Chocolate Conversation Heart Cakes
From Della Gossett, Spago Beverly Hills [1]
Ingredients
- Chocolate cake
3 tablespoons butter, plus more for pan
7 ounces (70 percent cacao) dark chocolate, such as Guittard
7 egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
4 tablespoons sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon crème fraiche
- Chocolate ganache
6 ounces (64 percent cacao) dark chocolate, such as Guittard
7 1/2 ounces cream
1 tablespoon corn syrup
2 1/2 ounces butter, room temperature
- Raspberry jam, for filling
Fondant, for decorating
Directions
- To make chocolate cake: Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare a 12 x 9 pan with parchment paper. Brush the pan with melted butter. Set aside. In a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Once melted, turn off heat.
- Meanwhile, in a very clean bowl (with no oily residue) of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine room temperature egg whites and cream of tartar. Beat at a medium speed until frothy, then start adding sugar gradually. Whip to a soft peak, then turn off mixer.
- To the warmed chocolate mixture, stir in egg yolks and crème fraiche. Remove from boiler, and set on the kitchen counter. Mix one-third of the whipped whites into the chocolate batter. Gently fold in the remaining meringue.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan. Smooth out the surface with an offset spatula. Place into oven, and bake for approximately 12 minutes. Cool cake, then flip out onto a clean surface and cut out using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, or another cutter of your choice. Place hearts in the freezer or refrigerator to firm up.
- To make chocolate ganache: Place chocolate in a large bowl. Warm cream in a small pot until it starts to simmer. Then pour the cream on top of the chocolate. Let this sit for a few minutes. Add corn syrup. Stir chocolate in the center of the bowl with a rubber spatula until ganache begins to emulsify and become shiny. Add a little ganache to room-temperature butter, and mix well. Then stir butter mixture into ganache. Pour half of the ganache in a pastry bag, and let sit to firm up.
- To assemble cakes: On half of the cakes, pipe ganache around the border. Fill with raspberry jam. Top with another heart-shaped cake. Place in the refrigerator or freezer to firm up.
- Place the cakes on top of a cooling rack fitted with a baking sheet underneath. Carefully pour ganache over the cakes, and let set. Decorate cakes with heart-shaped fondant.
Information
- Category
- Desserts, Cake
- Cuisine
- French
- Yield
- 4 heart-shaped cakes