The cord, I think, is a Polder thermometer, the kind you insert in meat?

←

Yeah, and it's in the oven be-cause....you're gonna stick it in the cake???

But hey, come to think of it where are the racks for the oven??? I know we're in different countries here but there are grooves there to slide the racks in & out. But there's no racks in evidence. Your cake will bake much better on a rack.

[sanrensho]

It's early morning in Oslo so maybe we'll have an answer soon. ^^^I was thinking the same thing. Why is the cake at the bottom of the oven? Is his heat source at the top of the oven? Inquiring minds want to know...

[Desiderio]

Hehe I hope Glenn isnt thinking of treating the cake like the sourdough ( bottom plate of the oven ).

Common common ,just teasing you .

Let us know how its coming,and if I was you I would probably try a really simple and sure recepie to start with ,gotta learn how to walk before you start to run , or at least most of the time

Good luck Glenn

[glennbech]

Hi all, got visitors last night. Couldn't do a remake of the cake, did some BBQ instead...

Desiderio; Eyes of the hawk... Yes... I was going to put the cake into the bottom rack of my oven. I even have my baking stone in there. I guess I was in for a disaster one way or anohter .-)

The cord is from an oven thermometer, My oven is very inaccurate and report 200c maybe 15 minutes before it acutally reaches that tempereature. I use it to verify that the temp is what it should be .-)

This is the recipe that went all over the floor (and my radiator, and partly into my hot oven and stuck to everything) ;

http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r431.html

Thanks for all the support. I'll bake my first atempt tonight. That'll be in around 10-12 hours -) I also think I changed my mind, and are going for a genoise cake as suggested upthread. I was thinking something like this ;

http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateGenoise.html

Edited June 6, 2006 by glennbech (log)

[sanrensho]

Thanks for all the support. I'll bake my first atempt tonight. That'll be in around 10-12 hours -) I also think I changed my mind, and are going for a genoise cake as suggested upthread.

Good luck. Make sure to whip the eggs enough, as that's the only leavening you'll be getting from the cake.

When you're ready to split the cake, I recommend trimming the top and bottom crust, then applying syrup to both sides of each layer.

[glennbech]

When you're ready to split the cake, I recommend trimming the top and bottom crust, then applying syrup to both sides of each layer.

Can you explain why the syrup? Moisture? Taste? you mean basicly taking the crust of the cake right?

[Tweety69bird]

When you're ready to split the cake, I recommend trimming the top and bottom crust, then applying syrup to both sides of each layer.

Can you explain why the syrup? Moisture? Taste? you mean basicly taking the crust of the cake right?

←

The syrup is for moisture mainly, and you can add in some flavouring if you wish - ie Rum. It's a simple syrup, which is same amounts of water and sugar on the stove until it boils, then stop and let it cool. Once it's cooled, you apply it as you are building your cake, with a brush. More syrup around the edges, and just enough to moisten. You don't want a soggy cake.

And yes, I believe sanrensho meant for you to level off the cakes by removing the crust. I usually only remove the top crust and leave the bottom alone. Good luck!

[SweetSide]

And leave the baking stone in your oven if you are doing a genoise and have oven issues. My genoise kept sinking until I put a stone in there. Just don't put the cake pan on the stone. Put it on a rack in the center or upper 1/3 of the oven if the heat source is on the bottom.

Also, that chocolate cake batter really doesn't look very chocolately. Did you really have 6 oz of chocolate in there?

And the genoise recipe says to keep your butter hot. Don't keep it too hot, just warm and liquid. Too hot and it will deflate your eggs too much. Too cold and it will be too thick and you'll have butter globs. Not good.

Oh, and your soaking syrup Tweetybird mentions rum. Any liqueur is good -- think about what you like with chocolate.... I like Grand Marnier or coconut rum or Kahlua or ...

Will be checking for your report....

[Desiderio]

Yes Genoise sounds good very light type of cake , and i do suggest as Sweetside said no hot butter .

On the other side a chocolate genoise it wont be as chocolatey as a chocolate cake , but you can fix this little lack of chocolatey with nice ganache and frosting , just keep in mind that genoise structure is more delicate than a basic chocolate cake or yellow cake etc. so try to respect the equilibrium , if I make sense .

Good luck with the baking you will se at the end of this week you'll be a pro on cake making ,like you did with the sourdough