It was a formidable task, and one that I was not sure I could take on. However, I had spent most of the past 10 days sitting around - literally. After undergoing a serious knee operation, my Dr told me that I could not place any weight on my right leg for almost two months. However when the December Bon Appetit magazine arrived in the mail, I knew that the cake on the cover would take center stage at Christmas dinner. I needed to figure out a way to both make and assemble the cake. So my husband and I took on this task, and managed to have fun doing it...
I was nervous - making a complicated torte that consisted of layers, ganache, glaze, and chocolate ribbons would not be easy on one leg. It looked so gorgeous that it had to be done. Perhaps it was the fact that I could not last very long standing on one leg, but I found that this cake was best done in stages - we did the layers on day and the buttercream the next. We then assembled everything the day before we wanted to serve it. The ribbons on top proved to me a new challenge in the kitchen, but one that was fun and something that I plan to do again.
When our family saw the cake there were lots of "oohhhs" and "aaahhhhs", and it actually tasted as good as it looked (I have to admit, I was not really sure how it would taste... After all, I am not a big fan of this particular kind of buttercream, and when I was assembling everything, the torte seemed overly dry. The ribbons themselves do not have a lot of flavor but pull the whole thing together. I will use this technique again for creating chocolate ribbons.
Spiced Chocolate Torte from Bon Appetit - December
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 8 eggs, seperated, room temperature
- 10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), melted, lukewarm
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 1/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour, sifted (measured, then sifted)
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of cream of tartar
Chocolate Buttercream
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 4 jumbo egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, cut into small pieces, room temperature
- 6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), melted and cooled (but still pourable)
- 1/4 cup dark rum
Chocolate Glaze
- 12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
Chocolate "Ribbons"
- 14 ounces high-quality white chocolate, chopped (the original recipe calls for 7 ounces but I did not find that it was enough)
- 1 cup light corn syrup, divided
- 14 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), broken into pieces (same thing here re: the amount as in the white chocolate...)
Chocolate Buttercream
-
Stir sugar and corn syrup in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil 1 minute. Meanwhile, using electric mixer, beat egg yolks in medium bowl until pale and thick. Gradually beat in hot sugar syrup; continue beating until mixture is completely cool, about 5 minutes. Beat in butter a few (2) pieces at a time, incorporating the pieces completely before adding next. Blend in melted chocolate, then rum. (If buttercream looks broken or curdled, place bowl with buttercream over medium heat on stove burner and whisk 5 to 10 seconds to warm mixture slightly, then remove from heat and beat mixture again on medium speed. Repeat warming and beating as many times as needed until buttercream is smooth.)
-
Reserve 1/2 cup buttercream. Set 1 cake layer, flat side up, on rack; spread with half of remaining buttercream. Top with second cake layer; spread with remaining buttercream. Top with third cake layer; use reserved 1/2 cup buttercream to fill in seam where cake layers meet. Freeze cake until buttercream is firm, about 2 hours.
Chocolate Glaze
-
Stir all ingredients in top of double boiler over gently simmering water until mixture is smooth. Remove from over water. Stir until glaze is thickened, about 5 minutes (do not allow glaze to set).
-
Pour 3/4 of glaze over top of cake. Carefully and quickly tilt cake back and forth so glaze coats sides; smooth sides with spatula, adding some of remaining glaze where necessary. Chill cake until glaze is set.
Chocolate Ribbons
-
Melt white chocolate in top of double boiler over gently simmering water; stir until smooth. Stir in 1/4 cup corn syrup. Pour onto baking sheet. Chill until firm, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer white chocolate to work surface and knead several minutes. Shape white chocolate dough into ball. Wrap in plastic. Let white chocolate dough stand at room temperature 1 hour.
-
Repeat with bittersweet chocolate and remaining 1/4 cup corn syrup.
-
Cut white chocolate dough into 4 pieces. Flatten 1 piece into rectangle. Turn pasta machine to widest setting (if you do not have a pasta machine, use a french rolling pin - you will be fine, no worries!). Run chocolate through 3 times, folding into thirds before each run. Adjust machine to next narrower setting. Run chocolate through machine without folding. If chocolate is more than 1/16 inch thick, run through next narrower setting. Lay chocolate piece on rimless baking sheet. Repeat flattening, folding, and rolling with remaining chocolate pieces. Repeat process with bittersweet chocolate dough.The recipe called for several technical details with regard to assembling the ribbons so that they looked just like the cover recipe... We went our own way and had fun. You will want (and need) and ruler for this. Have fun with the ribbons and arrange them in a way that makes sense for you.
Enjoy!
