As you can tell, this looks nothing like a "brownout" cake. I ran out of time. I ran out of time and I just couldn't get myself together to make the ganache. *SIGH* This past week was ridiculously busy for me and I was so, so excited about this cake. Elyse, the mind behind Elyse's Confectionery Creations, chose this week's cake and she is one of my favorite bloggy people so I really wanted to do this recipe justice. She's in law school right now and she has this super fabulous food blog where you can find some seriously amazing and delicious creations.
I halved the recipe to make two 4" layers for a smaller layer cake. The recipe also calls for brownies from the book for the "brownout" crumbs which I made. That's a recipe for another post but between the cake and the brownies I can say that so far, Melissa seems to know her chocolate! I'm a chocolate lover and both the brownies and the cake looked rich and fudgy. The recipe for the cake isn't complicated at all. I used some instant espresso powder for the coffee because I didn't feel like brewing a batch but other than that I didn't think that there was anything out of the ordinary. So, yeah, no ganache. I just ran out of time. The cake needed to be finished and I just didn't have time to melt the chocolate and mess around spreading the ganache. So, I whipped some cream. I put brownie chunks in the cream in between the layers and then I left the cream on top plain and sprinkled brownie bits on it. I thought that it was pretty but it's not a brownout cake.Verdict: I didn't get a chance to eat this because it was still Lent but it received rave reviews for being moist and very intensely chocolatey. The coffee flavor in mine was very present but I'm not sure if that's because I used espresso powder rather than using fresh brewed coffee.
Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate it. I'm in New Orleans with my family this weekend. I'm sorry for my absense in and around the blogs this past week but hopefully I'll be back on track this week. In the meantime, thanks to Elyse for picking such a wonderful cake this week. I will definitely make it again, "brownout" style!
18 comments:
Jessica, all I can say is "you are so good"!! Even though it was Lent, I did take a forkful of each thing I baked (about 4 recipes). Well, this gives you an excuse to make the cake again, so you can taste it, right? I thought it was like a fudge concoction when it's assembled. I love the version that you made, and I'm sure whoever the lucky tasters were agreed!
Nancy
ps, the verification word is "forks!"
Wow, you didn't try it? That's impressive self control :) My cake is baking right now and I also used espresso powder. When I tasted the batter, the coffee flavor was strong so we'll see what happens. Yours looks wonderful with the whipped cream and I bet it was delicious!
Wow this looks so good!! so impressed you had any self control for this over lent...
that's ok, i didn't have time to make it due to the holiday - so it looks great to me :)
with or without the ganache, that cake looks amazing! hope your life gets less hectic soon :)
I'm so impressed with your willpower, since I know how great this cake smelled when baking. It looks so pretty with the whipped cream layers; I'm sure your tasters must have enjoyed it.
Jessica, I absolutely love what you've done with the cake. Honestly, I think a bit of whipped cream would've done great things in terms of cutting some of the over-the-top richness of this cake. And, I love the color contrast. You totally did the recipe justice! I think your cake looks great! And thanks for the shout out. You're absolutely one of my favorite blogs to read; plus, you were one of my first blogging buddies :)
I like your version - it looks so good even though it isn't all brown!
Jessica, you are so creative and I admire your committment to baking! I love the whipped cream idea and think it is a great way to tone down the chocolate on this cake (which is seriously a lot). What restraint too, incredible. Hope you had a nice trip!
Ganache or not, it looks sinfully good!
Happy Easter to you..Your cake looks so good. Way to go on the self control!
Honestly, with a dense, rich intensely chocolatey cake like this one, I think that whipped cream is the perfect counterbalance. Your cake looks perfect to me. Hope things calm down for you soon! And I hope that you had a great time in New Orleans with your family - it is one of my favorite cities (we were just there in March, and I was reminded of all of the reasons why I love it!)
You need to go back and make this cake so you can taste it. It is pure heaven!!
I hear you about not having time to make ganache. There is one thing I hate and that is chopping chocolate.
Your cake looks great with the whipped cream frosting.
I really like the whipped cream on your cake. The contrast between the white and brown looks pretty.
wow, it's gigantic! I love the white icing, how pretty!
Katie xox
Holy cow, this LOOKS so good! Too bad I'm on a diet...I do however plan on making this for my family. Will-power, grrrr.
I'm happy I found your blog -
Jenifer
J&J Dish
I like the whipped cream on your cake. It makes the cake look like one big Oreo cookie, very cute!
I had some issues with the cake (I think it was my oven) but I actually like that you didn't use ganache, as I thoguht it was too rich. Nice work.
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