Chocolate and Salted Carmel Layer Cake

This is R's absolute favorite cake in the whole world. I stumbled upon some variation of this last year and after making it, R declared that this was his new birthday cake. Although the recipe seems really, really long, its not too bad. I make the cakes the day before which allows them to cool and allows me to feel like I haven't spent all day doing this one thing. Enjoy!

Chocolate and Salted Caramel Layer Cake

Yields: 1 2-layer 9-inch cake

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

2 C. All-purpose flour

1 ½ C. Sugar

¾ C. Unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. Baking soda

¼ tsp. Salt

1 C. Water

¾ C. Buttermilk

¾ C. Vegetable oil

3 Eggs

For the Ganache:

18 oz. Dark chocolate, chopped (do not exceed 61% cacao)

2 ¼ C. Heavy cream

For the Salted Caramel:

¼ C. Sugar

2 Tbsp. Water

¼ C. Heavy cream

1 tsp. Vanilla

Split caramel in half and add 1/8 tsp. Salt to half

For the Salted Caramel Buttercream:

To second half of caramel, add ¾ stick of salted butter (or 3/4 stick of unsalted butter and 1/8 tsp. of salt)

1 C. Powdered sugar

 Instructions:

 For the Cake:

1.       Position racks in the top and bottom third of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Coat two 9-inch springform pans with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with parchment rounds; spray top of rounds.

2.       Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to blend and form well in the center. Whisk 1 C. water, buttermilk, oil, and eggs in medium bowl to blend. Pour wet ingredients into well in dry ingredients; whisk just to blend, don’t over-whisk. Divide cake batter between prepared pans (about 3 cups each).

3.       Bake cakes until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. (If cakes form domes, place kitchen towel atop hot cakes, then press gently with the palm of your hand to level.)

4.       Cool completely in pans on cooling racks.

***  Cakes can be made 1 day ahead. Cover cakes in pans and let stand at room temperature.

 For the Ganache:

1.       Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring cream just to boil in heavy medium saucepan.

2.       Pour cream over chocolate.

3.       Let stand 1 minute, then stir until ganache is melted and smooth.

4.       Transfer 1 ¼ C. ganache to a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ganache is thick enough to spread, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Let remaining ganache stand at room temperature to cool until barely lukewarm.

For the Salted Caramel:

1.       Briefly stir together sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

2.       Continue cooking, without stirring, until mixture turns dark amber in color, about 6 to 7 minutes.

3.       Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla (start with a tablespoon or two), stirring with a wooden spoon until completely smooth. Split evenly into two bowls and set aside until cool to the touch, about 25 minutes.

***  Keep a close eye on the caramel as you make it. It goes from clear bubbles to the “amber” color     within about 30 seconds, and then will burn pretty quickly thereafter.

4.       Mix in 1/8 tsp. salt to one bowl.

For the Salted Caramel Buttercream:

1.       Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

2.       Reduce speed to low, add powdered sugar, and mix until completely incorporated.

3.       Turn off mixer and add cooled caramel (the bowl without the salt added.)

4.       Beat frosting on low to combine, then increase to medium-high and beat until airy and thoroughly mixed, about 2 minutes.

5.       Refrigerate if not using immediately (or to harden the frosting a bit to make it easier to spread).

Cake Assembly:

·         Place cooling rack inside a rimmed baking sheet.

·         Carefully run knife around cake pan edges to release cakes. Invert 1 cake layer onto cardboard round. Peel off parchment paper. Place cake layer on round on prepared rack.

·         Spread a layer of salted caramel, then a layer of chilled ganache, then a layer of salted caramel buttercream onto one of the cake layers.

·         Invert second layer of cake onto another cardboard round. Peel off parchment paper. Carefully slide cake off round and onto the frosted cake layer on rack.

·         Pour half of barely lukewarm ganache over cake, spreading over sides to cover. Freeze until ganache sets, about 30 minutes. Pour remaining ganache over cake, allowing to drip down sides and spreading over sides if needed for even coverage and to smooth edges. Freeze to set ganache, about 30 minutes.

·         Fill pastry bag with remaining salted caramel buttercream. Decorate top of cake.

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Who doesn't love a chocolate-chip cookie? Who doesn't love a little extra chocolate? The answer is nobody and/or weirdos. So, on with the greatest variation of the chocolate-chip cookie ever.

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Yields: about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

2 C. Flour

1/2 C. Cocoa Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

1 C. (2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter, at Room Temperature

½ C. White Sugar

¾ C. Packed Light Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

2 Large Eggs

8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate-chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Place butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla and eggs. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and continue to mix until a smooth batter forms. Turn off the mixer and fold in the chocolate-chips using the spatula.
4. Bake for 9-10 minutes. 

Chocolate Souffle

My first souffle has turned out to be quite the success. It was light and chocolaty and totally delicious. It puffed up beautifully, then proceeded to fall within 5 minutes of coming out of the oven, but it came out directly underneath the air-conditioning vent so it was to be expected. Besides, by the time its served nobody knows what it looked like in the dish anyway.

Chocolate Souffle
I apologize, I cannot remember where I got this recipe

Ingredients:

About 1 Tbs. butter for dish
1/3 C. sugar, plus some for dish
3 eggs, separated
2 oz. good quality bittersweet chocolate, melted
Pinch salt
¼ tsp. cream of tartar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 2-cup or one 4-cup soufflé or other deep baking dish(es). Sprinkle each with sugar, invert it and tap to remove excess sugar.
Beat egg yolks with all but 1 Tablespoon sugar until very light and very thick; mixture will fall in a ribbon from beaters when it is ready. Mix in the melted chocolate until well combined; set aside.

Wash beaters well, then beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until whites hold soft peaks; continue to beat, gradually adding remaining Tbs. sugar, until they are very stiff and glossy.

Stir a good spoonful of whites thoroughly into egg yolk mixture to lighten it; then fold in remaining whites, using a rubber spatula.

Transfer to prepared soufflé dish(es); at this point you can cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake.

Bake until center is nearly set, 20 minutes for individual soufflés and 25 to 35 minutes for a single large soufflé. (I did mine in a 6 cup souffle dish and it took 25 minutes). Serve immediately with some vanilla ice cream and sweetened whipped cream.

Chocolate Cream Puffs

I asked my husband what dessert he wanted me to try my hand at next and although he had zero good ideas, there did seem to be a chocolate theme involved. So, I took things into my own hands and went to the chocolate cookbook we were given as a gift years ago and have never used. Chocolate cream puffs it is and boy are they good. I told R that I was going to go take one over to my mom's house and he made a face like, "Why would you want to do that?" Well, because the two of us don't need 5 cream puffs each! Geez R, just because you only have to work out 4 seconds a week to stay skinny, doesn't mean we're all so lucky. Anywho, without further ado...the recipe.

Chocolate Cream Puffs

From The Chocolate and Coffee Bible
Yields 12 large cream puffs

Ingredients:

For the Puffs:

1 C. All-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. Cocoa powder

1 C. Water

½ tsp. Salt

1 Tbsp. Granulated sugar

½ C. Unsalted butter

4 Eggs

For the Chocolate Pastry Cream:

2 C. Milk
6 Egg yolks

½ C. Granulated sugar

½ C. All-purpose flour

5 oz. Semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces

½ C. Whipping cream

For the Chocolate Glaze:

1 ¼ C. Whipping cream
¼ C. Unsalted butter
8 oz. Bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 Tbsp. Light corn syrup
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

Directions:

1.        Preheat oven to 425 deg. F. Grease 2 large baking sheets. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl. In a pan over medium heat, bring the water, salt, sugar, and butter to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and add the flour/cocoa mixture all at once, stirring vigorously until the mixture is smooth and leaves the sides of the pan clean.

2.        Return the pan to the heat to cook the choux pastry for 1 minute, beating the mixture constantly. Remove from heat.
3.        With a hand-held mixer, beat the 4 whole eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The mixture should be thick and shiny and just fall from a spoon. Spoon the mixture into a large piping bag with a plain nozzle. Pipe 12 mounds about 3 inches across at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.

4.        Bake for 35-40 minutes until puffed and firm. Remove the puffs. Slice off and reserve the top third of each puff, return to the oven for 5-10 minutes to dry out. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

5.        For the pastry cream, bring the milk to a boil. Beat the yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Stir in the flour. Slowly pour 1 C. of the hot milk into the yolks, stirring constantly. Return the yolk mixture to the remaining milk in the pan and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth.

6.        Strain into a bowl and cover closely with plastic wrap. Cool. Whip the cream until stiff. Fold into the pastry cream.
7.        Using a large piping bag, fill each puff with pastry cream, then cover each puff with its top.

8.        Make the glaze by heating the cream, butter, chocolate, syrup, and vanilla over low heat until melted and smooth, stirring frequently. Leave to cool for 20-30 minutes until slightly thickened. Pour a little glaze over each of the cream puffs before serving.

Chocolate Meringue Pie

Let me preface this post with the fact that I am much more of a chocolate mousse pie kind of girl than a chocolate pudding pie kind of girl which is what this pie turned out to be. So, although it wasn't my favorite, it was still pretty damn delicious.

Chocolate Meringue Pie
from Martha Stewart

Yield Serves 8 to 12

Ingredients

• 1/2 recipe Flaky Pie Dough (recipe below)
• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 cups whole milk
• 3 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature
• Pinch of cream of tartar

Directions

1.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disk of dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into a 12-inch round. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim edges so that there is a 1-inch overhang. Fold under, and crimp with your fingers. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
2.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prick bottom of crust all over with a fork. Freeze 15 minutes. Line with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges are just golden, about 15 minutes. Remove weights and parchment. Return to oven, and bake until center is golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

3.  Whisk 1 cup sugar, the flour, and cocoa. Gradually whisk in 1/2 cup milk until smooth and thick. Whisk in egg yolks.

4.  Heat butter, salt, and remaining 1 1/2 cups milk in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until butter has melted. Add about 1/4 cup butter mixture to the cocoa mixture, and whisk until smooth. Add cocoa-butter mixture to pan, and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and beginning to bubble, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla. Pour through a fine sieve into cooled pie crust. Let cool completely. Refrigerate for 1 hour. *I would recommend refrigerating for much longer, up to overnight*

5. Preheat broiler. Put egg whites, remaining 2/3 cup sugar, and the cream of tartar into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until sugar has dissolved and mixture reaches 160 degrees. Remove from heat. Beat on medium-low speed for 5 minutes. Raise speed, and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Spoon onto pie, making sure meringue touches crust. Broil until browned, 30 seconds to 1 minute. *Meringue tastes better if its refrigerated after being browned, at least 30 minutes*

Flaky Pie Dough

from Martha Stewart

Yield Makes enough for two 9-inch pies

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/4 sticks (18 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons ice water

Directions

1. Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream until dough just holds together (no longer than 30 seconds).
2. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days). Dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

*This crust is super simple to make, the longest part is the refrigeration.