Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel and Fleur de Sel Praline Former Chef
Every Thanksgiving I make two desserts. One is always a pumpkin mousse pie and the other is usually something chocolate. This year I really wanted a show-stopper and decided marlow foods stokesley I wanted marlow foods stokesley a chocolate cake which had salted caramel in it in some way. The original recipe came from Bon Appetit and can be found here , but I made some changes to the recipe (see notes at bottom) and added my own touch, the Fleur de Sel Praline for the garnish and inside the cake.
The marlow foods stokesley cake has a lot of parts, but if you take it one step at a time and do some of it in advance, marlow foods stokesley it’s not that difficult. I was very pleased with the way it turned out; the cake itself is rich with a bite of coffee flavor, the caramel has a nice tang to it from the addititon of the sour cream, and the praline adds a bit of crunchy texture and extra salt to contrast with the sweet ganache.
1 3/4 cups sugar 1 3/4 cups all purpose marlow foods stokesley flour 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Askinosie cocoa, read about it on this post ) 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt ( Fleur de Sel ) 1 cup milk 2 large eggs 1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted 1.5 Tbsp instant espresso powder 1 cup hot water 1 tsp vanilla 1 Tbsp butter marlow foods stokesley (for buttering the pans) Baking the Cake:
Sift sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Add milk, eggs, and melted butter. Using electric mixer, beat at low speed until blended. Increase speed and beat 2 minutes. The batter will be very thick at this point.
Divide batter between the two pans. Note; If I’d marlow foods stokesley had 3- 9″ pans I might have used them instead. The two cakes are to be cut into two layers each, and diving the batter between 3 pans would have made it an easier 3 layer cake (instead of 4 layers).
Bake cakes about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on racks for 10 minutes. Run a knife around marlow foods stokesley the edges of the pan and then turn the cakes out onto racks. Remove the parchment paper and allow the cakes to cool completely.
Stir sugar, 1/4 cup water, in deep medium saucepan marlow foods stokesley over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium; cover pan and cook 4 minutes. Uncover; increase heat to high. Boil without stirring marlow foods stokesley until syrup is deep amber, occasionally marlow foods stokesley brushing down pan sides with wet pastry brush, marlow foods stokesley about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cream (mixture will bubble and may solidify, just keep stirring). Whisk in butter, then the sour cream, lemon juice, and a pinch of fleur de sel. Cool completely. Refrigerate if not using right away. Bring to room temperature before using.
Note; This recipe make about 1.5 cups of caramel. I didn’t think it was going to be enough to fill all the layers, but it was. I really liked the flavor too; the sour cream and the lemon juice added a nice tangy taste which helps cut the sweetness of the ganache.
Place chocolate in large bowl. Bring cream to simmer in heavy bottomed pot. Pour the cream over the chocolate and allow it to soften marlow foods stokesley about 1 minute. Whisk until the chocolate is smooth. Cool. If doing in advance this can be covered and refrigerated. Remove from the refrigerator at least 3 hours before using it. It needs to be very soft, but not runny, to be able to frost the cake without tearing it.
Prepare one recipe of Fleur de Sel Praline marlow foods stokesley Break the praline into large pieces for the top of the cake (see photos). Use about 1/3 of the pieces to crush into smaller pieces to be used in the filling. I did this in a mortar and pestle, but you can also put it in a plastic bag and hit it gently with a rolling pin or heavy spoon. You want to make sure the pieces don’t go flying (thus keeping them contained marlow foods stokesley in a plastic bag to crush them).
I like to create a base for my cakes. Plates can be sloped and make it hard to frost the cake and keep it level. Professional bakeries use cardboard cake rounds, but you can certainly make your own: Take a piece of clean cardboard from a box and trace the outline of the cake pan on it. Cut out the circle and cover it with foil. I put the base on top of a baking rack and any excess marlow foods stokesley ganache just falls off (instead of getting all over the plate). Later, you can slide the whole cake (leaving it on the base) onto a platter for serving.
Place 1 layer on the cake round or a flat plate. Use one of the bottom pieces marlow foods stokesley of the cake as your base, bottom side down. Spread this layer with 1/2 cup room-temperature ganache. It needs to be very soft, but not runny, to be able to frost the cake without tearing it. Spoon 3/4 cup ganache into pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch plain round tip. Pipe ring of ganache around edge of layer. Tip : make sure your ganache is quite soft when you do this. I broke a pastry bag and a plastic marlow foods stokesley bag trying to do this with ganache which was too too cold and firm. Spread 1/3 of the caramel filling evenly inside the center of the lay
Every Thanksgiving I make two desserts. One is always a pumpkin mousse pie and the other is usually something chocolate. This year I really wanted a show-stopper and decided marlow foods stokesley I wanted marlow foods stokesley a chocolate cake which had salted caramel in it in some way. The original recipe came from Bon Appetit and can be found here , but I made some changes to the recipe (see notes at bottom) and added my own touch, the Fleur de Sel Praline for the garnish and inside the cake.
The marlow foods stokesley cake has a lot of parts, but if you take it one step at a time and do some of it in advance, marlow foods stokesley it’s not that difficult. I was very pleased with the way it turned out; the cake itself is rich with a bite of coffee flavor, the caramel has a nice tang to it from the addititon of the sour cream, and the praline adds a bit of crunchy texture and extra salt to contrast with the sweet ganache.
1 3/4 cups sugar 1 3/4 cups all purpose marlow foods stokesley flour 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Askinosie cocoa, read about it on this post ) 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt ( Fleur de Sel ) 1 cup milk 2 large eggs 1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted 1.5 Tbsp instant espresso powder 1 cup hot water 1 tsp vanilla 1 Tbsp butter marlow foods stokesley (for buttering the pans) Baking the Cake:
Sift sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Add milk, eggs, and melted butter. Using electric mixer, beat at low speed until blended. Increase speed and beat 2 minutes. The batter will be very thick at this point.
Divide batter between the two pans. Note; If I’d marlow foods stokesley had 3- 9″ pans I might have used them instead. The two cakes are to be cut into two layers each, and diving the batter between 3 pans would have made it an easier 3 layer cake (instead of 4 layers).
Bake cakes about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on racks for 10 minutes. Run a knife around marlow foods stokesley the edges of the pan and then turn the cakes out onto racks. Remove the parchment paper and allow the cakes to cool completely.
Stir sugar, 1/4 cup water, in deep medium saucepan marlow foods stokesley over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium; cover pan and cook 4 minutes. Uncover; increase heat to high. Boil without stirring marlow foods stokesley until syrup is deep amber, occasionally marlow foods stokesley brushing down pan sides with wet pastry brush, marlow foods stokesley about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cream (mixture will bubble and may solidify, just keep stirring). Whisk in butter, then the sour cream, lemon juice, and a pinch of fleur de sel. Cool completely. Refrigerate if not using right away. Bring to room temperature before using.
Note; This recipe make about 1.5 cups of caramel. I didn’t think it was going to be enough to fill all the layers, but it was. I really liked the flavor too; the sour cream and the lemon juice added a nice tangy taste which helps cut the sweetness of the ganache.
Place chocolate in large bowl. Bring cream to simmer in heavy bottomed pot. Pour the cream over the chocolate and allow it to soften marlow foods stokesley about 1 minute. Whisk until the chocolate is smooth. Cool. If doing in advance this can be covered and refrigerated. Remove from the refrigerator at least 3 hours before using it. It needs to be very soft, but not runny, to be able to frost the cake without tearing it.
Prepare one recipe of Fleur de Sel Praline marlow foods stokesley Break the praline into large pieces for the top of the cake (see photos). Use about 1/3 of the pieces to crush into smaller pieces to be used in the filling. I did this in a mortar and pestle, but you can also put it in a plastic bag and hit it gently with a rolling pin or heavy spoon. You want to make sure the pieces don’t go flying (thus keeping them contained marlow foods stokesley in a plastic bag to crush them).
I like to create a base for my cakes. Plates can be sloped and make it hard to frost the cake and keep it level. Professional bakeries use cardboard cake rounds, but you can certainly make your own: Take a piece of clean cardboard from a box and trace the outline of the cake pan on it. Cut out the circle and cover it with foil. I put the base on top of a baking rack and any excess marlow foods stokesley ganache just falls off (instead of getting all over the plate). Later, you can slide the whole cake (leaving it on the base) onto a platter for serving.
Place 1 layer on the cake round or a flat plate. Use one of the bottom pieces marlow foods stokesley of the cake as your base, bottom side down. Spread this layer with 1/2 cup room-temperature ganache. It needs to be very soft, but not runny, to be able to frost the cake without tearing it. Spoon 3/4 cup ganache into pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch plain round tip. Pipe ring of ganache around edge of layer. Tip : make sure your ganache is quite soft when you do this. I broke a pastry bag and a plastic marlow foods stokesley bag trying to do this with ganache which was too too cold and firm. Spread 1/3 of the caramel filling evenly inside the center of the lay
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