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Elizabeth's Extreme Chocolate Lover's Cake

SUBMITTED BY: ELIZABETHBH PHOTO BY: KEVINXS

"If you are a chocolate lover, you're gonna LOVE this!! The best chocolate cake I've ever concocted! The ganache and cream cheese chocolate buttercream frosting are absolutely decadent! Serve with fresh raspberries, if desired."

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PREP TIME	25 Min
COOK TIME	35 Min
READY IN	1 Hr
Original recipe yield 1 - 2 layer 9 inch cake

SERVINGS

(Help)

Servings
USMETRIC

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

CAKE:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1 cup water
FROSTING:
6 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
GANACHE:
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 (9 inch) pans. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the top of a double boiler, heat 6 ounces chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the melted chocolate. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Make the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting: In the top of a double boiler, heat 6 ounces chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl, whip the butter for about 10 minutes until it is super fluffy, beat in egg yolk. Gradually blend in the confectioners' sugar, alternating with 2 tablespoons vanilla and 2 tablespoons cream, then blend in the melted chocolate. Beat in the softened cream cheese.
Make the Ganache: In a large saucepan, combine chocolate chips and 1 cup heavy cream. Heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
Assemble the cake: When cake is completely cooled, cover the bottom cake layer with as much ganache as desired. Refrigerate for 5 minutes, or until ganache has set. Spread frosting over the ganache. Cover with top layer of cake. Frost top and sides with buttercream, and garnish with more ganache.

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REVIEWS

Reviewed on Sep. 7, 2004 by MEGAN24

As someone who has never baked with ganache before, it would have been helpful to know that I... MORE

Reviewed on Aug. 23, 2006 by exnyker

Full Review

The reviewer gave this recipe 1 stars. This recipe averages a 0 star rating.

exnyker
Aug. 23, 2006

Have NO idead what went wrong with this recipe - but my own experience with this one is pure disaster. Prior to adding the boiling water to the batter, the batter looked terrific. I added the 1 cup of boiling water to the batter, and the batter became very thin (as the recipe says it will become). However, the recipe says it makes TWO 9 inch layers - but instead, it filled THREE 9 inch layers. (Now here's the worst part...) When baking in the oven, all three layers overflowed - badly - and the cake seemingly refused to bake(?). The recipe says 35-40 minutes to bake, and, after an hour & 15 minutes, I finally just took the pans out of the oven. The cakes were lopsided - and sunken in. When taking the layers out of the pan, ALL cake layers stuck badly to the pans. One of the layers came out like a DOUGHNUT(?!?) - about 3" diameter staying inside the pan! This is for a birthday party, tomorrow night, so I iced the cake anyway - but this cake is, without doubt, one of the ugliest, lopsided cakes I've ever made - and I'm actually afraid to see what it tastes like. Luckily, I have ice cream to go with it - so I'll most likely stop at the store & get stuff to make ice cream sundaes, just in case the first bite of cake tells me not to serve it to anyone else... Very, very odd.

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8 users found this review helpful

Have NO idead what went wrong with this recipe - but my own experience with this one is pure... MORE

Reviewed on Aug. 26, 2007 by pwoodson

I usually don't trust recipes I find on the internet. However, this recipe looked so good... MORE

Reviewed on Jun. 28, 2005 by Camille

This cake is fantastic! It got rav reviews from friends and family alike. I have a friend who... MORE

Reviewed on Feb. 9, 2004 by GINAGINA

This was OK. Just watch the amount of vanilla listed in the ingredients versus what it says in... MORE

Reviewed on Oct. 23, 2007 by Cindy

This cake is a big project, that's for sure; however, it's worth it. I gave it 4 stars only... MORE

Reviewed on Apr. 13, 2007 by KRAZYKEL028

Full Review

The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 0 star rating.

KRAZYKEL028
Apr. 13, 2007

WOW!! I had never made a cake from scratch but wanted to try. I was a little leary and VERY scared. I pretty much followed this recipe exact with the exception that I used semisweet choc chips for the ganache. This cake was VERY time consuming - im sure that might have something to do with my inexperience. I did refridgerate the ganache (overnight, actually since it became very late) In the morning I whipped it with a hand mixer and it was perfect. I didn't think the batter was too thin and it fit fine in 2 pans. I also did firmly pack the brown sugar as I think someone else had suggested. Ok so I twisted things a little by frosting the entire cake with the ganache and using the buttercream frosting to garnish on top and the bottom - I also shaved some chocolate for decor. (im going to see if I can figure out how to load a pic).. Here's the best part - I take this absolutely beautiful cake to work with me tonight and had it in a crystal disply case (I work in a restaurant) I added it as a dessert special and of course because of the beauty of it was ordered by the very first table of the night. I was mortified because even with its looks I was so afraid that with the first cut it would collapse or explode or worse, I was afraid it would taste disgusting all put together. HOLY MOLY, it was a hit!! We sold almost the whole cake and people went on about it being the best cake they ever had and how moist it was, etc. I was beaming and LOVED taking credit for it!! Thank U!!!

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6 users found this review helpful

WOW!! I had never made a cake from scratch but wanted to try. I was a little leary and VERY... MORE

Reviewed on Dec. 24, 2003 by MLS4668

TO DIE FOR! That's all I have to say about this cake. I made it for a BBQ for my family and... MORE

Reviewed on May 17, 2003 by ANNEBACON

I won second place OVERALL at our State Fair with this cake....over approx 250 cakes! It is... MORE

Reviewed on Feb. 11, 2005 by DAVID1RAY2

This is an excellent Chocolate cake to make. The cake part is so moist and almost brownie like... MORE

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