Tuesday, June 22, 2010

TWD—Dressy Chocolate Cake (9 inch Round, not Loaf)

We’re moving this week.  Too many emotions about it to write, so I’m not going to.  That being said as short as possible, we’re also excited to get to our big, new house!  I packed up most of the kitchen today. Will I be able to survive not baking for a week or more?  Stay tuned and see!  In planning ahead, I already made this week’s recipe for Tuesday’s With Dorie as well as next week’s recipe!  So know that it will be really hard for me not to be able to stop by all the wonderful blogs out there and see their chocolate cakes and vanilla bean tea cakes, but I WILL be back.  I think my turn to pick is coming up in August!!!  Whatever will I pick?  Will it be chocolate, Kayte?  Or will I be tempted by something else?  You’ll have to wait and see.

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This week’s recipe was for Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours.  Amy Ruth from Amy Ruth Bakes chose this recipe.  A couple things here—I started making the recipe, without reading all the way through it and realized I needed one cup of sour cream.  Oops.  I’ve been trying to use up what we have in the fridge, and we only had about 1/4 cup of sour cream left, so I used that and 3/4 cup yogurt (fat free vanilla yogurt).  I’m not sure how much that changed the recipe (some flavor, I’m sure), but I suppose that doesn’t matter because the cake was well liked and eaten up!

Now--you must know, I didn’t make a loaf cake.  No real good reason.  I baked this in a 9 inch round cake pan.  (Baked for 50 minutes.)  And I didn’t put raspberry preserves.  No fruit with chocolate here.  (Although I would like it.)  I filled the middle of the cake with---wait for it, wait----

Caramel!  Using up things we have again, I used 6 ounces of unwrapped Kraft caramels melted together with 4 ounces of heavy cream.  Gooey caramel ganache.

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I also made a dark chocolate ganache with 6 ounces of chocolate and 6 ounces of heavy cream.  Heat the cream just to boiling and pour it over the chopped chocolate.  Let it sit for a minute, then slowly whisk it together until is smooth.  I then let the ganache sit for about an hour before frosting the cake with it.  It becomes the perfect consistency!  (Bad lighting photos!)

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This cake was screaming to be sprinkled with chopped pecans.

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Kevin and Scott had a piece (the other boys didn’t want any), then I took the cake to share with my friends for our night out.  We were watching Survivor together, but that is over for the summer, so we’ve been watching So You Think You Can Dance.  I CANNOT dance, but they sure can on that show.  Anyway, the ladies really liked the cake.  Even Kevin thought it was pretty good.  I only took a few bites.  It was a lot more fudgy than we thought it was going to be, in a good way.  But I’d still rather have the taste and texture of a brownie. 

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Thanks for the chocolate, Amy Ruth.  Check out the other (real) Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cakes over at TWD.

So like I said, I may not get to visit all your blogs this week and next and if I don’t, I’m sorry.  I’ll catch up eventually.

Goodbye, Kansas.  We’re clicking our heals together and chanting, “There’s no place like home”.

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Just a little sandwich fun the boys have had at lunchtime.

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Sam got his last haircut with our friend, Tes, on Saturday.  Bye, Tes, we love you and we’ll miss you!

He always likes to help her sweep up.

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33 comments:

Rhandi said...

Your cake looks absolutely mouthwatering and makes me want to go and bake at midnight!

Lisa said...

That cake looks delectable, Katrina! I always sub yogurt for sour cream or sour cream for yogurt, depending which I have on hand LOL Sometimes even heavy cream!

Also, good luck with your move! *hugs*

Flourchild said...

Moving and unpacking is emotional. Im glad you were able to bake this and wow us all again!

chocolatechci said...

Brilliant call on the cake.

Hoping your move goes smoothly.

Paula said...

Good luck with your move. I'm so impressed that you have baked ahead when you've got so much going on.

Your cake looks good and rich. Nice variation!

♥peachkins♥ said...

chocolate cake with caramel?? That is heaven!


blowing peachkisses
The Peach Kitchen
peach and things

Brittany November said...

Cool! I just found your blog. I like your pictures and stuff. :)

Bella Baker said...

good luck with your move!! I can imagine it must be bittersweet! And umm, that cake!! HOLY! I am drooling over it! It looks insanley delicious! xoxo

Peggy said...

Good luck with your move. I have moved so many times while I do not envy you on the hard work part, it is always exciting to me to start over in a new place! Your cake looks great.

Anonymous said...

I liked the cake with the jam in the middle. But I think maybe that is because I didn't think to put chocolate and caramel in the middle. Oh well. I certainly didn't need to eat an entire cake in one sitting.

Adventures in Domestic Cooking said...

The cake looks deadly!!
Aawww, the boys are precious=)

Kayte said...

Oh, I need to make your version of the cake soon! All that drippy goodness inside. Love the photos of the cake, but the ones of the boys are so sweet...the haircut, he looks so much older! Say it isn't so. Happy trails to your new digs.

Pamela said...

Good luck with the big move, Katrina! Can't wait to see pics of the new place. You were very smart to use up the caramel in this cake. Sounds divine!

Amber Marie said...

The caramel looks so good! I love the face sandwiches...too cute!

AmyRuth said...

Ah Katrina, I'll keep you in my thoughts as you move. I know its so complex. Excitement mixed with sadness. New and old. Anyway, chin up! New chapters. Thanks for baking along and I love what you did with the caramel. Who wouldn't love that anyway? Sounds yummy to me. Take care and we will see ya when we see ya. Safe travels.
AmyRuth

Eliana said...

A woman after my own heart. I'm nuts over nuts and caramel so this is my favorite rendition of this recipe that I have seen of all the TWD bakers.

spike. said...

love SYTYCD! also love the caramel center of your cake- yum. good luck with the move!

Mary @ Bites and Bliss said...

I wish I could bake as much as you do!! But everything I make either has to be in tiny batches or it lasts a few weeks since I'm the only one here. Good luck surviving without baking for a few days!

Hindy said...

Oh my! I want caramel right now. that looks so delicious.
Good luck with the move!

Mary said...

Caramel and pecans sound amazing--like a big Turtle cake! I moved too, yesterday, and so used up a few things in my pantry too. Good luck with your move!

Unknown said...

love your variations! that sounds amazing and i may have to try it...

Anonymous said...

Caramel and nuts sound like great additions to this cake. Good luck with your move!

mike said...

A very "good luck" on the move - how exciting! And that caramel - what a perfect choice! Can't wait to see the new "home" in your upcoming posts!

Clumbsy Cookie said...

That caramel in the middle just killed me Katrina (in a good way of course)! The sandwiches are so cute, it just reminded me of the sandwiches I used to do for my kids when I was an Au Pair. I used to have so much fun doing them, and the kids had a lot of fun eating them!
I'm so sure you'll be missed in there :)

Unknown said...

Your cake looks mouth-wateringly good!!! Good luck on the move!!

Anonymous said...

Your cake looks so good! Caramel and chocolate and more chocolate - yum!

Anna said...

That cake looks rich. I love the toast!!!

Katrina, good luck with your move. We are thinking about you guys this week.

lola said...

Your cake looks fabulous. I love the caramel and nuts. Good luck with your move.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with your move!
The cake looks really tasty! You can't go wrong with caramel and chocolate! YUM!

Anne said...

Good luck with your move Katrina! I love the caramel ganache and your cinnamon rolls look amazing below. You've been busy! Sorry I'm not closer so I could drop off some dinner for you guys! :)

Plain Chicken said...

your sandwiches are funny! I bet the boys loved them - I would!

Kerstin said...

That oozing caramel is making me drool! And what cute sandwiches. Good luck with your move and unpacking!

Juliana said...

Oh! Nice cake...Katrina! Good luck on your move.