BIRTHDAY TREAT

2011 Devil Food

2009 Red Velvet Cupcakes

2010 Raspberry Chocolate Ganache

Every year on Lars' birthday I bake something special-well not every year truthfully it only began three years ago. First up was the red velvet cupcakes, than the next year was the Raspberry Ganache Cake-followed by this year with the Chocolate Devils Food Cake with Chocolate Ganache Icing.

This years recipe was from David Lebovitz and it tasted fantastic, but I still have a way to go with my icing techiques and I used these silicone baking pans that have a lot of advantages especially with the ease of removing the finished product out of the pan but with the squiggy movement of the silicon pans my cake layers were a bit slanted.(Ok one layer was more than a bit).

The recipe said to wait for about an hour for the icing to thicken I waited longer and it was still a bit thin but about three hours later it was perfect for spreading but for me that was too late-the birthday boy needed his cake and I am a bit too impatient.

I went to this amazing bakery supply store:

New York Cake & Baking Distributors

56 West 22nd St Between 5th and 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10010
(212) 675-2253

They have tons of cake pan molds and candy molds of every imaginable shape and cake add ons-like the ones I put on to this cake I decided on silver balls filled with chocolate and white fondant flowers-somehow I knew my cake would need help presentation wise. I can recommend a trip to this special store, everyone is helpful and nice and it is so much fun just browsing. I also bought my chocolate there they have a great selection.

Here is the recipe:

Devil’s Food Cake one 9-inch cake

I make the frosting with water, since I think the cake is plenty rich as it is. But if you want a creamier frosting, using cream in place of the water.

For the cake:

9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1½ cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup strong coffee (or water)

½ cup whole or low-fat milk

For the ganache frosting:

10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

½ cup water (or cream)

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter

1. Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter two 9″ x 2″ cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.

3. To make the cake layers, sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.

4. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. (If using a standing electric mixer, stop the mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides to be sure everything is getting mixed in.)

5. Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.

6. Divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

7. To make the frosting, melt the chopped chocolate with the water (or cream) in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

8. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk them into the chocolate until completely melted and the ganache is smooth. Cool until spreadable, which may take about 1 hour at room temperature.

To frost the cake:

Run a knife around the inside of each of the cakes which will help release them from the pans. Tilt one cake out of the pan, remove the parchment paper from the bottom and invert it back onto a cake plate. Spread a good-sized layer of icing over the top. Top with the second cake layer and spread the top and sides with the remaining icing as decoratively as you want.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/

I had originally gone to his site for his ice cream recipes and to read about his "Perfect Scoop" Book and I found all these great recipes.He lives in Paris and writes a great blog.