I Love Butter, But Not This Much
So yesterday I baked up a birthday cake for the sassy doula in our group. Today is officially her 40th birthday, but since we had a meeting yesterday, we decided to start celebrating early. I mean, 40 is a biggie, don't you think?
October 9, 2007
Name of cake: Doulas Never Say No To Chocolate
Occasion: Sassy Turns 40! (name changed to protect the innocent)
Constituents: Dark Chocolate Butter Cake filled and frosted with Classic Egg White Chocolate Buttercream
The cake baking itself was fine and dandy, after running out to get more vanilla extract because I was 2 grams short.
I highly recommend you all use Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder next time you have a recipe that calls for dutched cocoa powder. I don't like Hershey's Special Dark chocolate for eating, but for baking, the cocoa powder is da bomb. I mean, take a look at this photo (of a cake I baked last year...still no camera)--that is what your chocolate cakes will look like, and believe me, they will taste AWESOME!
This post is really about my adventures in frosting, because the Egg White Chocolate Buttercream was my emergency second choice.
What I really wanted to fill and frost with, was the White Chocolate Ganache. I thought the contrast in color and flavor would be really nice, and it would tone down that seriously chocolately cake. Also, White Chocolate Ganache is really just whip cream with a cocoa buttery tang to it, so I thought the frosting would also be a bit lighter than a buttercream.
It should be a really easy frosting to make. You take your good quality white chocolate and melt it with 1/4 cup heavy cream in a double boiler. Once melted, you set it aside and you whip the rest of the cream just until you see streaks from the beaters. Then you add in the chocolate and beat until soft peaks form or it's all blended or it looks like whip cream. Then, frost!
Somehow I am overzealous with the beating, because I looked down into my mixer after adding the chocolate and all I saw was curdling.
it looked like this, but much worse
I have come to the conclusion that I am like a deer in the headlights when weird stuff goes on around me. I just kept staring at that curdly mess and watched it get more and more curdly as the beater kept beating it. I finally had to admit that what I had made was not White Chocolate Ganache, but White Chocolate Butter.
Wow, how Little House on the Prairie of me!
By this time the meeting had begun and I was still at home with a bowl of White Chocolate Butter and two cake layers that were unfilled and unfrosted. I grumpily searched The Book for a quick frosting that wouldn't require 6 egg yolks (I only had 5 eggs) or some other crazy outlandish ingredient. I settled on the Egg White Chocolate Buttercream which is one of my favorite chocolate buttercreams in the book. It is quick, super easy, and there is no chance of accidentally churning butter.
I arrived at our meeting one hour late with a chocolate-chocolate cake in hand, and the prego doula sitting next to me asked if it was a chocolate cake inside all that chocolate frosting. When she heard my affirmation of a chocolate-chocolate cake, she leaned in and said, "bless you!"
Nice. Who knew that churning butter would lead to my benefaction?
October 9, 2007
Name of cake: Doulas Never Say No To Chocolate
Occasion: Sassy Turns 40! (name changed to protect the innocent)
Constituents: Dark Chocolate Butter Cake filled and frosted with Classic Egg White Chocolate Buttercream
The cake baking itself was fine and dandy, after running out to get more vanilla extract because I was 2 grams short.
I highly recommend you all use Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder next time you have a recipe that calls for dutched cocoa powder. I don't like Hershey's Special Dark chocolate for eating, but for baking, the cocoa powder is da bomb. I mean, take a look at this photo (of a cake I baked last year...still no camera)--that is what your chocolate cakes will look like, and believe me, they will taste AWESOME!
see, told you
This post is really about my adventures in frosting, because the Egg White Chocolate Buttercream was my emergency second choice.
What I really wanted to fill and frost with, was the White Chocolate Ganache. I thought the contrast in color and flavor would be really nice, and it would tone down that seriously chocolately cake. Also, White Chocolate Ganache is really just whip cream with a cocoa buttery tang to it, so I thought the frosting would also be a bit lighter than a buttercream.
It should be a really easy frosting to make. You take your good quality white chocolate and melt it with 1/4 cup heavy cream in a double boiler. Once melted, you set it aside and you whip the rest of the cream just until you see streaks from the beaters. Then you add in the chocolate and beat until soft peaks form or it's all blended or it looks like whip cream. Then, frost!
Somehow I am overzealous with the beating, because I looked down into my mixer after adding the chocolate and all I saw was curdling.
I have come to the conclusion that I am like a deer in the headlights when weird stuff goes on around me. I just kept staring at that curdly mess and watched it get more and more curdly as the beater kept beating it. I finally had to admit that what I had made was not White Chocolate Ganache, but White Chocolate Butter.
Wow, how Little House on the Prairie of me!
By this time the meeting had begun and I was still at home with a bowl of White Chocolate Butter and two cake layers that were unfilled and unfrosted. I grumpily searched The Book for a quick frosting that wouldn't require 6 egg yolks (I only had 5 eggs) or some other crazy outlandish ingredient. I settled on the Egg White Chocolate Buttercream which is one of my favorite chocolate buttercreams in the book. It is quick, super easy, and there is no chance of accidentally churning butter.
I arrived at our meeting one hour late with a chocolate-chocolate cake in hand, and the prego doula sitting next to me asked if it was a chocolate cake inside all that chocolate frosting. When she heard my affirmation of a chocolate-chocolate cake, she leaned in and said, "bless you!"
Nice. Who knew that churning butter would lead to my benefaction?
You are a hoot! How did you do that?!
ReplyDeleteI love the Little House on the Prairie reference.
I recently made a banana chocolate chip recipe. Initial taste test from the oven was good. (had a corner that stuck) Later when it cooled, it was a mass of gunk. Inedible. I threw it away. I am sure it needed more flour.
You are always making a nice treat for your friends. Lucky friends.
Yes indeed...what lucky friends you have!
ReplyDeleteoh you ladies, stop. i bake for my friends so that i can satisfy my urge to bake and eat one piece of cake--and they get stuck with the rest!! if i didn't give it away, i'd eat the whole cake on my own in about two days!!
ReplyDelete...but let's go with the perception that i really am all nice and stuff...looks better on the blog...
:)
The cake sounds delicious -- and so does the White Chocolate Butter. Did you taste that? Do you remember the chocolate butter for sale in Crimea? Lucky nearby friends!
ReplyDelete