Chocolate Decadence Recipe 455

CHOCOLATE DECADENCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9- by 2-inch round cake pan and line bottom with a round of wax paper. Butter paper and dust pan with flour, knocking out excess.
• Make batter:
• Melt chocolate and butter in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, whisking until smooth.
• Cool slightly.
• Beat together eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until pale yellow, thick, and a ribbon forms when beaters are lifted, about 4 minutes with a standing mixer or 8 minutes with a handheld. Fold one fourth of egg mixture into chocolate mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining egg mixture.
• Pour batter into cake pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Put cake pan in a hot water bath and place in middle of oven. Bake 45 minutes (top will be set, but a tester will not come out clean).
• Remove cake from water bath and cool completely in pan on a rack. Run a thin knife around edge of cake and chill, covered, at least 4 hours and up to 12.
• Make sauce:
• Purée raspberries with sugar in a food processor or blender, then force through a fine sieve into a bowl. Chill until ready to serve.
• Remove cake from pan:
• Put cake pan directly on a burner at very low heat. Move pan around on burner to warm bottom, about 30 seconds, then shake pan to loosen cake. Invert cake onto a rack. Remove wax paper and invert cake onto a serving plate.
• Bring cake to room temperature. Serve with sauce and whipped cream.

CHEF JOHN'S CHOCOLATE DECADENCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.
• Melt semisweet chocolate and unsalted butter together in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula, until chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Remove from heat.
• Beat eggs and sugar together in a bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer until pale and very thick, 5 to 10 minutes. Sift in flour, cayenne, and salt; whisk to combine.
• Pour 1/4 of the egg mixture into chocolate mixture; stir to combine. Pour chocolate mixture into remaining egg mixture and stir until cake batter is combined. Pour batter into prepared cake pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until just barely set, with a jiggle below the surface, 14 to 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature, wrap in aluminum foil, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.

CHOCOLATE DECADENCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Butter six ramekins or custard cups. Melt chocolate and butter slowly: You can do this in a double boiler, over, not in, simmering water, or in microwave, stirring to prevent scorching. Stir until completely smooth.
• In a medium bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer until frothy, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir vanilla and salt gently into beaten eggs. Fold half of egg mixture into chocolate mixture, mix well. Then fold remainder of egg mixture into chocolate mixture. Pour chocolate and egg mixture into prepared ramekins.
• Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel. Place ramekins on towel, inside roasting pan. Butter a piece of foil big enough to cover entire pan, and cover the ramekins, buttered side down. Place roasting pan on oven rack. Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake 5 minutes, then remove foil and bake 10 minutes more. Remove ramekins from water carefully. Let cool on wire rack for at least 3 hours. Cakes will firm up as they cool. Unmold each room-temperature ramekin onto a dessert plate, garnish and serve. Refrigerate unused portions.

CHOCOLATE DECADENCE RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan melt semi-sweet chocolate over low heat; stir in whipping cream. Cool. When cool enough that butter will not melt, beat in butter. Stir in rum. In large bowl beat egg yolks and sugar on high speed for 5 minutes or until very light; fold into chocolate mixture. In large bowl beat whipping cream until soft peaks form; fold into chocolate mixture. Pour into parchment-lined 8-inch round baking pan. Cut chocolate sponge cake into 1A inch thick slices; fit onto top of chocolate decadence. Refrigerate overnight. Remove from pan, placing cake layer on bottom. Spread top with % cup chocolate ganache; refrigerate at least 10 minutes. Cut into 16 slices; pipe whipped cream rosette on each slice. Drizzle strawberry sauce on serving plate. Garnish with mint leaf. Store in refrigerator. TIP: Because of food safety, only pasteurized eggs should be used in recipes where the eggs are not cooked. CHOCOLATE GANACHE: 9 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped 1 cup hot whole milk 1 1/2 tsp. butter, softened place chocolate in small bowl. Place bowl over simmering water; stir chocolate until melted. Pour in hot milk. Stir gently to mix; add butter. Remove from heat. Continue stirring until completely cooled and smooth. Tip: Be careful that no water gets into chocolate or chocolate will seize. CHOCOLATE SPONGE CAKE: 1/2 cup sugar 4 eggs 1/4 tsp.vanilla 1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 6-inch round cake pan. In medium bowl combine sugar, eggs and vanilla. Place over warm water; whisk constantly until mixture reaches 110 degrees. Sugar will be completely dissolved. Remove from water bath. Continue whisking until very light and fluffy. Sift flour and cocoa together; fold into beaten eggs. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool on wire rack. Cool completely before releasing from pan. Tip: Purchase 6-inch round cake pan at specialty store with cake decorating supplies. If larger pan is used, baking time will decrease. STRAWBERRY SAUCE: 2 cups strawberries, finely chopped 2 Tbsp. cornstarch 1 Tbsp. pineapple extract 1/4 tsp. yellow food color 3/4 cup sugar 2 Tbsp. light corn syrup Remove 1/4 cup chopped strawberries and set aside. Place remaining strawberries in food processor fitted with metal blade; process until pureed. Remove 1/4 cup puree; mix in cornstarch, extract and food color. Set aside. In small saucepan combine remaining puree, sugar and light corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium. Boil 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in cornstarch mixture. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until thickened; cook 1 minute. Stir in reserved chopped strawberries. Cool completely. Store sauce in refrigerator.

CHOCOLATE-ORANGE DECADENCE

Steps:

• For cake:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line pan bottoms with waxed paper. Using vegetable peeler, remove peel from oranges in strips. Coarsely chop peel in processor, stopping occasionally to scrap down sides of bowl. Add 1/3 cup sugar and blend until peel is minced. Add marmalade and puree. Using electric mixer, cream butter with pureed mixture and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in remaining 1 cup sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift dry ingredients into small bowl. Mix dry ingredients into batter alternately with orange juice.
• Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tops are golden brown and tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 38 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 10 minutes. Run sharp knife around pan sides to loosen cakes. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool. Peel off paper.
• For the chocolate ganache:
• Bring cream and butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Add chopped chocolate and stir until melted. Mix in remaining ingredients. Pour ganache into large bowl. Freeze until very thick but still spreadable, stirring frequently, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• For glaze:
• Melt marmalade in heavy small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat. Mix in Grand Marnier.
• Cut each cake into 2 layers. Place 1 layer on plate. Brush with 1/4 of glaze. Spread 1 cup ganache over. Top with second cake layer. Brush with 1/4 of glaze. Spread 3/4 cup ganache over. Top with 1 1/2 baskets berries (about 2 1/2 cups). Spread 1/2 cup ganache over third cake layer. Invert, chocolate side down, over berries. Brush with 1/4 of glaze. Spread 1 cup ganache over. Top with fourth cake layer. Brush with remaining glaze. Spread 3/4 cup ganache over top of cake. Spoon 1 cup ganache into pastry bag fitted with medium star top. Spread remaining ganache over sides of cake, drawing icing spatula up to create vertical lines. Pipe decorative border of ganache around top and bottom edges of cake. Freeze cake 20 minutes. Arrange remaining berries atop cake, covering completely. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover cake loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate.)
• Garnish cake with mint sprigs. Serve cake at room temperature.