Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest

April 28, 2006

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/in...&news_id=49462

Chocolate truffles are decadent morsels only consumed in manageable
bite-size pieces.

Gigi Burton, a 35-year-old housewife from Plainsboro, N.J., decided to
push the envelope and create an entire cake that mimicked the soft
texture and rich taste of her favorite dessert candy. Her creation,
Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake, which combines milk chocolate,
semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate, captured the coveted grand
prize award in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company's "Is Your Dessert
Intense Enough?" recipe contest.

If your chocolate palette is up for the challenge, here is the recipe:

Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake
Note: This recipe requires that the cake be refrigerated overnight
before frosting.

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for pan
3 cups Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
8 large eggs, cold
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
2 ounces Ghirardelli Classic White Chocolate Baking Bar, chilled

# Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
# Arrange rack in center of oven. Butter the bottom and sides of a
9x2" round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
# Melt butter and semi-sweet chocolate chips over double boiler until
smooth; cool slightly. Meanwhile, with a hand mixer or in the bowl of
an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip eggs and salt
on medium speed until doubled in volume, about five minutes.
# Gently fold, in thirds, whipped eggs into melted chocolate.
# Pour batter into prepared cake pan and place pan in water bath. Bake
until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and is set in the
center, about 40 minutes. Remove pan from water bath to a cooling rack
and cool cake completely in pan. Cover with plastic wrap and
refrigerate overnight.
# To remove cake, dip the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan in
warm water and run a thin metal spatula around the inside of the pan.
Invert onto a plate to un-mold, remove parchment paper.
# To prepare ganache, bring heavy cream to a simmer and pour over milk
chocolate chips. Stir gently until smooth; cool slightly. Pour ganache
over top of cake and spread with an offset spatula to evenly cover.
(There will be some ganache left over.)
# Chill cake until ganache sets, about 30 minutes. To garnish, use
vegetable peeler or grater to grate white chocolate bar into curls or
shavings onto top of cake.

"Rusty" > wrote

> Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
>
> April 28, 2006
>
> http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/in...&news_id=49462
>
> Chocolate truffles are decadent morsels only consumed in manageable
> bite-size pieces.
>
> Gigi Burton, a 35-year-old housewife from Plainsboro, N.J., decided to
> push the envelope and create an entire cake that mimicked the soft
> texture and rich taste of her favorite dessert candy.

Wow, that's got to be something else. Maybe I'll even try it.

Maybe.

nancy

Nancy Young wrote:
> "Rusty" > wrote
>
> > Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
> >
> > April 28, 2006
> >
> > http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/in...&news_id=49462
> >
> > Chocolate truffles are decadent morsels only consumed in manageable
> > bite-size pieces.
> >
> > Gigi Burton, a 35-year-old housewife from Plainsboro, N.J., decided to
> > push the envelope and create an entire cake that mimicked the soft
> > texture and rich taste of her favorite dessert candy.
>
> Wow, that's got to be something else. Maybe I'll even try it.
>
> Maybe.
>
> nancy


I thouht that I would fight some of today's newsgroup SPAM with
newspaper recipes.

Rusty

"Rusty" > wrote

> Nancy Young wrote:

>> Wow, that's got to be something else. Maybe I'll even try it.
>>
>> Maybe.

> I thouht that I would fight some of today's newsgroup SPAM with
> newspaper recipes.

Good plan, I'll never understand that crap, who knows what
motivates jerks like that.

nancy

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Rusty" > wrote
>
>> Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
>>
>> April 28, 2006
>>
>> http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/in...&news_id=49462
>>
>> Chocolate truffles are decadent morsels only consumed in manageable
>> bite-size pieces.
>>
>> Gigi Burton, a 35-year-old housewife from Plainsboro, N.J., decided to
>> push the envelope and create an entire cake that mimicked the soft
>> texture and rich taste of her favorite dessert candy.
>
> Wow, that's got to be something else. Maybe I'll even try it.
>
> Maybe.
>
> nancy

I think I'll skip all the work and just eat the chocolate.

Donna

at Sat, 29 Apr 2006 21:04:52 GMT in
.com>,
(Rusty) wrote :

>Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
>
>Gigi Burton, a 35-year-old housewife from Plainsboro, N.J., decided to
>push the envelope and create an entire cake that mimicked the soft
>texture and rich taste of her favorite dessert candy. Her creation,
>Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake, which combines milk chocolate,
>semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate, captured the coveted grand
>prize award in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company's "Is Your Dessert
>Intense Enough?" recipe contest.
>...
>2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for pan
>3 cups Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
>8 large eggs, cold
>1/4 teaspoon salt
>1/2 cup heavy cream
>1 cup Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
>2 ounces Ghirardelli Classic White Chocolate Baking Bar, chilled

Obviously the judges weren't *serious* chocoholics. This isn't particularly
intense, as evidenced by the relatively low chocolate concentration. I
always think it's humorous when people concoct recipes with 3 different
*types* of chocolate, and imagine that makes it more intense. In reality,
it makes it less intense, because, as for instance in this recipe, the milk
and white chocolate simply dilute the concentration over what you could
achieve if you were to have used all dark chocolate. This particular recipe
goes even further astray in that the "dark" chocolate used is semi-sweet
(she didn't even go to the trouble of using the Double Chocolate (or 60%
bittersweet) chocolate chips) For real chocolate intensity, you want at
least bittersweet all the way, preferably 70% and above, or unsweetened.
And it really needs to be more heavily concentrated. (This cake, btw, is
pretty much nothing more than a diluted Chocolate Decadence)

IIRC one of the judging criteria for the recipes was "ease of preparation"
and OK, one must concede that if you want to publish a recipe in a popular
cookbook it should be considerate of most peoples' finite time
availability. For pure chocolate intensity and simplicity of preparation,
it's pretty hard to beat the straightforward Chocolate Decadence recipe
(easy enough to look up on RecipeSource.com). This, in fact, I think would
have been the challenge of the competition - how to invent something
intense with chocolate that's simple to make and hasn't been done before.

I'd improve on Ms. Burton's recipe by:

1) replacing semisweet and milk chocolates with Ghirardelli 72%
bittersweet.
2) probably subbing the original Chocolate decadence recipe for this one
(original uses 1 lb chocolate for only 4 eggs and 10 tbsp butter)
3) using unsweetened chocolate for the shavings.
4) using *all* the ganache.
5) serving at room temperature (chilling mutes the flavour of chocolate)

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

"Alex Rast" > wrote in message
...
> at Sat, 29 Apr 2006 21:04:52 GMT in
> .com>,
> (Rusty) wrote :
>
>>Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
>>
>>Gigi Burton, a 35-year-old housewife from Plainsboro, N.J., decided to
>>push the envelope and create an entire cake that mimicked the soft
>>texture and rich taste of her favorite dessert candy. Her creation,
>>Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake, which combines milk chocolate,
>>semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate, captured the coveted grand
>>prize award in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company's "Is Your Dessert
>>Intense Enough?" recipe contest.
>>...
>>2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for pan
>>3 cups Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
>>8 large eggs, cold
>>1/4 teaspoon salt
>>1/2 cup heavy cream
>>1 cup Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
>>2 ounces Ghirardelli Classic White Chocolate Baking Bar, chilled
>
> Obviously the judges weren't *serious* chocoholics. This isn't
> particularly
> intense, as evidenced by the relatively low chocolate concentration. I
> always think it's humorous when people concoct recipes with 3 different
> *types* of chocolate, and imagine that makes it more intense. In reality,
> it makes it less intense, because, as for instance in this recipe, the
> milk
> and white chocolate simply dilute the concentration over what you could
> achieve if you were to have used all dark chocolate. This particular
> recipe
> goes even further astray in that the "dark" chocolate used is semi-sweet
> (she didn't even go to the trouble of using the Double Chocolate (or 60%
> bittersweet) chocolate chips) For real chocolate intensity, you want at
> least bittersweet all the way, preferably 70% and above, or unsweetened.
> And it really needs to be more heavily concentrated. (This cake, btw, is
> pretty much nothing more than a diluted Chocolate Decadence)
>
> IIRC one of the judging criteria for the recipes was "ease of preparation"
> and OK, one must concede that if you want to publish a recipe in a popular
> cookbook it should be considerate of most peoples' finite time
> availability. For pure chocolate intensity and simplicity of preparation,
> it's pretty hard to beat the straightforward Chocolate Decadence recipe
> (easy enough to look up on RecipeSource.com). This, in fact, I think would
> have been the challenge of the competition - how to invent something
> intense with chocolate that's simple to make and hasn't been done before.
>
> I'd improve on Ms. Burton's recipe by:
>
> 1) replacing semisweet and milk chocolates with Ghirardelli 72%
> bittersweet.
> 2) probably subbing the original Chocolate decadence recipe for this one
> (original uses 1 lb chocolate for only 4 eggs and 10 tbsp butter)
> 3) using unsweetened chocolate for the shavings.
> 4) using *all* the ganache.
> 5) serving at room temperature (chilling mutes the flavour of chocolate)
>
> --
> Alex Rast

Alex, would this be the 'orginal Chocolate Decadence' recipe?
http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Narsai's%20original%20chocolate%20decadence
Thanks,
Dee Dee

Rusty wrote:
> Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
>
> April 28, 2006
>
> http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/in...&news_id=49462
>

Ok, so the "cake" is chocolate, salt and eggs? Sounds more like
chocolate quiche. Yuck.
-L.

On 2 May 2006 00:09:34 -0700, "-L." > wrote:

>Rusty wrote:
>> Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
>>
>> April 28, 2006
>>
>> http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/in...&news_id=49462
>>
>
>Ok, so the "cake" is chocolate, salt and eggs? Sounds more like
>chocolate quiche. Yuck.

MUCH better than it sounds. Try it. If you don't care for it, you
can send it to me.

Carol
--

Some people are like Slinkies... they don't really have a purpose but
they bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

Stolen from "traid" on the IRC

at Tue, 02 May 2006 07:09:34 GMT in
.com>,
(-L.) wrote :

>
>Rusty wrote:
>> Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
>>
>> April 28, 2006
>>
>> http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/in...&screen=news&n
>> ews_id=49462
>>
>
>Ok, so the "cake" is chocolate, salt and eggs? Sounds more like
>chocolate quiche. Yuck.
>-L.

Well, to be exact, chocolate, butter, salt and eggs. This is a pretty
standard take on the flourless chocolate cake theme. Flourless chocolate
cakes actually turn out really well. The basic idea is that you're making
an extremely dense chocolate custard. Alternatively, you could consider it
a super-dense chocolate mousse. Same basic premise. Interestingly, you're
correct in one respect, the texture does turn out a lot like quiche (or to
be exact, the filling part of it). I agree that this is stretching the
definition of "cake" a lot, and certainly it's nothing at all like a
classic cake, which is why in many respects I prefer the term Chocolate
Decadence which indicates that this is very much an unique object. I think
that people call it cake because it's baked, it's round like a cake, you
cut it up into slices, and it doesn't have a crust (in which case it'd be a
pie)

One regrettable aspect IMHO is that the emergence of chocolate decadence
has made really good classic chocolate cake a rare thing indeed. Because
chocolate decadence is so very strong and chocolatey, very few bakeries
make a good, powerful, chocolatey chocolate cake any more, because the real
chocoholics will tend to opt for a decadence-like creation, while those
left who take chocolate cake will generally prefer something milder like
"old-fashioned" chocolate cakes (often of '50's vintage) or devil's food
cakes. I think there should still be a place for the intense classic
chocolate cake - many times I'm not in the mood for chocolate decadence,
particularly in winter when it just seems inappropriate. CD is more of a
summer thing, especially since then you can get fresh raspberries for the
sauce. However, it's a supply-and-demand thing, and I don't see many other
people following my personal tastes.

Actually, as I hinted at earlier, far too many restaurants and bakeries
succumb to fashion. Chocolate decadence is itself becoming a bit rare,
having been made passe by the introduction of the fallen chocolate cake
(warm chocolate cake with a liquid centre). Ironically, this cake has the
inverse problem of seasonal appropriateness: the *last* thing you want on a
hot summer day is a hot chocolate cake. And if you want to be truly
current, the fallen chocolate cake is in turn obsolescent. Drinking
chocolate is the big thing among the mass market outfits today. In higher-
end places I'm seeing a lot of chocolate mousse cakes lately. So it goes...




--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

Alex Rast wrote:
> Well, to be exact, chocolate, butter, salt and eggs. This is a pretty
> standard take on the flourless chocolate cake theme. Flourless chocolate
> cakes actually turn out really well. The basic idea is that you're making
> an extremely dense chocolate custard. Alternatively, you could consider it
> a super-dense chocolate mousse. Same basic premise. Interestingly, you're
> correct in one respect, the texture does turn out a lot like quiche (or to
> be exact, the filling part of it). I agree that this is stretching the
> definition of "cake" a lot, and certainly it's nothing at all like a
> classic cake, which is why in many respects I prefer the term Chocolate
> Decadence which indicates that this is very much an unique object. I think
> that people call it cake because it's baked, it's round like a cake, you
> cut it up into slices, and it doesn't have a crust (in which case it'd be a
> pie)

It might seem a bit more palatable to me as a pie...

>
> One regrettable aspect IMHO is that the emergence of chocolate decadence
> has made really good classic chocolate cake a rare thing indeed. Because
> chocolate decadence is so very strong and chocolatey, very few bakeries
> make a good, powerful, chocolatey chocolate cake any more, because the real
> chocoholics will tend to opt for a decadence-like creation, while those
> left who take chocolate cake will generally prefer something milder like
> "old-fashioned" chocolate cakes (often of '50's vintage) or devil's food
> cakes. I think there should still be a place for the intense classic
> chocolate cake - many times I'm not in the mood for chocolate decadence,
> particularly in winter when it just seems inappropriate. CD is more of a
> summer thing, especially since then you can get fresh raspberries for the
> sauce. However, it's a supply-and-demand thing, and I don't see many other
> people following my personal tastes.
>
> Actually, as I hinted at earlier, far too many restaurants and bakeries
> succumb to fashion. Chocolate decadence is itself becoming a bit rare,
> having been made passe by the introduction of the fallen chocolate cake
> (warm chocolate cake with a liquid centre). Ironically, this cake has the
> inverse problem of seasonal appropriateness: the *last* thing you want on a
> hot summer day is a hot chocolate cake. And if you want to be truly
> current, the fallen chocolate cake is in turn obsolescent. Drinking
> chocolate is the big thing among the mass market outfits today. In higher-
> end places I'm seeing a lot of chocolate mousse cakes lately. So it goes...

I don't particularly like chocolate - I do like dark chocolate at
60-70% cocoa. I do like a classic dark chocolate cake with a
german-chocolate-type frosting (caramel, pecans, coconut). I'm much
more a pie or cookie girl, myself...but again, not chocolate.

And I stopped being trendy 15 years ago.

-L.

"Alex Rast" > wrote in message
...
> at Tue, 02 May 2006 07:09:34 GMT in
> .com>,
> (-L.) wrote :
>
>>
>>Rusty wrote:
>>> Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
>>>
>>> April 28, 2006
>>>
>>> http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/in...&screen=news&n
>>> ews_id=49462
>>>
>>
>>Ok, so the "cake" is chocolate, salt and eggs? Sounds more like
>>chocolate quiche. Yuck.
>>-L.
>
> Well, to be exact, chocolate, butter, salt and eggs. This is a pretty
> standard take on the flourless chocolate cake theme. Flourless chocolate
> cakes actually turn out really well. The basic idea is that you're making
> an extremely dense chocolate custard. Alternatively, you could consider it
> a super-dense chocolate mousse. Same basic premise. Interestingly, you're
> correct in one respect, the texture does turn out a lot like quiche (or to
> be exact, the filling part of it). I agree that this is stretching the
> definition of "cake" a lot, and certainly it's nothing at all like a
> classic cake, which is why in many respects I prefer the term Chocolate
> Decadence which indicates that this is very much an unique object. I think
> that people call it cake because it's baked, it's round like a cake, you
> cut it up into slices, and it doesn't have a crust (in which case it'd be
> a
> pie)
>
> One regrettable aspect IMHO is that the emergence of chocolate decadence
> has made really good classic chocolate cake a rare thing indeed. Because
> chocolate decadence is so very strong and chocolatey, very few bakeries
> make a good, powerful, chocolatey chocolate cake any more, because the
> real
> chocoholics will tend to opt for a decadence-like creation, while those
> left who take chocolate cake will generally prefer something milder like
> "old-fashioned" chocolate cakes (often of '50's vintage) or devil's food
> cakes. I think there should still be a place for the intense classic
> chocolate cake - many times I'm not in the mood for chocolate decadence,
> particularly in winter when it just seems inappropriate. CD is more of a
> summer thing, especially since then you can get fresh raspberries for the
> sauce. However, it's a supply-and-demand thing, and I don't see many other
> people following my personal tastes.
>
> Actually, as I hinted at earlier, far too many restaurants and bakeries
> succumb to fashion. Chocolate decadence is itself becoming a bit rare,
> having been made passe by the introduction of the fallen chocolate cake
> (warm chocolate cake with a liquid centre). Ironically, this cake has the
> inverse problem of seasonal appropriateness: the *last* thing you want on
> a
> hot summer day is a hot chocolate cake. And if you want to be truly
> current, the fallen chocolate cake is in turn obsolescent. Drinking
> chocolate is the big thing among the mass market outfits today. In higher-
> end places I'm seeing a lot of chocolate mousse cakes lately. So it
> goes...
>
>
>
>
> --
> Alex Rast
>
> (remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

Alex, I always appreciate your knowledgeable comments.
Dee Dee

Hi Alex--

I appreciate your comments on my Grand Prize winning recipe and wanted
to clarify a few things.

1. When I make this cake at home, I always use a higher % chocolate
product (at least 60%) than what was specified in the published
version. I "softened" it a little to make it more appealing to the
average chocolate consumer. Unfortunately, not everyone is as crazy
about dark chocolate as you and I are!
2. I haven't tried the original recipe you referenced, but I'm
guessing it is a bit more dense than my version. My intention was to
create a texture that was somewhere between a pudding and a flourless
chocolate cake - hence, doubling the number of eggs and increasing the
butter.
3. You could absolutely use unsweetened chocolate as a garnish. For
me, the sweetness of the white chocolate (which we all know isn't
really chocolate) was a nice balance. In the summertime, I top it with
fresh raspberries or strawberries and nothing else.
4. My original version of the recipe that I submitted to the contest
indicated that you use all the ganache (in fact, my recipe made double
the amount), but the test kitchen made an editorial change (probably
based on their own personal preferences).
5. Again, my original version of the recipe that was submitted to the
contest indicated that the cake be served at room temperature. I guess
the test kitchen couldn't wait for it to warm up and dove right in
after removing it from the fridge.

Thanks again for your comments. I hope you will give the recipe a try
and modify it to your personal taste. That's what making cooking and
baking so much fun - recipes aren't rules, just guidelines.

Gigi Burton


Alex Rast wrote:
> at Sat, 29 Apr 2006 21:04:52 GMT in
> .com>,
> (Rusty) wrote :
>
> >Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
> >
> >Gigi Burton, a 35-year-old housewife from Plainsboro, N.J., decided to
> >push the envelope and create an entire cake that mimicked the soft
> >texture and rich taste of her favorite dessert candy. Her creation,
> >Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake, which combines milk chocolate,
> >semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate, captured the coveted grand
> >prize award in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company's "Is Your Dessert
> >Intense Enough?" recipe contest.
> >...
> >2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for pan
> >3 cups Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
> >8 large eggs, cold
> >1/4 teaspoon salt
> >1/2 cup heavy cream
> >1 cup Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
> >2 ounces Ghirardelli Classic White Chocolate Baking Bar, chilled
>
> Obviously the judges weren't *serious* chocoholics. This isn't particularly
> intense, as evidenced by the relatively low chocolate concentration. I
> always think it's humorous when people concoct recipes with 3 different
> *types* of chocolate, and imagine that makes it more intense. In reality,
> it makes it less intense, because, as for instance in this recipe, the milk
> and white chocolate simply dilute the concentration over what you could
> achieve if you were to have used all dark chocolate. This particular recipe
> goes even further astray in that the "dark" chocolate used is semi-sweet
> (she didn't even go to the trouble of using the Double Chocolate (or 60%
> bittersweet) chocolate chips) For real chocolate intensity, you want at
> least bittersweet all the way, preferably 70% and above, or unsweetened.
> And it really needs to be more heavily concentrated. (This cake, btw, is
> pretty much nothing more than a diluted Chocolate Decadence)
>
> IIRC one of the judging criteria for the recipes was "ease of preparation"
> and OK, one must concede that if you want to publish a recipe in a popular
> cookbook it should be considerate of most peoples' finite time
> availability. For pure chocolate intensity and simplicity of preparation,
> it's pretty hard to beat the straightforward Chocolate Decadence recipe
> (easy enough to look up on RecipeSource.com). This, in fact, I think would
> have been the challenge of the competition - how to invent something
> intense with chocolate that's simple to make and hasn't been done before.
>
> I'd improve on Ms. Burton's recipe by:
>
> 1) replacing semisweet and milk chocolates with Ghirardelli 72%
> bittersweet.
> 2) probably subbing the original Chocolate decadence recipe for this one
> (original uses 1 lb chocolate for only 4 eggs and 10 tbsp butter)
> 3) using unsweetened chocolate for the shavings.
> 4) using *all* the ganache.
> 5) serving at room temperature (chilling mutes the flavour of chocolate)
>
> --
> Alex Rast
>
> (remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

Alex Rast wrote:
> at Sat, 29 Apr 2006 21:04:52 GMT in
> .com>,
> (Rusty) wrote :
>
> >Truffle-like cake wins 'intense' chocolate recipe contest
> >
> >Gigi Burton, a 35-year-old housewife from Plainsboro, N.J., decided to
> >push the envelope and create an entire cake that mimicked the soft
> >texture and rich taste of her favorite dessert candy. Her creation,
> >Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake, which combines milk chocolate,
> >semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate, captured the coveted grand
> >prize award in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company's "Is Your Dessert
> >Intense Enough?" recipe contest.
> >...
> >2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for pan
> >3 cups Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
> >8 large eggs, cold
> >1/4 teaspoon salt
> >1/2 cup heavy cream
> >1 cup Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
> >2 ounces Ghirardelli Classic White Chocolate Baking Bar, chilled
>
> Obviously the judges weren't *serious* chocoholics. This isn't particularly
> intense, as evidenced by the relatively low chocolate concentration. I
> always think it's humorous when people concoct recipes with 3 different
> *types* of chocolate, and imagine that makes it more intense. In reality,
> it makes it less intense, because, as for instance in this recipe, the milk
> and white chocolate simply dilute the concentration over what you could
> achieve if you were to have used all dark chocolate. This particular recipe
> goes even further astray in that the "dark" chocolate used is semi-sweet
> (she didn't even go to the trouble of using the Double Chocolate (or 60%
> bittersweet) chocolate chips) For real chocolate intensity, you want at
> least bittersweet all the way, preferably 70% and above, or unsweetened.
> And it really needs to be more heavily concentrated. (This cake, btw, is
> pretty much nothing more than a diluted Chocolate Decadence)
>
> IIRC one of the judging criteria for the recipes was "ease of preparation"
> and OK, one must concede that if you want to publish a recipe in a popular
> cookbook it should be considerate of most peoples' finite time
> availability. For pure chocolate intensity and simplicity of preparation,
> it's pretty hard to beat the straightforward Chocolate Decadence recipe
> (easy enough to look up on RecipeSource.com). This, in fact, I think would
> have been the challenge of the competition - how to invent something
> intense with chocolate that's simple to make and hasn't been done before.
>
> I'd improve on Ms. Burton's recipe by:
>
> 1) replacing semisweet and milk chocolates with Ghirardelli 72%
> bittersweet.
> 2) probably subbing the original Chocolate decadence recipe for this one
> (original uses 1 lb chocolate for only 4 eggs and 10 tbsp butter)
> 3) using unsweetened chocolate for the shavings.

I think most people would disagree with you, just as most people prefer
lattes to straight espresso. A breve latte with a touch of Splenda
sounds really nice right now.

> 4) using *all* the ganache.
> 5) serving at room temperature (chilling mutes the flavour of chocolate)

I think a lot more things should be served room temp instead of cold,
but certainly chocolate.
>
> --
> Alex Rast

--Bryan

at Wed, 03 May 2006 15:26:27 GMT in
. com>,
(Gigi) wrote :

>Hi Alex--
>
>I appreciate your comments on my Grand Prize winning recipe and wanted
>to clarify a few things.

Sounds like you're a bit of a victim of "The Company reserves the right to
make modifications to winning entries, subject to its discretion...etc.
etc.!) I need to make note of that because if that's the typical case, then
probably I shouldn't enter in recipe contests because most of mine tend to
have been exactly fine-tuned to achieve a very specific flavour/texture
result and any modifications can have drastic effects on the outcome.

>
>1. When I make this cake at home, I always use a higher % chocolate
>product (at least 60%) than what was specified in the published
>version. I "softened" it a little to make it more appealing to the
>average chocolate consumer. Unfortunately, not everyone is as crazy
>about dark chocolate as you and I are!

I was actually criticising more the judges of the contest, or perhaps the
promoters! Why call a contest "Is your dessert intense enough?" if the
desired outcome isn't intensity. My position would be that if *any*
reduction in intensity were necessary to win a contest named like that then
they have the wrong name or intent for the contest in question.

>2. I haven't tried the original recipe you referenced, but I'm
>guessing it is a bit more dense than my version.

Believe it or not, it may actually be *less* dense in texture. The water-
bath method usually leads to higher density (because in an oven-bake
approach high, dry heat causes bubbles in an egg-foam to expand and the
mixture then to set, generating more air), all else being equal. However,
as specified you use more eggs. The key point about the original Chocolate
Decadence recipe however is that it would definitely be more intense,
simply because the chocolate ratio is higher.

> My intention was to
>create a texture that was somewhere between a pudding and a flourless
>chocolate cake - hence, doubling the number of eggs and increasing the
>butter.

This sometimes goes by the name of "chocolate mousse cake". It's not the
fashionable one I allude to but rather the baked chocolate mousse cake that
also occasionally appears. Most such cakes actually call for a decreased
amount of butter relative to what you're using - and certainly increasing
the butter increases the density somewhat. By fiddling with relative ratios
of chocolate and butter you could probably achieve the same density and
texture while getting a stronger chocolate flavour.

>3. You could absolutely use unsweetened chocolate as a garnish. For
>me, the sweetness of the white chocolate (which we all know isn't
>really chocolate) was a nice balance.

El Rey's I think can be considered chocolate but then that wouldn't exactly
be playing by the rules of the contest, would it? To a certain extent I
think it depends on which way you want to swing on the balance. Using
unsweetened counterbalances the relative sweetness of the cake with a
stronger and more bitter note - which works again, just with a different
twist. Another fun twist is to create a *textural* contrast and use nuts
for a crunchy top on a creamy cake. You can also use cacao nibs which lend
a crisp top.

In the summertime, I top it with
>fresh raspberries or strawberries and nothing else.

Raspberries would of course be inspired. Strawberries I don't think would
be quite as good - at least not with Ghirardelli which tends towards a
tarter, more assertive fruitiness - not that it's fruity overall, but in
those elements where there are fruity notes they are more sour. However,
it's hard to go far wrong with any berry and the best choice is to go with
whatever's in season.

>4. My original version of the recipe that I submitted to the contest
>indicated that you use all the ganache (in fact, my recipe made double
>the amount), but the test kitchen made an editorial change (probably
>based on their own personal preferences).

Here's what I'll say here. With a dark ganache, the entire amount would be
appropriate. However, with a milk ganache, the result would be both sweet
and low intensity. The net impact would be to dilute the overall flavour
rather than enhance it, not to mention risk it being a sugar-bomb, so in
that context the kitchen's choice may have been fitting.

Any particular reason for the spatula for spreading the ganache around? It
should be able to pour fairly nicely and then a quick jiggle will create a
beautiful smooth top.

One other idea that occurs to me - it'd certainly make for an attractive
presentation as well as a texture contrast. Caramelise some sugar in a pot
and pour it into a form the same size as the cake pan. Once it cools (it
should be a glossy, hard disc), set it on top of the ganache like a Dobos
Torte. VERY attractive and introduces a nice texture/flavour contrast.

>5. Again, my original version of the recipe that was submitted to the
>contest indicated that the cake be served at room temperature. I guess
>the test kitchen couldn't wait for it to warm up and dove right in
>after removing it from the fridge.

Admittedly, very few people, especially dedicated chocoholics, have that
kind of patience. The solution is simple, of course: remove it as you start
to serve the main course for dinner. In a test kitchen, however, that's not
feasible because you're not serving a dinner as well.


--
Alex Rast

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