Caramel Chocolate Ganache Cake

Caramel Chocolate Ganache Cake , adapted from the Pierre Hermé Faubourg Pavé recipe, is my go-to one whenever a special occasion calls for a decadent treat. The smooth caramel chocolate ganache dances deliciously on the tongue, rich with buttery and sugary goodness.

Cocoa Cakes

1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon (40g) Dutched Cocoa
¼ cup (35g) Cake Flour
3 ½ Tablespoons Potato Starch
5 ½ Tablespoons (75g) Unsalted Butter
9 large Egg Yolks, room temperature
1 ¼ cups (150g) Sugar
5 large Egg Whites, room temperature

Butter 2 small cake pans (loaf pans, oval pans, or round pans) and line with parchment.

Sift cocoa, cake flour, and potato starch.
Melt butter and set aside to cool until barely warm to the touch.

Beat yolks + ½ cup + 2 TBSP (75g) sugar on med-high speed until pale (5 minutes).

Whip whites on medium speed until soft peaks. Gradually add in remaining ½ cup + 2 TBSP (75g) sugar and beat until firm and shiny.

Fold sifted dry ingredients + ¼ of whites into the yolk mixture. Stir a few tablespoons of the mixture into the cooled melted butter, stirring to incorporate the butter as much as possible. Then, add butter and remaining whites to the yolks. Fold together.

Pour into pans (3/4 full). Bake at 350F (180C) 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool 3 minutes in pans, then unmould onto racks. Cakes can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature 2 days or frozen for 1 month.

Caramel Soaking Syrup

¼ cup (50g) Sugar
2 teaspoons (10g) Salted Butter (or unsalted with a pinch of salt)
6 tablespoons (100g) warm water

Put sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
As soon as the sugar starts to melt, stir with a wooden spoon.
Keep heating and stirring until a rich brown colour.
Standing away from the pan, drop butter into the pan; then, as it melts, stir it into the caramelized sugar.
Stand back and add the water. When the mixture comes to a boil, pull pan from the heat. Allow syrup to cool to room temperature. Syrup can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Caramel Ganache

6 ½ oz (185g) Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped
4 ¼ oz (120g) Milk Chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup (140g) Sugar
1 ½ tablespoons (20g) Salted Butter (or unsalted with a pinch of salt)
1 cup + 2 TBSP (275g) Heavy Cream
12oz (335g) Unsalted Butter, room temperature

Mix the 2 chocolates in a heatproof bowl.
Set a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over med-high heat and sprinkle 1/3 of sugar over the bottom. As soon as the sugar starts to melt and colour, stir with a wooden spoon until it caramelizes. Sprinkle ½ of the remaining sugar over the caramelized sugar, and, as soon as it starts to melt, stir it into the caramelized sugar in the pan. Repeat with the last of the sugar, and cook until deep brown. Stand away from the pan, and, while still stirring, add salted butter. When the butter is incorporated, add the cream. (If the mixture seizes and clumps, keep stirring and heating until it evens out). Bring mixture to a boil, then remove from the heat.

Pour ½ of the hot caramel over the chocolate, and stir gently, starting in the centre of bowl and working your way out in concentric circles. When the chocolate mixture is smooth, add the remaining hot caramel, stirring from the centre out. Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes, or until slightly warm.

While ganache is cooling, beat unsalted butter, using a paddle attachment or spatula. You want to soften the butter until the consistency of mayonnaise, but you do not want to beat air into it.

Using a spatula or whisk, gently stir butter into the ganache.

You will need to have the ganache at a creamy frosting consistency. Refrigerate for 5 minutes intervals, stirring frequently so it does not become too firm around the edges.

Assembly:

Cut each cocoa cake into 3 layers. Soak each cake layer with Caramel Soaking Syrup and slather on a layer of ganache. Cover entire cake with ganache.