Chocolate Bull's-Eye Cakes

Golden genoise cups, vanilla rum syrup, apricot glaze and chocolate pot de creme. A delicious cake is made of delicious components, and this is no exception.

January 3, 2011
Name of Cakes: A Perfect Amount of Chocolate
Occasion: HCB
Constituents: see above

Happy New Year my lovely readers!

These little cakes are really easy to make and assemble, despite having several components. The liquor/sugar syrup for moistening the genoise and the apricot glaze to seal the cakes are both really quick and require very little effort. So really, it is just the genoise and the chocolate filling that demand your attention.

The best part about genoise is what happens to a couple of eggs after beating on high for 5-6 minutes. I think I have a similar photo for every genoise we've baked, but I can't help it. It is so pretty, and the best of baking alchemy.

I made a mistake and dumped all the flour in at once instead of in two batches. No worries; I used the KA whisk attachment to fold everything together and poured the batter into the cake pan. I actually have an individual MaryAnn pan, as I found it for eight bucks at Sur La Table this summer. For eight bucks I will indulge in a single-use pan.

Here they are just out of the oven.

I used my homemade vanilla rum for the sugar syrup.

I also used some leftover lekvar from the Chocolate Apricot Roll for the apricot glaze. Actually, what I used was the leftover apricot "glue" from the Apple Caramel Charlotte, which was made from leftover lekvar from the Chocolate Apricot Roll. Does this stuff ever spoil?

Now for the chocolate centers. Other HCB have been describing it as adult chocolate pudding and I think it is a cross between chocolate pudding and ganache. Yesterday when it was more fluid, it was like the best and most rich chocolate pudding. Today the centers have set up to a thick truffle-like consistency. Either way, it is a very good thing. Since the chocolate centers only need a couple ounces of dark chocolate, I decided to splurge and try a new brand.

I've been using their vanilla extract with much satisfaction so was interested in their chocolate, too. Pretty good, but expensive. That three ounce bar was $5.60!

There is a recipe for a chocolate ganache drizzle, but I found leftover chocolate butter glaze from The Bostini in the fridge and used that instead.  I also just used a spoon to drizzle, and was surprised it turned out as well as it did.

These are delicious cakes. There is just enough rich chocolate for my tastes, with the golden genoise to support it. The glaze adds a very light fruity flavor that just perks up all the flavors. That eight dollar pan will probably get used more than I thought, for fresh berries in the summer and this richly satisfying chocolate pretty much anytime.