Ok ppanther, here's my chocolate heaven recipe

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:30 am

Frisco's Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse Frosting

Cake:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
6 T. cocoa
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cup sour cream
2 Symphony bars chopped into 1/4" pieces
1 cup chopped pecans (if desired)

Cream butter and sugar in large bowl. Add vanilla, eggs and sour cream. Continue mixing until mixture is consistent. Mix cocoa, flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in separate bowl. Slowly pour dry ingredients into wet mixture and continue mixing until all dry ingredients are incorporate. Fold in Symphony bar chunks when done. 1 cup chopped pecans can be added if desired.

Lightly butter and flour 3 8" round cake pans. Divide batter evenly into the 3 pans. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean. Once done, set on rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Mousse Frosting:

1 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chipt (8 oz package)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 stick butter room temp (sliced in 1/3" pats)
3 egg yolks
1 T good dark rum (1/2 tsp vanilla can be substituted)

Place chocolate chips in a blender. Heat creat just until boiling point. Pour cream into blender and blend for about 1 minute. While mixture is blending, drop the butter pats in 1 by one and blend for 30 seconds. Drop in rum then egg yolks 1 by 1 and blend for another minute.

Let frosting cool along with cakes and ice each layer and the top and sides.

Another option

I did this for Christmas last year to sweeten the cake even more. This makes it REALLY rich.

Cherry filling:

1 15 oz. can cherry pie filling
3 T. rum (sub 1 1/2 tsp vanilla)
1 T honey

Mix all in suce pan. Use immersion blender to puree once incorporated (or blend). Use handle of wooden spoon to put holes in cake for each layer. Pour slowly some of the cherry filling into the holes. Frost the cake with the mousse frosting after each layer.

That's it. That's my SUPER rich chocolate cake. Be sure to serve small slices as it is EXTREMELY rich. I like to serve a nice port wine with this cake. About 3 oz. of a good port is all they need. Either the port or a nice decaf coffee is a good fit depending on your crowd.

Enjoy.

(Oh, and I told my wife I post in the cooking forum on my message board and she told me not to tell anyone I actually know about it.

She's embarrassed enough that I'm the only one in the house that cooks. Married over 4 years now and she's cooked less than 5 meals.)

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:14 pm

That cake sounds HEAVENLY.

Couple questions about the icing, though.

It looks to me like it's really just a ganache with egg yolks added. What purpose do the yolks serve? The reason I ask is that they are never exposed to the 165F "safety" temperature for eggs, and while I'm not terribly paranoid about that for myself, I would worry about serving it to guests. Do the yolks provide stabilization? How creamy/smooth is the frosting? Is the texture smooth and light, as the "mousse" in the title would suggest?

I think I'd prefer to make a simple ganache (that's "Killer chocolate sauce" to you, Dins) and pour it over the cooled cakes. I do that with a chocolate cheesecake I make, and it's always absolutely DELICIOUS.

Thanks for the recipe!!

ETA: What kind of cocoa would you recommend for the cake? Regular? Dutch-processed? Also, what kind of chocolate flavor does the finished cake have? Is it dark and deeply flavored, or is it more mellow?

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:44 pm

ppanther wrote:It looks to me like it's really just a ganache with egg yolks added. What purpose do the yolks serve? Do the yolks provide stabilization? How creamy/smooth is the frosting? Is the texture smooth and light, as the "mousse" in the title would suggest?

The egg yolk does provide stabilization. If you are worried about it, I guess you can leave it out. I never have and have not had any problems. The icing is not of a texture like a whipped mousse. It is the texture of a creamy mousse. It DOES stay creamy like a mousse and does not stiffen up like a ganache.

When I came up with the recipe, I used a recipe called Chocolate Mousse Icing. I changed it to use rum instead of vanilla. I also added the butter to the recipe for richness. A ganache is generally just chocolate and cream (no butter, vanilla or eggs). I've experimented with putting some coffee in this before. It tasted ok, but it took a lot of the chocolate taste out of it.

ETA: What kind of cocoa would you recommend for the cake? Regular? Dutch-processed? Also, what kind of chocolate flavor does the finished cake have? Is it dark and deeply flavored, or is it more mellow?

I just use Hershey's cocoa. As for the taste, it is definitely a deep dark flavor which is why I say it is so rich. I try to put AS MUCH frosting on it as possible as that is the richest part of the cake. The fact the cake itself has the Symphony bars (I used to just use semi-sweet chocolate chips which you still can do) along with the icing means you need to give small portions of this. Seriously, one cake is enough for 20 people easily.

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:18 pm

IndyFrisco wrote:The egg yolk does provide stabilization. If you are worried about it, I guess you can leave it out. I never have and have not had any problems. The icing is not of a texture like a whipped mousse. It is the texture of a creamy mousse. It DOES stay creamy like a mousse and does not stiffen up like a ganache.

When I came up with the recipe, I used a recipe called Chocolate Mousse Icing. I changed it to use rum instead of vanilla. I also added the butter to the recipe for richness. A ganache is generally just chocolate and cream (no butter, vanilla or eggs). I've experimented with putting some coffee in this before. It tasted ok, but it took a lot of the chocolate taste out of it.

I would probably opt to leave out the egg yolks, since the cream and butter should keep the consistency creamy enough to spread. Ganache can range from creamy to firm depending on the cream (and/or butter)-to-chocolate ratio. You can also add flavoring and retain the "ganache" title. That's just semantics.

I'm just iffy on egg yolks. I believe (I could be wrong) that eggs that carry salmonella, carry it in the yolk. I understand that it's like 1 in 20,000 eggs that would make people sick, but... well, I've had salmonella and if I can avoid the risk, I will. Unless you convince me that they are a necessary ingredient in the body/flavor of the ganache, I'll probably leave them out. If you want to add richness, just replace the yolks with more butter.

A hint about coffee and chocolate:
Chocolate loves coffee. Coffee is chocolate's best friend. If you want to use coffee to enhance the flavor of the chocolate (and not have an outwardly noticeable 'coffee' flavor), use just a small amount of espresso powder. I would not bother trying to flavor the ganache, because seriously, WHY?? Instead, I'd put 1/2 tsp espresso powder in the cake itself, mixed into the dry ingredients. It adds amazing depth to the flavor of chocolate (at least it does if the chocolate is dark... not sure about milk because I so infrequently use it). It's one of those "wow, this is GOOD" things that gives the cake just a bit of an edge over regular chocolate cakes.

Is it necessary to the cake to include the Symphony bars or chocolate chips? If it is important to include the pieces of chocolate, I will probably use a chopped bar of bittersweet. I loves me the dark chocolate. As if that wasn't obvious.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:28 pm

No, the cake doesn't require the symphony or chips. It just adds extra chocolate flavor. Subbing any kind of semi-sweet or dark chocolate will do.

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:29 pm

Thanks, what I meant though was does it need ANY chocolate added at all, or is the cake fine without? I like a smoioth, velvety cake.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:32 pm

Is this cake soluble in a Glass Of Milk?

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:14 pm

ppanther wrote:Thanks, what I meant though was does it need ANY chocolate added at all, or is the cake fine without? I like a smoioth, velvety cake.

No, you don't need any extra chocolate. You can skip this. Just be sure not to overmix the batter. That's what people do a lot and it causes the cake to be much more dense. I think that's what you are getting at, right? You would rather a light and fluffy cake vs. a dense cake?

Headhunter · Post by **Headhunter** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 3:20 pm

ppanther wrote: Chocolate loves coffee. Coffee is chocolate's best friend.

You best be steppin' off, Nigga.

Sin,

A Rasberry sauce (de-seeded and reduced to syup with the pulp added back) is pretty damned hard to beat. Just whipped up a fresh batch this week-end to go with a Chocolate Tort. Butter, eggs, and chocolate, Baby. Simplicty defined!

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:42 pm

IndyFrisco wrote:
ppanther wrote:Thanks, what I meant though was does it need ANY chocolate added at all, or is the cake fine without? I like a smoioth, velvety cake.
No, you don't need any extra chocolate. You can skip this. Just be sure not to overmix the batter. That's what people do a lot and it causes the cake to be much more dense. I think that's what you are getting at, right? You would rather a light and fluffy cake vs. a dense cake?

I know why it's important to not overbeat a cake batter made with all-purpose flour. No one wants a tough cake. If you use a cake flour, there is a much lower chance of overbeating, and in fact it's really good for the structure of a cake (if your goal is a fine, velvety crumb) to beat it for a couple of minutes once all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet ingredients. You wouldn't want to do that with an all-purpose flour, for sure.

My question was simply to find out if the chunks of chocolate are required, because I often prefer an uninterrupted velvety texture when I'm eating cake. I don't need cake mix-style "light and airy", I just need "fine".

Keep in mind, cake is almost always my least favorite dessert. It's OK... it's just... CAKE. There are so many more fun things to eat than cake. Unless the cake is GOOD. A really, really good cake is heaven on a plate. It's also, unfortunately, extremely rare.

Thanks for the recipe!!

Also, if you like baking cakes and you don't already have it, check out The Cake Bible. Best book in my cake making library.

Headhunter · Post by **Headhunter** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:48 pm

ppanther wrote:
Also, if you like baking cakes and you don't already have it, check out The Cake Bible. Best book in my cake making library.

Rack.

Rose Levy Berenbaum is the shizznit. That's who's chocolate oblivion truffle tort and raspberry sauce I used. No need to tinker... It's perfect just the way she lays it out.

Love Rose's books.

The bread bible is also a must for artisan bread makers.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 6:55 pm

I have the King Arthur Flour "Bible" which I swear by. I love the history behind the recipes and techniques.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/088150 ... F8&s=books

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:20 pm

Oh yep, I have that book and love it -- I'd still refer to the Cake Bible for cakes, though.

Headhunter wrote:Rose Levy Berenbaum is the shizznit.

With that said, my KAF Cookie Companion is probably my most-used cookbook overall, and is DEFINITELY my most-used baking book. Best. Brownies. Ever.

And the Bakers Catalogue is where I get a LOT of ingredients that I have trouble finding elsewhere... like black cocoa, espresso powder, maple sugar, etc. Great resource. The website's easy to click around and the paper catalog actually makes me want to bake even when it's 100 degrees outside.

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:41 pm

I'm going to post again because I was thinking about it...

Since we're discussing baking books, I am going to tell you which books are my favorites, and which recipes in which books are worth the purchase of the books by themselves.

1) King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion
ESSENTIAL. As I mentioned, best brownies ever (and three basic types, all are good). The cheesecake brownie (don't remember the exact name, but it's in the brownie 'variations' section) is so good it shouldn't be legal. Also, this is the book that gave me the BEST cookie for decorating I've ever come across (rightfully called "Decorator's Dream Cookie"). Everyone who eats them always raves about how they are "actually yummy". Everything I've made from this book -- and that's a LOT of recipes -- has been absolutely delicious.

2) The King Arthur Flour Baking Companion
Another book filled with good, solid, go-to recipes. This book has the best recipe I've seen for Cream Tea Scones. It also has a delicious crumb coffee cake recipe. It has a fair representation of cookies and bars, but I rarely use that section because I have the cookie book. I've used the waffle recipe and it's good, though fairly basic. There are recipes for crackers and flatbreads and other savories that are very good. I probably wouldn't use it too often for yeast bread recipes, as I love my Bread Bakers Apprentice book for that stuff (and someday, I'll love the Bread Bible, when I can justify ANOTHER cookbook on the baking shelf).

3) Baking Illustrated
Fantastic recipe for basic coffeehouse-style scones. Very good coffeecake recipe. Great overall cookbook with LENGTHY descriptions about the hows and whys of the recipes (as is true with all Cooks Illustrated-related publications). The best reason to own this book: The ridiculously sinful massively chocolate cookie recipe, it's either double or triple or quadruple chocolate, I don't recall the exact name of it. It is THE MOST delicious chocolate cookie ever made.

4) The Cake Bible
I don't make cakes on a regular basis, but when I do, I go here. I love R.Berenbaum's descriptions, and I love that the ingredients in the book are given in weights. Baking is a science, and cake baking is about as exacting as it gets. Having measurements by weight means your texture won't be thrown by sloppy volume measurements, improperly sifted flour, oddly-sized eggs, etc. The BEST cakes I've made from this book are the chocolate torte, the sour cream chocolate cake, and a layer cake I made that was the Golden Cream Cake (I think that's the name) with maple buttercream (REAL buttercream, not the nasty powdered sugar/shortening junk). Also, I LOVE the Italian Meringue buttercream recipes, but I RARELY make them, because when I do I tend to eat them by the spoon while I'm icing the cake. Not the healthiest thing and I have almost NO will power with that stuff. Also, there is some debate about whether or not the eggs reach the 'safe zone' when making Italian Buttercreams using non-pasteurized eggs. I tend to believe the eggs DO get hot enough, given the sugar syrup being poured in is something like 230 degrees and it takes quite awhile to cool down below 165... but since it's not a definite given, I am hesitant to serve it to guests. I just don't wanna make 'em sick.

5) The Bread Bakers Apprentice
LOVE LOVE LOVE the Cinnamon Rolls. I've made a few other breads from this book and like it a lot, but I'm not quite as avid about the artisan breadmaking as our pal HH (though I'd love to be, if I had time, and hope to be someday). I REALLY want to make the bagels, because honestly, WHO makes their own bagels???

Another worth having, but not quite in the same league as the books listed above:

"Short and Sweet" (or something) by Gale Gand -- worth buying for the Chocolate Pavlova recipe if nothing else. Lots of good stuff in here, though.

Also, I have an issue of Gourmet from way back that has some of the best chocolate recipes I've ever made in it... double chocolate cheesecake, chocolate-espresso pots de creme, and fallen chocolate souffle cake, all to DIE for. All are most likely available at epicurious.com.

-----

OK, so I realize I typed that out for all 2 people who read this forum, but whatever. It was fun and I wasn't in the mood to focus on work.

trev · Post by **trev** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:29 pm

ppanther, that is great information. It sure is inspiring. I'm getting a new oven soon which will make baking more enjoyable for me. We're also getting our A/C re-vamped. Matter of fact a whole new kitchen. I'm splurging on the cooktop and oven.

What kind of oven do you use for baking, gas, convection, electric?

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:41 pm

Right now, I use a standard electric oven, which I love, and an electric stovetop, which I hate. I don't have much choice; no gas in the building.

If I was designing my dream kitchen, I would DEFINITELY get a gas cooktop and an electric oven. I've never used convection, so I'm not sure if I'd want that. Have you decided what you're getting already?

trev · Post by **trev** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:55 pm

I'm leaning towards a gas cooktop and convection oven. I need to do way more research though. The ceramic cooktops are very tempting as far as easy cleaning. But I've had a gas cooktop forever so I don't want to regret switching to electric. My gas oven is terrible. I've never had such an inferior oven to cook in.

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:28 pm

If you're used to a gas cooktop, there is a good chance you'd miss it. There are probably better electric cooktops than the one I use, though... I could deal with a nice ceramic cooktop if I knew the burners got hot AND cooled quickly.

Have fun with your new oven! :)

Headhunter · Post by **Headhunter** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:26 pm

ppanther wrote:I could deal with a nice ceramic cooktop if I knew the burners got hot AND cooled quickly.

Does such a thing exist?

I've been rolling with gas for 14 years now, and I'll never roll without. I hate cooking at other peoples house who have electric. Drives me batty. My mom has the real nice ceramic, and while it cools quicker than the old elements, it's still not quick enough for me.

Trev, go gas... It's the only logical answer if you have the choice and the means!

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:53 pm

pp,

thanks for the takes on the books. I might just go get the cake bible as i do not have that one.

As for ovens and ranges, the one I just had in Dallas was killer. I had a double convection oven and I had a 8 way gas range. I built that house and only lived in it a year. Since we downgraded the house a bit moving to a new town/state, I only have room for a standard oven/range. So, I got what I bought in my very first house, a Maytag Gemeni. It is a ceramic cooktop that has 5 burners (one in themiddle of the standard 4 in case you need it). It also has a double oven below. One is the size of your standard broiler that is usually used for storage on the bottom. However, for the Gemeni it is on top. Then you have a regular sized oven beneath. The regular sized oven is a convection, but you can buy one without convection.

This is a great oven in case you are limited on space.
And as you can see below, they even have a Gemini with a gas cooktop.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 12:58 pm

I ordered used copies of The Cake Bible and the King Arthur Flour Cookie books off of Amazon. Got both delivered for $30 total.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:17 pm

Got the books in. I've browsed the Cake Bible. Very interesting stuff. I'm looking forward to making the checkerboard cake. I already ordered the checkerboard cake pan set.

Headhunter · Post by **Headhunter** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 7:06 pm

The Chocloate Oblivion Truffle Torte is an easy cake to make, and excellent. Make sure to make it with the raspberyy sauce as well.

The Swiss black Forest cake with the brandied cherries is another favorite. One tip, however is to make the cherries well in advance. They mellow with age, and can be a bit "alcoholic" tasting if you make them at the same time as the cake.

I don't know about PP, but I prefer using Lindt as my baking chocolate. Great flavor.

trev · Post by **trev** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:59 pm

I was leaning towards the gas cooktop and convection oven. Now I'm back to the ceramic cooktop and convection oven. The convection oven is a fo' sure. This decision is turning out to be more difficult than I thought. I've decided I don't need a $4000.00 range. In 10 years, I'll want a new one anyway. Right now, it looks like a GE profile slide in range. It has a seamless ceramic cooktop and convection oven. Unless I go with the GE gas cooktop which won't be a bad decision either.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:44 pm

We replaced our cooktop last year. Unfortunately our kitchen is not set up for gas (or propane, which is what we have).
We bought a KitchenAid cooktop, like the one below, mostly because it was the only one available in the right size that had a downdraft fan.

It works 100 times better than the old cast iron unit I took out, but I'd still rather cook with gas.

Trev, if you're still shopping for appliances you definitely need to check out Pacific Sales (unless you already knew that). There's one in Carlsbad near I5 just off Palomar Airport Road. By far the best prices on anything you want to buy. I paid about $200 less there for the cooktop than I could find it anywhere else. They carry all of the top of the line stuff and if they don't have what you want in their showroom they will order it for you. I've also bought a fridge, a microwave and my KWC kitchen faucet there.

http://www.pacificsales.com/a/appliances_m.asp

trev · Post by **trev** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 2:34 pm

Ok, it's 100 times better, Mikey. What about gas would be better? How fast does the ceramic adjust temps?

I'll check out Pacific Sales. I need to firm up this decision by next week. Our contractor sent me here. http://www.standardsofexcellence.com/sa ... diego.html

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:11 pm

Stick with the gas.

Since I'm usually cooking for one, I don't do much cooking.

But, having experience with all the types mentioned...it isn't even a close contest.

Gas cooktop, convection oven. Any other setup is inferior. The smooth cooktops look cool, and that's where the cooleness ends. You'll be much happier with the gas.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 5:38 pm

The ceramic cooktop heats up really fast, but it doesn't transfer heat to the pan as fast as gas does, so the control is not as fine and immediate. It's also more important to have a very flat bottom on your cookware with the cooktop to improve the heat transfer. This doesn't much matter with a gas flame. The other thing is that a gas flame is continous and adjustable. The ceramic element controls heat by turning on and off. Not sure how much difference this actually makes but I would think that the continuous option would be preferable.

Trev, that place your contractor sent you to looks like it has a bigger showroom than Pacific Sales. If you're buying the appliances yourself I would suggest going there and finding what you like, get their price and go up to Pacific Sales and see what they have. If it's not on display they'll order it for you. I may be wrong, but you may find lower prices there. It's basically a contractors outlet that also sells to the public.

trev · Post by **trev** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:30 pm

Actually they had a lot of high end "commercial" type ranges on display. Dacor and Viking, mainly. Since ya'll seemed to have convinced me on the gas I'll need to look again. The Maytag one Indy put up looked interesting with the double oven.

Yeah, I think I'll be happier with the gas convection combo.

I'm glad I brough this issue here.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:56 pm

It's an awesome oven, trev, for the price and for smaller spaces. Home Depot and Lowes should have the Maytag Gemini. Sears too probably. The gas with convection should cost about $1500. Only the bottom oven is convection. The upper smaller oven is not.

Open a hope depot credit card account anfd get 10% off too.

This one is $1549.

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN ... 0&MID=9876

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 5:20 pm

BIG TIME recommendation:

If you have the KAF Cookie Companion, and you happen to have madeleine pans (of course I do, I have ALL the pans)... You HAVE TO make the KAF CC Madeleine recipe. I made the chocolate variation with a little cinnamon added and I took them to a friend's house for movie watching, and I don't think anyone ate less than 3 of them. Hands down the best madeleine recipe I've ever used. Kinda fussy and not the quickest cookie (if you want to call a Madeleine a cookie) recipe in the world, but completely delicious.