This is one of Roses TETG (Too Easy – Too Good) recipes. It goes together in a snap and rewards your efforts in triplicate. I have a hard time describing the texture of this cake. It is light and airy but at the same time almost dense and moist. The addition of white chocolate produces a cake with a full, rich chocolate flavor without being too overwhelming. I find that it practically melts on the tongue. The wicked good ganache is just that, wickedly good. I am a huge fan of chocolate and flavor pairings and chocolate and pepper is one of my favorites. I opted to go with the full on cayenne flavor. Ganache, while delicious can sometimes be a bit too rich and I found that the addition of the unsweetened chocolate here cut some of the sweetness. You get the smooth, full chocolate taste without bitterness and then the warm peppery heat lingers on the palate and makes you wonder, Wow, what is that. A total winner here.
The cake is very easy to make. Melt the white chocolate and while it is cooling, combine the cocoa and boiling water and allow to cool. Mix the eggs, water and vanilla and beat to combine. Combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix to combine. Add butter and the cocoa mixture and mix until the dry ingredients are moistened. Add the eggs in two additions and mix until combined, then add the cooled white chocolate and mix to combine. Pour the batter into a prepared pan and bake until done. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn the cake out onto a rack, invert it and allow to cool completely.
Ganache is probably the simplest of all baking tasks. I admit that I have never been a fan of Roses method of making it in the food processor. Mainly because I just hate hauling it out for the few seconds it takes to make the ganache and then having to clean it. Once again I just did it the old fashioned way (Sorry Rose).
I boiled the corn syrup and added the chopped unsweetened chocolate and stirred until melted. I then scaled the cream and added it to the bittersweet chocolate and allowed it to sit for a few minutes, then stirred it until the chocolate was melted. I then stirred in the corn syrup mixture and combined well and then added the cayenne pepper, mixed well and then strained the mixture and allowed it to cool and then just let it rest until it was the proper consistency to spread. I didn’t used to do the straining step but I have found that no matter how well you think you have mixed there is always a bit of unmelted chocolate and the straining does make for a much smoother ganache.
Decorate the cake as desired and you have yourself a real treat.
Your cake is beautiful! A masterpiece!
Thank you Jeannette
Truly beautiful cake. I was wondering about straining the ganache. It’s not something I’ve been patient enough to do yet but maybe I’ll try it.
I ordinarily don’t bother with it myself but decided to give it a try this time
Here ! Here for the rebels on ganache making “not Rose style”.. I will be making the cake today, but the ganache was made yesterday and oh boy.
Beautiful cake Raymond. I love the roses swirls you made. I also don’t use food processor for ganache for the same reason you do. It’s a pain to clean. I forgot to strain my ganache though – just realized that now after reading your post.
It’s so pretty!
I love the way you decorated this one. Glad you liked the cake!
I love how you decorated the cake too! I too love fast and great cake!
Your big, generous swirls of ganache are disarmingly luscious. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
I love that last shot with the sun glinting off of your cake stand. Gorgeous! I loved this cake too. Definitely will be making it again.
Your cake is so beautiful!! Your ganache looks just lovely and soft. I was really disappointed by the ganache which (for me) turned really hard really fast so I couldn’t do a nice decoration.