All-New Cake Mix Doctor - Anne Byrn [57]
Frosting a Layer Cake: My Favorite Things to Remember
1. It’s a lot easier to frost a cake if the layers are cool—let them cool completely on a wire rack. If you are in a hurry, place the layers in the fridge before frosting. And in the summer months, refrigerate the cake again after frosting so it can set, which makes slicing easier and toting a lot less messy.
2. Take care when making frosting to add the liquid a bit at a time so that you don’t use too much and wind up either with a runny frosting or a horribly sweet one, because you had to add more sugar to thicken it. Cream cheese frostings don’t need any liquid at all other than a bit of vanilla extract or other subtle flavoring. Full-fat cream cheese is less watery than reduced-fat, and it makes a less runny frosting.
3. Level layers make frosting a breeze. Although I appreciate the homey look of a domed cake, it is more difficult to frost. Slice the rounded top off each cake layer with a serrated knife to level it before frosting so that the layers stack evenly.
4. Have the right frosting tools on hand—a rubber spatula to get the frosting from the bowl to the cake and long and short, thin metal spatulas for spreading the frosting in clean strokes.
5. Don’t get frustrated—practice does make perfect!
CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE MINT GANACHE
serves:
12 to 16
prep:
25 minutes
bake:
25 to 30 minutes
cool:
25 minutes
FOR MANY YEARS I HAVE BEEN PART of the herb society in Nashville. When my kids were small I would take them with me to the two large herb gardens the society maintained, and they also helped me manage our own small herb garden in the backyard. Through the years my garden has turned into a mostly perennial one, requiring little maintenance. All I need to do is to plant basil in the late spring and watch so the mint doesn’t take over the entire garden. A bossy herb, mint really needs to be planted in a pot and sunk into the garden so it is confined—sort of like a child placed in time-out! But I do love mint in cooking, especially the flavor of fresh mint and chocolate. I first tried infusing my chocolate ganache frosting at a cooking workshop I gave for the herb group. It was fantastic! The flavor of the frosting really dresses up this simple chocolate buttermilk cake. Serve it with a scoop of good vanilla or chocolate mint ice cream.
For the chocolate mint ganache
1 lightly packed cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
12/3 cups chopped semisweet chocolate
For the cake
Vegetable oil spray, for misting the pans
Flour, for dusting the pans
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain chocolate cake mix or chocolate cake mix with pudding
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
11/3 cups buttermilk
½ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Make the chocolate mint ganache: Rinse the mint leaves under cold running water and pat them dry with paper towels. Tear the mint leaves in half with your fingers and put them in a small heavy saucepan with the cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then remove the pan from the heat and let rest for 20 minutes to infuse the cream with the mint flavor.
2. Place the chocolate in a large stainless steel or glass bowl and set a strainer over the bowl. Place the pot with the infused cream over medium heat and reheat it gently, just enough to bring up the heat. Pour the cream and mint mixture into the strainer so that the cream runs through to the chocolate and the strainer catches the mint leaves. Discard the mint. Using a wooden spoon, stir the hot cream into the chocolate until the chocolate melts completely, 3 to 4 minutes. Set the ganache aside to cool.
3. Make the cake: Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly mist two 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil spray, then dust them with flour. Shake out the excess flour and