Cake + experiment #1

I made a cake two nights ago, using the same recipe I use for cupcakes/muffins. Added a touch more sugar than just a heaping half cup, and a touch more baking powder than just the 1.5 teaspoons, and vanilla for flavorant. The result was a slightly less-dense cake, but I may have to resort to using cake flour in the end in order to get that true fluffy cake texture.

Two days later, I have half a cake left. I decided this evening to try to make chocolate ganache to top what cake we have left. Chocolate ganache... this is an experiment I've been thinking of doing and trying to do since I was able to bake my first cake. The inspiration? The cocoa cake my parents used to get for my birthdays when we lived in Taiwan, some 33 years ago. Just thinking about the cake, I can almost taste the frosting. Light, slight hint of chocolate (not too much though), smooth, fluffy. I want to say that it may have had some butter in the mix as well, since I seem to recall the frosting being slightly greasy. My palate has a long memory.

So tonight I took on this endeavor. 4 squares of Ghirardelli dark (72% cacao), about 1/2 cup of sugar, and about 1/4 cup of cocoa powder - all into a glass bowl on top of a small pot of boiling water (my makeshift double boiler). I took care to not allow steam to get into the chocolate mixture, lest the result be a goopety gop (a high-brow technical cooking term). I started stirring the mixture in the double boiler, and once the chocolate melted and was mixed through the other dry ingredients, I added about 1 cup of heavy whipping cream. Vigorously whipped this mixture above the hot water for about 10 minutes, and then set the mixture into the fridge to chill and set a bit.

I just brought the mixture back out. It took a little more stirring to break up and soften the mass. Taste - not bad, but too much chocolate. The dark 72% cacao definitely came through quite strongly. I'll still top the remaining half of the cake with this experiment, but this attempt completely missed the target. I'll try again, with less chocolate next time, and more air in the whipping.