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April 11, 2015

Chocolate Eminence Cake Recipe

This is a celebration cake to make for somebody you really love.

For me, that was my friend Lily, though I will say I made it for her pre-baby. Two days pre-baby, to be exact. I was on maternity leave and had just a litttttle more time left on my hands before our little bundle of joy came along (and completely changed the meaning of “free time” (and how I spent it)).

I think it made her happy, so that made me happy. I was also happy to eat it. Yum. It was so good. Several people remarked that it seemed like bakery quality, and even Eric told me he liked it, and he normally doesn’t even like chocolate cake. (But don’t worry. I love chocolate cake and I looooved it, too.)

That night, as our huge group celebrated at the restaurant, who did we run into but my dear brother and sister-in-law! Naturally I wanted to share my chocolate creation with them. They liked it so much that they later requested it for my niece’s 1st birthday party several months later. So I made the cake once more, again for somebody I really loved. And this time, it was with my own baby in tow… so methinks that’s somehow even more love than Lily got. Because spending all day making a cake pre-baby is not the same as spending all day making a cake post-baby. It was a hit, and even though my niece never got to try a bite, I know the guests enjoyed it! She’ll have to wait a little longer before she’s allowed processed sugar, but if she’s anything like her aunt, I think she’ll take to it pretty quickly :).

Either way, they all felt loved. Nothing says HAPPY BIRTHDAY like a rich slice of chocolate cake, and nothing says I LOVE YOU like making that cake yourself, from scratch! So if you’ve got a chocolate-lover in your life and want to shower some X’s and O’s on ’em, I think this will make the mark. Enjoy!

P.S. If this cake recipe looks like too much trouble, here’s a much easier one to try! It definitely hits the chocolate spot, and takes fewer ingredients, pans, and time.

A note on the recipe: As usual, I made mistakes my first time around… and as sometimes happens, I was pleasantly surprised! The original recipe says to bake the cake batter in a jelly roll pan, and then cut out two 9-inch disks from the cake layer, which you then assemble into two layers. I thought I’d be clever and bake it up in a 9-inch cake pan and cut it in half lengthwise… but then I just got a really dense layer of chocolate cake– still only about 1″ tall! So I had to make another batch of cake batter to get my second 9-inch round layer. Well, I ended up loving the rich, dense cake that resulted! So I made it the same way the second time around. I imagine doing it the “right” way results in a lighter cake (and requires half the cake batter ingredients…) but I’m a fan of dense chocolate cake so my version is listed below.

Another change I made from the original recipe was to make ALMOND praline instead of HAZELNUT praline, as the original recipe calls for. You can use whatever you like. I had a huge bag of sliced almonds from Costco in my pantry, so that was simpler for me, and it turned out wonderfully. I imagine hazelnut would taste great, too, but until I find myself in possession of a bag of hazelnuts, I will continue to make this with almonds! 

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Chocolate Eminence Cake
Makes one 9-inch cake
adapted from Nick Malgieri’s Perfect Cakes

Ingredients

Cake Batter

Milk Chocolate Ganache

Almond Praline

Instructions

  1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
  2. Prepare your pans: Butter two 9-inch cake pans and line each pan with buttered parchment paper for the cake rounds. Butter a jelly roll pan for the praline.
  3. Combine the chocolate and water in a heatproof, microwave safe bowl. Melt in a microwave, 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each interval until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
  4. In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the whip, beat the yolks with 1/2 cup of sugar until very light.
  5. In a clean, dry mixer bowl, with the clean, dry whip, beat the egg whites with the salt until they begin to hold a very soft peak. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat in the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar in a slow stream.
  6. Mix the chocolate mixture into the yolk mixture, then fold in the egg whites.
  7. Divide the batter evenly into the two 9-inch cake pans and smooth the tops. Bake for about 15-25 minutes, until the tops are firm to the touch. Remove the pans from the oven and loosen the sides of the cake with a small sharp knife. Use the paper to help you slide the layers onto a work surface to cool.
  8. To make the ganache, bring the cream and butter to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Let chocolate melt, then stir. Whisk until smooth, and refrigerate until thickened, about 1 hour.
  9. Meanwhile, prepare the praline. In a medium saucepan, stir the sugar and lemon juice together to mix well. Place over low heat and stir occasionally until sugar is melted and caramelized. Stir in the almonds and scrape the mixture out onto the buttered pan. Allow to cool and harden.
  10. Break up the praline and grind to a coarse powder in the food processor.
  11. In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the chilled ganache to lighten it. Place one cake layer on a cake round and spread with half of the ganache. Sprinkle with half the praline. Top with the second cake layer. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the ganache. Press the remaining praline into the sides of the cake.
  12. Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder and mark a lattice pattern in the cocoa with a serrated knife.

Serving: Serve at cool room temperature.

Storage: Cover cake lightly and refrigerate for up to two days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Too much work? Try this simple and rich chocolate cake! Another fave– and made much more frequently due to its simplicity!

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6 responses to “Chocolate Eminence Cake”

  1. Dakota says:
    April 11, 2015 at 3:25 pm

    Oh. My. Goodness. I believe SOMEONE on my list will be getting this (maybe I should just bake my own birthday cake…. um, 7 months early 😉 ). This looks too good. One question, do you think it would taste okay with pecans instead of almonds? I’m allergic to both almonds and hazelnuts. 🙁

    • joellen says:
      April 13, 2015 at 6:46 pm

      Hm. I’ve never tried with pecans. Not sure it would have the same crunch, but I don’t think it would be bad!

  2. Lily says:
    April 13, 2015 at 6:37 am

    Mmmmmmm it made me feel super happy and loved. It was delicious! <3 <3

  3. Angela says:
    April 13, 2015 at 11:04 am

    This very cake of yours is one of my absolute favorites and I don’t consider myself a cake-lover. We felt super loved and thankful when you made it for A’s first birthday and I’m sure A will grow up loving this too. ^_~