I have been sitting here trying to decide what to write about these Chocolate Truffle Heart Cakes and I feel like I’m speechless. I wish I could just show you the pictures and you’d fall in love as much as I did over these. Let’s just say if you consider yourself a chocolate lover, THIS is the be all-end all decadent, rich chocolate dessert. These are a cross between the best chocolate cake and fudgy brownies you’ve ever tasted and are doused in an amazing chocolate glaze that once chilled turns into a protective chocolate coating for the rich, dark cake beneath. You’ll think you want a great big heart (you could cut these with any shape cutter), but really 2-3 inch cutters make the perfect size dessert. This is very rich. Serve it with some fresh raspberries or make a coulis with frozen raspberries and a little sugar, you could even set the cake on a pool of coulis. How about just a little whipped cream? That’s what we did.
I only have a 4 inch cutter, 2 inch and 1 1/2 inch. I made two 4 inch ones and a bunch of the smaller ones. Kevin tried eating one of the 4 inch cakes last night and he couldn’t finish it. It’s really just SO good, but SO decadent and rich. And I’m telling you, if you LOVE chocolate, like I LOVE chocolate, this is the one thing you must try!
I got this recipe (and the extreme pleasure of tasting the truffle cake) from two of the classes I took at The Community Mercantile in Lawrence, KS last year. The first time I had the pleasure of tasting the cake was from a class by Nancy Stark and the other was a Dinner Class for Valentine’s Day from my favorite chef, Paige (A Cooking Life blog). Paige mentioned in the class that she got the recipe from Nancy and isn’t sure where she got it or if she came up with it herself. Nancy is also a fantastic chef who really knows desserts and has a business doing wedding cakes and everything else you can imagine. She teaches many classes, too. The one I took where I got to taste the truffle cake was a Valentine’s Chocolate Desserts class. Such a good class! In the Dinner Class from Paige, she served these with a little homemade creme anglaise. Let me know if you’d like that recipe.
You need to make these little cakes. The boys liked them, Kevin likes it, I LOVE it. I also made some rounded truffles with some of the scraps, because once you cut out shapes, there are scraps. The fudgy cake then easily rolls into balls. Enrobe the chilled cakes with this fantastic, glossy Chocolate Glaze. HEAVEN! I must tell you, this is not a light dessert. It is full of good-quality chocolate, eggs, butter, sugar—yeah, all the good stuff. But hey, there’s no flour—so these are gluten-free!!! One thing I will mention that I did different from the recipe is that I did not add coffee and while I agree that you don’t really taste the coffee, it just enhances the chocolate flavor, we just don’t buy or use coffee here. In place of the coffee, you could use fruit juice, any flavorings or do as I did and just use vanilla extract and water.
Wanna see inside?
The cake easily freezes, and the glaze stores in the fridge for pretty much as long as you’d store butter, so you could just make a few and save the rest for another occasion, but if you have a spouse, kid, friend, lover, neighbor, family member or anyone you know who loves chocolate, you need to make these. They will love you forever!
Chocolate Truffle Heart Cakes, adapted by Paige Vandegrift from Nancy Stark (I noticed their two recipes aren’t quite exactly the same, but close.) (My changes are in red.—Katrina)
1 cup unsalted butter (8 ounces)
8 ounces best quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips)
6 large eggs
1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300 grams)
1 cup cocoa powder (92 grams)
¼ cup strong coffee (if you like, place 1 tablespoon of brandy and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a measuring cup and then add coffee to make ¼ cup, or some fruit juice or flavoring as well) (I used 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and the rest water up to 1/4 cup)
1 recipe chocolate glaze
Prepare a quarter sheet pan (or 9x13 inch cake pan) by spraying it with cooking spray and lining the bottom with parchment paper.
Melt butter, then add chocolate and stir until melted. Measure sugar and cocoa into a large bowl. Stir with a whisk to break up lumps and aerate. Add eggs and coffee (liquid) to bowl and mix well. Whisk in the melted butter and chocolate. Spread into pan and bake at 375 degrees until the surface looks dry (it may be beginning to crack)—about 20-25 minutes. Cool completely, then cover and chill overnight.
Turn chilled cake layer out on to a clean flat surface such as a cutting board. Cut out heart shapes, any size you’d like. (I found I had to carefully push each heart out of the cutter and I washed the cutter each time.) Anything bigger than 3 inches would almost be too much! Working with one cake at a time, slide an offset spatula under the cake and ladle some of the glaze evenly over the cake, allowing the glaze to drip back into the bowl. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and repeat with the remaining cakes. Chill the cakes. Up to one hour before serving, place the cakes on individual dessert plates to allow the cakes to come to room temperature. To serve, garnish with fresh raspberries and crème anglaise or whipped cream.
Chocolate Glaze:
12 ounces best quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (Again, I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips)
9 ounces (18 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 ½ tablespoons (31 grams) light corn syrup
2 ½ tablespoons water
Place all ingredients in a medium-sized metal bowl. Place over a pan of steaming water. Stir frequently until mostly melted. Remove from the heat and set aside to finish melting, stirring once or twice until glaze is perfectly smooth. Let glaze cool to about 90 degrees before using.
These Chocolate Truffle Heart Cakes are being added/linked to Lisa’s Sweets for a Saturday.
Check out all the amazing sweets at Lisa’s blog--Sweet As Sugar Cookies.
21 comments:
Holy mama, those lok decadent! LOVE
Oh boy do these ever look good. And if your entire family loved them, then they must have really been delicious. I guess you're going to have to make these more often.
This is so perfect for V-Day!
Wow! Those look amazing. What a wonderful way to say Love with chocolate!!
they are very cute and the inside looks like moist perfection. great photo and even better baking!
These look so adorable Katrina. And sinfully delicious too.
Holy moly! These look AH-MAZ-ING! The picture with the bite out of it says it all. This looks like my dream dessert.
Ok, that photo with one of the cakes cut open just put me over the top. I will have to try this. I made a flourless chocolate cake for Valentine's Day last year and overcooked it. :-( Maybe better luck this year. By the way, I've adapted and made the healthy chocolate oat cooikes twice already (mini batches) and I know I'll be making them regularly as an "everyday" treat. Thanks for the great ideas.
Desserts are not typically my thing, but, good heavens, these scrumptious treats are getting me all hot and bothered! The addition of coffee and brandy here is truly inspired.
I just spent an hour exercising this morning so that when I can drop the 7 pounds I gained in the last 4 months I can eat stuff like this again! OMG these look DELISH!
Oh my gosh Katrina, these do look like heaven. I;m so glad you let us peek inside it too. Totally drool worthy! I was just playing with an egg shaped pan that I have only used once thinking I really shouldn't by these novelty pans and now I think I just found my next egg project! I hate to say I'll wait till Easter to try this recipe because I REALLY want to run into the kitchen right now but I have other plans on the burner right now. But wouldn't these make adorable chocolate covered Easter eggs? Now visions of Easter eggs are dancing in my head! I wish I could give it two thumbs up! :)
Happy Valentines Day Katrina, to you and all the boys!
Sinful temptation K...these are droolicious. Love the peep inside ... full of love & indulgence!
Hi Katrina! These are adorable...and gluten free too? Amazing!
You are the LUCKY winner of some yummy Belgian chocolate. Please email me your contact info so I can have you send the basket. Let me know how you like them!
I love flourless chocolate cakes. It's the perfect thing for Valentines. Your cakes are beautiful.
These look amazing! LOVE LOVE LOVE them :)
Those look so good! Can't wait to try them. Anything chocolate is ok in my book.
wow!! Those look delicious!!
Oh YUM. Look at that glossy, beautiful cake. And so moist and rich inside! This looks like the perfect Valentine's day treat.
I adore chocolate cake in any form. I needed a glass of milk just looking at these rich little cuties.
BTW--I just found your blog. I am a baking mother of 4 boys, too!
Wow, these look like something my hubs would LOVE! He is obsessed with truffles and flourless chocolate cake. I haven't made that cake in months, it may need to get moved to the top of the list.
Awesome pics!
Oh my Katrina. I am drooling. So bookmarked these!!!
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