The Baking Bible: Chocolate Pavarotti with Wicked Good Ganache

There are chocolate cakes and there are chocolate cakes. This is one of the best I've had; it is light, moist, and tender. It almost feels like a cross between a sponge type cake (like the Chocolate Cuddle Cake) and a dense rich butter cake. It is easy to make and so delicious. The secret ingredient is white chocolate, which gives it that melt-in-your-mouth quality as well as a little bit of extra lift. Oil replaces some of the butter to keep it moist and soft at cool room temperature.

The ganache is also really wonderful; it is soft and pliant and richly satisfying without being too dark and possibly overpowering (I'm looking at you, Midnight Ganache of my dreams). There's a secret technique here, too, which is what Rose calls an "enrichment" of unsweetened chocolate and corn syrup. This gets mixed into the regular culprits of 61% chocolate and heavy cream. Oh, and there's a little kick from a bit of cayenne pepper. I thought we had cayenne until I went looking for it and discovered we don't anymore (Mark went on a big spice clean-out before we moved here). He suggested using the Ancho chili powder instead so I did. Just a tiny bit of lingering something that stays on your tongue, nothing overpowering or uncomfortable. Rose says the bit of heat encourages the chocolate flavor to linger in your mouth, and I think I might agree. At any rate, it is a yummy ganache.

I am loving pre-prepping the night before baking. Everything is up to room temperature, everything is measured out, and therefore mixing takes only a couple of minutes.  

And when you've given the child his favorite car, a stool, and some pots and pans to keep him occupied, a quick mix is a great thing.

 
Here's the finished cake. I got a little lazy with the melting of the white chocolate and you can see a little white chocolate blob on the side there.
 

And frosted. We couldn't wait to cut into this pretty little cake.

The young sir ate peas while I frosted and photographed.
 

So...can we eat yet?

 Pac-man cake.

  
We initially had vanilla ice cream with the cake, which was nice but not amazing. Also, the cake really blossomed in flavor and texture later that night, maybe four or five hours after cooling. Also, I would totally bake this cake again, if I had a chance!