5 posts tagged “cake”

Remember the test cake?  It's time.  Here's what I'll be doing over the next two days.  I'll try to take some pictures.

Cake Layers

3.22 T butter, melted for pans
45.11 T butter
20.94 ounces chocolate
29.00 egg yolks
3.22 cup sugar
12.89 egg whites

 
Chocolate Raspberry Mousse

1.91 pints raspberries
0.48 cup sugar
30.48 oz. semisweet chocolate
7.62 oz. unsweetened chocolate
11.43 egg whites
2.86 cups heavy cream

Chocolate Ganache
 
3.22 cup heavy cream
6.44 T butter
6.44 T sugar
38.67 ounces chocolate

Decoration

8 oz. white chocolate
6 oz. milk chocolate
48 lemon leaves
0.5 pint raspberries

I'm piecing together three recipes to make a cake full of chocolately goodness.  The final cake will need to be made a day or two in advance of eating, so I'm trying some test cakes to make sure they hold up.

The base is a chocolate génoise that is sliced into three layers, sandwiched with chocolate-raspberry mousse, and covered with a chocolate ganache.

Now it's just a matter of letting it sit so I can see what it tastes like after a day or two.  I suppose I should have a piece now so I have a frame of reference for what it tastes like after a day.  All in the name of science and research, of course.

From Marcel Desaulniers' Death by Chocolate...

1. Chop 2 pounds of chocolate
2. Boil 3.75 cups heavy cream with butter and sugar, pour over chocolate and let sit for a few minutes
3. Stir to make ganache
4. Spread raspberry purée over one layer of cake
5. Spread chocolate hazelnut ganache
6. Cover with the second layer of cake
7. Cut into 36 diamonds
   
8. Cover diamonds with plain ganache
9. Leftover scraps of cake after cutting the diamonds.  Now what do you suppose I should do with these?

When discussions in a couple posts and comment threads align with things you encounter in real life, you know you have to put down everything else, forgo sleep, and blog about it.

While I was hunting around for cake pictures to sate Laurel's (inquisitive) appetite, I came across the collection of food service recipes presented on 4x6 postcards distributed by Kraft Cuisine Service (picked up at a library book sale).  There's no publication date, but I'm guessing it's some time in the 1950s (another recent topic).  The theme of the recipe packet is "October is Cheese Festival Month", and there are probably about 50 cards -- mostly main dishes with a few desserts thrown in.  Based on the packet's subtitle of "Delicious * Nutricious * Profitable" and recipe quantities for 24 or 48 servings, it's clearly aimed at the food service industry.  While they don't have a recipe card for Raf's Chili Cheese Fries, I've included a couple scans where I've combined the front and back of the card in one image.  Epicure, indeed!

Laurel also mused about a "show us your cookbook shelf" Vox Hunt, so here's mine:
Finally, I'm officially announcing the Cake picture collection.  Bring your own milk.