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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Hot Chocolate Cakes



I hope everyone had a great holiday, and I hope you are preparing for a great New Years! It has been a while since I've updated the blog. We travelled to NY for Christmas where we did lots of family-visiting, holiday celebrating, and wedding stuff, so I didn't get a chance to post! But I did take pictures of the things I baked while I was there. :) I apologize for my bad pictures, they were taken with my phoney!

For Christmas, I made the Hot Chocolate Cake from Fine Cooking, the December 2009/January 2010 issue. The cake came out great. It was a nice and easy recipe to prepare, with delicious results. Very very rich, but very good. It really tasted like hot chocolate. This one was a crowd pleaser. I originally spotted it on The Bitten Word, but it is also available on Fine Cooking's site here. I made quite a few changes to the recipe, so I will post my version below, but be sure to check out the two sites I mentioned above for some great pictures and comments!

I made the same amount of cake batter that the recipe called for, but instead of dividing it into three 9x2 round cake pans, I baked it in FOUR 9x2 round cake pans. Rather than one tall 3 layer cake, I got 2 good sized two layer cakes to bring to two different houses for Christmas dessert. The cakes still came out a very good size. Plus, it is so rich that a less super-tall slice was more than sufficient. Since I was making 2 cakes instead of one, I made a batch and a half of the frosting (which I probably didn't really need to do because I had a significant amount left over, but for frosting lovers, I suggest making the 1.5 batch like I did). I also didn't make my own marshmallows like the recipe stated. I didn't have a candy thermometer where I was, so I just used store bought mini-mallows. Here's what I did!:



Hot Chocolate Cake, adapted from Fine Cooking and The Bitten Word.

For the cake
6 oz. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter + some extra for greasing the pans
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup canola oil
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
2 ounces 70% dark chocolate
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup half and half
2 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
2-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt

For the frosting
3 3/4 cups heavy cream
9 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla
9 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
3 cups granulated sugar
9 oz. natural unsweetened cocoa powder; more for decorating
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt

Frosting:
In a 4-quart saucepan over low heat, combine the cream, butter, and vanilla extract. Stir until the butter is melted and everything is combined. Stir in the chocolate chips until melted. Whisk in the sugar, cocoa powder, syrup, and salt until smooth...make sure the cocoa powder is fully incorporated. Pour into a 9x13-inch pan and freeze until firm, about 2 hours, or refrigerate overnight. I freezed it for 2 hours and then moved it to the refrigerator.

Cakes:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter four 9x2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each with parchment. Butter the parchment. Dust with flour and knock out the extra.

In a 3-quart saucepan, combine butter, oil, chopped chocolate, and 1 cup water. Heat over medium heat until melted.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and cocoa powder. Pour the hot chocolate mixture into the sugar mixture and whisk until combined.
Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then whisk in the half-and-half and heavy cream, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Divide the batter evenly among the four prepared pans.

Set two pans on the middle rack, slightly spaced so they don't touch. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. When finished, repeat with last two cakes. Cool on racks for 10 minutes, using a knife to slide around the cake to release the sides from the pan. Invert the cakes onto the racks, remove the parchment from two of the cakes (leaving parchment on the bottom of two of the cakes) and cool completely.


Assembly:
Remove the frosting from the freezer or refrigerator, let sit for about 10 - 15 minutes. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes to soften, or use a hand mixer. Change to a whisk attachment and beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.


Use a sharp knife to level out the cakes. Put the cake layer still lined with parchment onto a parchment lined cardboard cake round, this will be your bottom layer. But about 1 1/2 C of frosting on top to be your filling, and spread with an offset spatula. Top with the other layer and frosting with offset spatula. If you are careful, you might not need a crumb coat (we didn't need to do one).

Decorate the cake with mini marshmallows, leaving about a 1 inch border around the edges of the cake. Sprinkle some extra cocoa powder for decoration.

9 comments:

Lindsey Michelle said...

I love hot chocolate! I'm going to have to give this recipe a try...thanks for sharing!

{ Lindsey }
greatfullday.blogspot.com

Donna-FFW said...

The name alone makes me want to try it,, looks fantastic.

Julie said...

This cake looks so good! Not that I need any more sweets but I have to try it!

Megan said...

I saw that issue of Fine Cooking on sale at Lowe's, and I had to stop myself from buying it just for that cake. It looks like so much fun!

Mara Campbell said...

Wow, look fantastic!!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I can't wait to try it. Glad you had a great holiday!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Ooooo, I'm not fond of chocolate but I've eyed that cake everytime I went over to the magazine rack. Yours looks good.

Happy New Year!
~ingrid

babbler said...

I love the name as much as the thought of eating it! Love and goo from Mrs. Slug!

جلال said...

Hi,
I'm Mariyam from Saudi Arabia I'm big fan of you. while I'm making the cake i found (1/4 cup half and half
) can you explain this for me and for the others. best wishes.

Stephanie said...

Mariyam,
"Half-and-Half" is something they sell in the US that is one part milk, one part cream. You can probably substitute evaporated milk, or even make it yourself by combining equal parts milk and cream.

According to foodsubs.com, it is, "half-and-half substitutes= equal parts cream and milk OR evaporated milk OR 7/8 C milk + 1 ½ tablespoons butter or margarine".

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