Black Pearl Layer Cake

This is the final entry of the four part series, the other parts found here and here and here about a cake I made from a recipe I found on Epicurious.com

I feel so silly admitting this but I fell asleep writing this entry last night! I've been so tired this week, the husband has had to be at work very early every morning so I have had to take over the morning duties with the bambina as well as put in my regular day with her and then go to work in the evenings. To make matters more tiring, now that the girl has turned one she has decided that strollers are for babies and naps are for old people. I spend quite a bit of the day chasing after her and let me tell you, she’s fast! I was so tired when I got home last night that after 20 minutes of typing I lay down on the couch for just five minutes and somehow those five minutes lasted all night. Anyway, boohoo enough about how tired I am you came here for cake and so my bunnies-- its cake you're going to get!

There is only one word to describe this cake and that word is FABULOUS! Everything about it worked. The ease of the recipe, the fun factor, the unusual ingredients and the exotic taste, it was an all around success and I'm really proud that I was able to pull it off without becoming frantic and overwhelmed. I think this is a sophisticated cake without being a pretentious one if that makes any sense. I think what I’m trying to say is that even with the “foodie appeal” of the ingredients it’s a cake I think everyone will like.

The cake was deep and rich but not too sweet; it was moist and dense, but not dense in that thick way that can feel like a lump going down your throat. The cake smelled wonderful-- uber chocolaty and wonderfully gingery; bottle that scent and you might get me to start wearing perfume (bah! no you won’t I’m allergic to perfume). I shared the cake with my coworkers after Tom begged me not to let him eat the whole cake by himself, they all really liked it, one of them even told me it made his day. My boss raved about it and licked her fork clean proclaiming me the best baker in all the land, she’s right you know. <cough> Tom thought it was good too and coming from him that's saying a whole lot because the dear boy gets quite anxious when my cooking begins to get a little ambitious with flavors and textures.

Now, having just said all that there ARE a few quirks about the recipe AND a thing or two that I changed that I want to discuss just so that anyone who wishes to try this can expect few surprises. I followed the recipe exactly with one exception, and that was the part where I was to chop the reserved ginger and add it to the cake batter. Tom saw me chopping away and asked what I was going to do with "all that ginger." I replied “put it in the cake” to which he replied "oh, you know, there are a few foods I’m not too crazy about and one of them is ginger." I try to be an accommodating wife, and on occasion, I do consider my husbands feelings, and so, not wanting to ruin his cake pleasure I held back with the ginger this time. I’m sure if I had used all the ginger the cake would have had much more depth but I thought why scare everyone away with the first attempt. I can always bake another cake and add all the ginger another time. The other quirky thing was the amount of batter I ended up with. I followed the recipe and yet somehow ended up with 4 layers of cake and not three, but that might have been because I used three different sized pans. *shrug* I dunno.

Wasabi, wasabi, wasabi, next time I will definitely add more wasabi. Naturally, I tasted the ganache by itself and thought the taste of the wasabi was just barely there, the taste of it definitely got lost once the ganache was incorporated into the cake and merged with the other flavors. So yeah, if you want a more distinct taste of it go for more wasabi.

Baking the cake:

This had to be one of the easier, less fussy cakes I've baked. I would even consider this a cake that can be baked on a day when I feel like making a cake but don't want to fuss. The fancy fillings and toppings can certainly be left out; this cake would be good all on its own.

While stirring the pretty chocolate water I was reminded of a scene from the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where Augustus Gloop is tempted by the river of chocolate that runs through the factory. Paying no attention to Mr. Wonka's shouts not to touch anything lest he contaminate the river, Augustus leans his portly body over to drink and falls in. Luckily for me this was only a bowl and so when I leaned in for my taste I only made a little splash. Anyway, it was unsweetened cocoa powder and it didn't taste very good.

Right on top of the chopping board is the amount of ginger I used in the cake batter and in the ramekin is the amount of ginger that was supposed to go in the cake batter. Like I said earlier, had I used all the ginger I think the cake would have had much more character but would have probably been less appealing to some people.

The recipe said to beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. I'm never quite sure what the "fluffy" stage is and so I'm always guessing. This looked fluffy to me and so I stopped beating the butter and sugar at this point. On a side note: butter + sugar = finger licking yummmy!

Here you see the finished batter, pretty smooth and creamy looking, no?

Ok. So the recipe instructed to bake the cakes in three 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. I own three cake pans but they are all different sizes. I have one 9-inch pan with a 1-inch high side, one 9-inch pan with a 1.5-inch high side and one 8-inch pan with a 4-inch high side. I'm not sure if you can see it in the photo but all the cakes came out uneven. I tried my best to measure the batter out evenly but I guess I was a bit off in my calculations. The cake baked in the 4-inch high sided pan was cut in half and it turned out it was enough for another layer. I suppose I could have crammed that layer in my mouth left that layer out but who can think straight when there are not one but THREE chocolate cakes in front of you.

Here we have the lovely first layer already drenched with ginger syrup and waiting for a layer of ganache.

With the ganache.

The second layer waiting for the syrup and ganache.

I ran into a little problem here. While getting ready to put the third layer on I realized it was wider in diameter than the other 2 layers. I had mistakenly used the 2, 8-inch layers first and so I was going to have overhang if I didn't do something to correct for my mistake. I decided to try and see if I could switch the layers without hurting the cake too much. It wasn't so bad, all I did was slide the 2 layers off the stand and then placed the larger layer down on a new doily (it cracked but I didn't think it was a big deal), the hard part came when I had to put the 2 layers BACK!

Bleh! All that switching of layers was for naught because I wasn't thinking about the fourth layer. When it was time for the fourth layer which was also 9-inches in diameter I decided the heck with it and just threw it on top. If there is one thing that I have learned from my baking these last three years it is that frosting can hide a multitude of sins.

A close-up of the lopsided beast.

Here we have my finished cake. I thought it turned out nicely even though I wasn't very creative with the decorating.

This is just a view of it sliced. The slice was used for the opening picture up top but you knew that.

The cake was an ambitious attempt in terms of flavors and it proved to be a satisfying challenge what with its many steps and unique layering of flavors but for me, this plate of leftover cake shavings was the best part. Cooks treat and I didn’t have to share it with anyone.

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From Epicurious.com

Black Pearl Layer Cake

TREND: Exotically flavored chocolate   WHO: Katrina Markoff, CEO of Vosges Haut-Chocolat in Chicago   WHAT: Markoff, one of the first to infuse chocolate with unexpected ingredients, named this Asian-tinged creation after one of her most popular truffles. Its Japanese flavors — ginger, wasabi, and black sesame seeds — are the building blocks for an inspired cake.

Black Pearl Ganache

• 6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon wasabi powder*
• 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds*
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, room temperature

For black pearl ganache:

Place chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream, ginger, and wasabi to boil in small pot. Pour hot cream over chocolate; cover with plastic wrap and let stand 15 minutes. Whisk cream and chocolate until smooth. Mix sesame seeds and corn syrup in small bowl to coat; stir into chocolate mixture. Let cool to lukewarm. Stir in butter. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight to set.

Ginger Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons matchstick-size strips peeled fresh ginger
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

For ginger syrup:

Place 1 cup water, sugar, and ginger in small saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into pan; add bean. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer 2 minutes; remove from heat. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour for flavors to blend.

Strain syrup into small bowl. Chop ginger. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate ginger and syrup separately.)

Cake

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour three 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottoms with parchment paper.

Whisk 2 cups boiling water, cocoa powder, and reserved chopped ginger in medium heatproof bowl. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until incorporated after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Add flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with cocoa mixture in 3 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Divide batter among prepared cake pans; smooth tops.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool completely. (Cakes can be prepared 1 day ahead. Wrap with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.)

Whipped Cream Frosting

• 2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Additional Black Sesame Seeds

For whipped cream frosting:

Beat cream in large bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar, vanilla, and ginger. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Using long serrated knife, trim rounded tops off cakes to create flat surface. Place 1 cake layer, cut side up, on plate. Brush top with 1/3 cup ginger syrup. Spread half of ganache over top of cake. Place second layer, cut side up, atop first layer. Brush with 1/3 cup syrup; spread with remaining ganache. Top with third cake layer. Brush with remaining syrup. Spread sides and top with whipped cream frosting. Sprinkle top with black sesame seeds. Refrigerate until ganache is set, about 4 hours. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

*Available in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets and at Asian markets.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Bon Appétit

January 2005

Written by Deb on February 17, 2005 02:21 AM