Chocolate Cake

Copyright 2011 LtDansKitchen blogs

I've had my share of chocolate cakes but my favorite growing up was a D'Bakers chocolate cake. It was a dark chocolate cake with a caramel frosting and was really good but I never figured out how to make a version of it. Last time I was home, they didn't have it in their shop anymore. There was another pastry shop however that carried a chocolate cake that reminded me of a chocolate cake that we used to gorge on when we were working in the lab on our last semester before graduating from college. I've made a version of this cake a number of times but finding the right cake base was the tricky part. After a lot of cake searching, I finally settled on Dave Lieberman's Best Chocolate Cake Ever from his book, “Dave's Dinners: A Fresh Approach to Home-Cooked Meals”.

With a little bit of tweaking, I've made this cake a number of times with great results. I'm showing two versions that take this cake from great to awesome.

*Dave Lieberman's Best Chocolate Cake Ever (Adapted)

Cake:

3 large eggs

1 cup full fat yogurt

1 stick melted unsalted butter (4 oz)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cup sugar

1 ¼ cup flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 cup hot coffee + 1 tsp espresso powder

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a large glass bowl, combine the eggs, yogurt, melted butter and   
    vanilla and beat with a wire whisk. Gradually add the sugar and beat  
    the mixture until smooth.

3. In a separate mixing bowl, sift the dry ingredients together.

4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two steps  
    alternating with the hot coffee using a spatula.

5. Divide the batter between two greased and floured 9-inch round cake

    pan.

6. Bake for 25 minutes and allow cake to cool fully. 

Ganache:

1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream

16 oz semisweet chocolate

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp coffee liqueur

1. To make the ganache, bring the cream to a boil and pour on top of 
   the chocolate in a glass bowl. Whisk until you form a smooth and 
   glossy chocolate sauce. Allow to cool at  room temperature. 

2. Add the vanilla and the liqueur when the ganache has cooled for a 

    little bit.

The ganache takes time to reach the right consistency for frosting. You  

can start making this early on. You can also speed up the cooling process by chilling in the fridge. 

Just make sure you don't let it set too much. You want it to reach a 

spreadable consistency and not a thick mass of chocolate goo.

Assembly:

For the caramel filled version:

Copyright 2011 LtDansKitchen blogs

You will need 2 cans of condensed milk that have been caramelized by boiling in water for 2 to 3 hours. An alternative is to cook it in a pressure cooker for 20 to 25 minutes. Make sure you don't dry out the water and that the cans are always submerged or you will have a caramel bomb exploding in your kitchen.

Let the cans cool overnight at room temperature. Spread them as filling to sandwich the two chocolate cake layers and frost with the ganache.

For the raspberry filled version:

Copyright 2011 LtDansKitchen blogs

You will need 1/2 cup of raspberry jam and 1/4 cup water and cook on low heat to soften the jam. Once syrupy, strain to remove the seeds and cool to room temperature. Add a pint of fresh raspberries and 1 tsp of vanilla and mix carefully.

To assemble, spread a layer of ganache and top with the raspberry filling. Top with the second layer of cake and frost with the remaining ganache.

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

For both cakes, let them rest for at least 4 hours to allow the flavors to blend.

*Lieberman, Dave. Dave's Dinners: A Fresh Approach to Home-Cooked Meals. Hyperion, New York: 2006.