Rich Chocolate Ganache Cake Recipes

CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Don't overbeat, or the cake will be tough.
• Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Don't overbake! Let cool thoroughly in the pan.
• For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.
• Place the cake upside down on a wire rack and pour the glaze evenly over the top, making sure to cover the entire cake and sides. You can tilt the rack to smooth the glaze. Decorate with candied violets, if desired, or gently crumble the gold leaf and place it on the center of the cake. Do not refrigerate.

RICH CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Remove from heat, and add chocolate. Stir until melted, then set aside until thickened, 2 to 5 minutes.

RICH CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease two 6-inch pans with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
• Pour the Devil's Food Cake batter into the prepared pans and bake, as directed, adjusting the cooking time to 25 to 30 minutes for the smaller size.
• While the cakes are cooling, bring the ganache to a workable consistency (about the consistency of peanut butter) by heating it over a double boiler and then allowing it to cool slightly, at room temperature.
• Place the bottom cake layer over a piece of parchment or waxed paper to catch the ganache if it drips when you spread it. (You can reheat the ganache that has dripped and reuse it as desired, as long as it is free of cake crumbs.)
• Spread the ganache about 1/2 inch thick onto the bottom layer and then gently press the second cake layer on top. Spread a thin layer of ganache around the sides and top of the cake as a crumb coat and let it set at room temperature. (See Icing a Cake, page 14.)
• Once the crumb coat has set, reheat the ganache, if necessary, just until it is spreadable once again, then finish icing the cake with the ganache.
• While the ganache is still soft enough for the hazelnuts to stick to it, gently press the hazelnuts, one small handful at a time, into the sides of the cake until it is covered. Let the cake set at room temperature for 20 to 40 minutes before serving.
• The cake can be kept covered at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Bring the cake to room temperature for about 1 hour before serving.
• Polish your look
• By simply changing the flavor of the ganache, this cake can be perfect for all sorts of occasions. Here are some suggestions:
• For an Asian-inspired dinner party, make the ganache with sake instead of hazelnut liqueur and sprinkle the top lightly with mixed black and toasted sesame seeds.
• For anniversaries or other celebratory events, make the ganache with champagne instead of hazelnut liqueur and decorate around the perimeter of the top with rock sugar crystals.
• For holiday cheer, make the ganache with peppermint extract instead of hazelnut liqueur and sprinkle with crushed candy canes.
• For a not-all-chocolate version, make the ganache with Campari or Grand Marnier instead of hazelnut liqueur and use it only to fill between the two cake layers. Ice the outside with orange Citrus Cream Cheese Icing (page 146) and garnish with candied orange peel.

DECADENT CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH GANACHE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine cocoa and water; set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Beat in vanilla.
• Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with cocoa mixture, beating well after each addition.
• Pour into three greased and floured 9" round baking pans.
• Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
• For Ganache, place chocolate in a small bowl.
• In a small heavy saucepan over low heat, bring cream and sugar to a boil.
• Pour over chocolate; whisk gently until smooth.
• Refrigerate for 35-45 minutes or until ganache begins to thicken, stirring occasionally.
• For frosting, in a large mixing bowl beat butter until fluffy.
• Add confectioners sugar, cocoa, milk, and vanilla; beat until smooth.
• Place one cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 1 cup of frosting.
• Top with second layer and one cup ganache and sprinkle with 1/2 cup almonds.
• Top with third layer, frost top and sides of cake.
• Warm ganache until pourable; pour over cake, allowing some to drape down the sides.
• Sprinkle with remaining almonds.
• Refrigerate until serving.

DEEP & DARK GANACHE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Line bottoms of 3 greased 8-in. square baking pans with parchment; grease the paper. , Place chocolate in a small bowl. Pour hot coffee over chocolate; stir with a whisk until smooth. Cool slightly., In a large bowl, beat eggs on high speed until lemon-colored. Gradually add sugar, oil, vanilla and the chocolate mixture, beating until well blended. In another bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to chocolate mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. , Transfer to prepared pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks; remove paper. Cool completely., For ganache, place chocolate in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream and corn syrup just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; stir with a whisk until smooth., Let stand at room temperature to cool and thicken slightly, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Mixture will be very soft, but will thicken when spread onto cake.), Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 1/3 cup ganache. Repeat layers. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining ganache over top and sides of cake.

RICH CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH GANACHE FROSTING AND TRUFFLE-EGG NEST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 3-inch-high, 7-inch-round cake pans with cooking spray; line bottoms with parchment paper. Coat parchment with cooking spray, and dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa and espresso powders and water; whisk until dissolved. Whisk in sugar until smooth. Remove from heat, and whisk in eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, and salt; whisk until combined.
• Divide batter among prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes. Unmold, and remove parchment; let cool.
• Trim tops of cake layers level. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Spread with 1/2 cup ganache frosting. Place remaining layer, cut side down, on top. Coat top and sides with remaining cup frosting. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Put semisweet chocolate, cream, and corn syrup into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, and stir until smooth. Let cool 5 minutes. Pour over cake, and then refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Using a chef's knife, scrape milk chocolate bar at a 90-degree angle, forming enough curls and shards to measure 1 1/2 cups. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Transfer cake to serving dish; form a nest with chocolate shavings on top, and fill with truffle eggs.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE

Steps:

• Make cake layers:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 3 (7- or 8-inch, 2-inch-deep) round cake pans and line bottoms with rounds of wax or parchment paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.
• Whisk together water, cocoa, and espresso powder until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla.
• Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and cocoa mixture in batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing at low speed until just combined.
• Divide batter among pans (about 2 1/3 cups per pan), smoothing tops. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes for 7-inch pans or 20 to 25 minutes for 8-inch. Cool in pans on a rack 30 minutes, then invert onto racks, remove paper, and cool completely.
• Make ganache while cakes bake:
• Bring cream to a simmer in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in chocolate until smooth. Transfer ganache to a bowl and chill, covered, stirring occasionally, until thickened but spreadable, about 4 hours. (If ganache becomes too thick, let stand at room temperature until slightly softened.)
• Assemble cake:
• Arrange 1 layer on a cake stand or plate and spread 2/3 cup ganache evenly over it. Top with another cake layer and 2/3 cup ganache, spreading evenly, then third cake layer. (Chill ganache if necessary to keep at a spreadable consistency.) Chill cake until ganache filling is firm, about 1 hour. Keep remaining ganache at a spreadable consistency, chilling when necessary.
• Spread a thin layer of ganache over top and sides of cake to seal in crumbs, then chill 30 minutes. Spread remaining ganache evenly over top and sides of cake.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Make, bake and cool cake as directed on box for two 8-inch or 9-inch rounds.
• Place 1 cake layer, rounded side down, on serving plate. Spread with about 1/3 cup frosting. Top with second layer, rounded side up. Frost side and top of cake with remaining frosting.
• In 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream over medium heat until hot (do not boil); remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Let stand 5 minutes. Carefully pour chocolate mixture onto top center of cake; spread to edge, allowing some to drizzle down side. Garnish top of cake with toffee candy. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until chocolate is set. Store covered in refrigerator.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans.
• Place butter and unsweetened chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir frequently, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching, until melted, about 5 minutes.
• Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl using an electric mixer.
• Combine buttermilk and eggs in another bowl and add melted chocolate mixture. Beat into flour mixture on low speed for 1 minute; increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Divide batter between the prepared cake pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cake springs back when lightly pressed, 25 to 30 minutes. Set aside and let cool.
• Meanwhile, bring cream to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Immediately remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until it thickens and is smooth. Allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
• Place one cooled cake layer on a cake plate and spread with a layer of ganache frosting. Lay the second layer on top and use remaining ganache frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 8-inch cake pans and dust with cocoa powder or spray with baking spray.
• Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for cake together in a bowl.
• Dissolve cocoa and brown sugar in the boiling water.
• Beat butter and sugar together in a separate bowl until creamy. Add vanilla extract. Add of the flour mixture and mix; add 1 egg and mix. Add remaining flour mixture and combine. Mix in remaining egg. Pour in cocoa mixture gradually and mix well until combined. Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cakes cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, bring cream to a boil in a saucepan and add vanilla extract. Place dark chocolate in a bowl and pour hot cream on top. Stir until chocolate is melted and a smooth mixture forms. Add cinnamon, chili powder, and salt; mix. Let chill for 30 minutes.
• Spread some ganache on top of the cooled cakes and layer them. Spread remaining ganache over the whole cake and smooth out with a spatula. Chill for 30 minutes.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE

Steps:

• Sift the flour with the salt, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa.
• In a large bowl, cream the sugar into the butter.
• Add the eggs to the sugar / butter.
• Alternately add the flour mixture, yoghurt and boiling water to the sugar / butter.
• Add the mixture to two 9" circular pans and bake in the oven at 350F for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out dry.
• Cool the cakes while you make the ganache (overnight works best).
• For the ganache, mix the sugar into the cream and heat in a saucepan at medium.
• Bring it to a light boil, and then pour over the baking chocolate squares in a medium bowl.
• Mix until the chocolate is all melted, and the mixture is not lumpy.
• Then place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes, until it has thickened.
• Pour a little ganache over one of the baked cakes, and then place the second cake on top of the first one.
• Pour the rest of the ganache over the two cakes, and then leave to cool.

ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and line a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep).
• Put 200g chopped dark chocolate in a medium pan with 200g butter.
• Mix 1 tbsp instant coffee granules into 125ml cold water and pour into the pan.
• Warm through over a low heat just until everything is melted - don't overheat. Or melt in the microwave for about 5 minutes, stirring halfway through.
• Mix 85g self-raising flour, 85g plain flour, ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda, 200g light muscovado sugar, 200g golden caster sugar and 25g cocoa powder, and squash out any lumps.
• Beat 3 medium eggs with 75ml buttermilk.
• Pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir everything to a smooth, quite runny consistency.
• Pour this into the tin and bake for 1hr 25 - 1hr 30 mins. If you push a skewer into the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm (don't worry if it cracks a bit).
• Leave to cool in the tin (don't worry if it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut the cold cake horizontally into three.
• To make the ganache, put 200g chopped dark chocolate in a bowl. Pour 300ml double cream into a pan, add 2 tbsp golden caster sugar and heat until it is about to boil.
• Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool until it is a little thicker but still pourable.
• Sandwich the layers together with just a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over the cake letting it fall down the sides and smooth over any gaps with a palette knife.
• Decorate with 50g grated chocolate or 100g chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days.