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Monday, February 8, 2010

Sweet and Salty Cake from Baked NYC



We're getting ready for Valentine's Day at Amy Atlas Events and we've been searching our favorite recipes to share with you. I happen to love the combination of sweet and salty and I was looking for a great recipe to satisfy everyone's sweet {and salty} tooth. Lucky for us, the amazing guys at Baked NYC , Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, are sharing their famous Chocolate Cake with Caramel Ganache Icing and Fleur de Sel with us today! How AMAZING does that cake sound! I honestly can eat this cake all day long! If you haven't had a chance to get to Baked NYC, then you need to plan a trip!

Recipe excerpted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking (Stewart, Tabori & Chang)

Makes one 8-inch 3-layer cake

* 3/4 cup cocoa powder
* 2/3 cup sour cream
* 2 2/3 cups cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
* 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 1 cup dark brown sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 tablespoon pure vanilla
* 1/2 cup Caramel with Salt (see recipe below)
* Whipped Caramel Ganache Icing (see recipe below)
* Fleur de sel, for garnish

Directions

Cake
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans. Line each pan with a parchment paper round, butter parchment paper and flour; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa, 1 1/4 cups hot water, and sour cream; set aside to cool, about 10 minutes.

3. In another large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening together until smooth and it appears to create strings inside the bowl, about 7 minutes. Add both sugars and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until well incorporated. Add vanilla, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and mix again for 30 seconds. Add flour mixture alternating with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

5. Divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake until cake is just firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 18 to 24 minutes. Let cool completely.

6. Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the first layer on the cake plate. Using about 1/4 cup of the caramel, spread a thin layer on the cake, allowing some of the caramel to soak into the cake. Follow the caramel layer with a layer of about 1 cup of the ganache icing. Place the second layer on top and repeat process with another layer of caramel followed by a layer of ganache icing. Place the remaining layer on top of the second layer bottom side up. Spread entire cake with remaining ganache icing. Sprinkle with fleur de sel.

* 1 cup sugar
* 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1 teaspoon fleur de sel
* 1/4 cup sour cream

Caramel With Salt
Directions

1. Combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the mixture reaches 350 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, mix together cream and salt. Bring cream to a boil and cook until salt has dissolved, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. When the caramel mixture has reached 350 degrees, remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 minute. Carefully add the hot cream to the caramel; stir to combine. Whisk in sour cream. Cool, and store in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

* 1 pound dark chocolate, chopped
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
* 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
* 1 pound (4 sticks) butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces, softened but still cool


Caramel Ganache Icing

Directions

1. Combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the mixture reaches 350 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.
2. In another small saucepan add cream and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. When the caramel mixture has reached 350 degrees, remove from heat and allow to rest for 1 minute. Add the hot cream to the caramel; stir to combine. Let cool 5 minutes. Place chocolate in the bowl of an electric mixer and pour caramel sauce over chocolate. Let sit 1 minute before stirring from the center until chocolate is melted.
4. Attach bowl to electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low until the bowl feels cool to the touch. Add butter and increase speed to medium-high until mixture is well combined, thickened, and slightly whipped, about 2 minutes.

12 comments:

Simply Mel {Reverie} said...

Over-the-top decadent!

Jenn Herwig said...

Can't wait to test this recipe out! I am such a chocolate and salt fan!!! Thanks Amy for the fantastic recipe!

MaryBeth Houlihan said...

i just made a chocolate cake with sour cream in it. it was out of this world. can't wait to give this one a go!

Chef Christine said...

Love this cake - just made one myself a few weeks ago. So rich and tasty.

Megan said...

yum! this sounds amazing! <3

Sue said...

When a recipe starts with cocoa and sour cream, I KNOW it's going to be GOOD!!! :)

Cara @ Live the Home Life said...

Oh, my chocolate loving husband will love this one! I cannot wait to try it on for size. Thanks for sharing!

-Cara @ Live the Home Life

katie@tulsadetails said...

Oh my gosh, I love sweet and salty and I love cake. This would be heaven!

Sean said...

Wow, that cake looks really good.

GMD said...

Is 350 degrees right for the caramel? It seems like it might be 250 degrees, as 350 is well above a hard crack- it seems counter intuitive to me. I was wondering if anyone who has made the recipe knows.

Veronica said...

Dr G$ you're right. 350* is too hot. I've made caramel dozens of time at home but decided against my better judgement to do it to 350* as per the recipe and SCORCHED it. I took it off at 300* on second go and it was great. I probably could have left it a bit longer, but after the first batch I got nervous. The caramel is wonderful though! I'm working on the cake now and I can hardly wait to have it tomorrow at our Valentine's day brunch!

Meredith said...

That sounds amazing! I love anything with the sweet-salty combo. Thanks for the recipe!

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