Decadent Chocolate Present
Dessert Sinsations & Design
Barbara O’Hara
Great for rehearsal parties, this creative cake has a filling of Oreo whipped cream. This recipe makes an 8″ round cake. To use an 8″ square pan you will need to double your recipe. For the bow you will need a number of 4″x1″ strips of parchment paper.
Ingredients
Chocolate chiffon cake
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup high grade cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup quality vegetable oil
1/2 cup egg yolks (from 6 or 7 eggs), at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups egg whites (from about 10 eggs), at room temperature
1 tsp cream of tartar
Oreo cookie filling
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar
10 Oreo cookies, slightly crushed
Chocolate ganache & chocolate walls
4 cups heavy whipping cream
2 lb quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Method
Chocolate chiffon cake
1. Preheat oven to 325˚F. Grease your 8″ pan. Double batter for square shape to achieve the present look.
2. Into a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, 1 1/4 cups of the granulated sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Once sifted, make a well in the centre and add the water, oil, egg yolks, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth, about one minute. Set aside.
4. In the metal bowl of a mixer fitted with a wire whip, beat the egg whites until foamy.
5. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Add remaining granulated sugar and beat until very thick, but not stiff.
6. Transfer about one fourth of the egg white mixture to the cake batter and fold in gently to lighten the batter.
7. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in until just incorporated. Gently scrape the batter into cake pan and smooth surface with a spatula. Bake for about one hour, or until cake springs back when touched and a skewer inserted into thickest part of cake comes out clean.
8. Rim cake around pan, and turn out onto a greased wire rack. Let cool.
9. Once cool, slice cake horizontally for two layers. Wrap both pieces in cling film and refrigerate.
Chocolate loop bow
1. Place chocolate in double boiler over simmering water. Stir until just melted. Remove from heat.
2. Using a spatula, smooth a spoonful of chocolate over a parchment strip. Loop strip, chocolate sides together, and rest, loop open, on parchment lined tray. Repeat until all loops are done. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
Oreo cookie filling
1. Into a chilled metal bowl, pour whipping cream. Add vanilla extract and confectioners’ sugar. Whisk or beat on high until thick. Stir in crushed cookies. Refrigerate.
Chocolate ganache
1. In a saucepan, over low-medium heat, heat cream until almost scalded.
2. In a bowl, place chopped chocolate. Pour heated cream overtop and immediately cover with plastic wrap. Leave covered for 10 minutes. Stir until smooth and thick.
3. Divide liquid ganache in half, setting aside half for chocolate walls (see below).
Chocolate walls
1. On medium to high speed, mix the chocolate ganache mixture until fluffy, careful not to over whip and make stiff. Set aside.
To assemble cake
1. Unwrap cooled cake. Place a wire rack onto a large cookie sheet or a pan with a rim and place bottom half of cake onto wire rack.
2. Fill piping bag with whipped chocolate wall ganache. Pipe around edge of bottom layer of cake, creating a 1 1/2″ wall to keep in the Oreo cookie filling. Set aside excess whipped ganache.
3. Pour Oreo cookie filling inside walled area. Cover with top layer of cake and ice entirely with remaining whipped ganache.
4. Pour liquid chocolate ganache over cake. Place both cake and rack into refrigerator until set.
5. Carefully remove cake from wire rack and place onto serving plate. Remove parchment from chilled bows and begin creating bow on top of cake. Have melted chocolate ready to help glue the bow together.
Yield 12 servings