To celebrate Valentine’s Day, delight your partner with this impressive heart layer cake… Find this and many more recipes on the Giallozafferano App in English http://itunes.apple.com/app/giallozafferano-recipes/id384387249?mt=8
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For Valentine’s Day I received a bunch of roses, and I want to reciprocate this romantic gift with my special recipe, the heart cake!
First of all, combine the diced softened butter with the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and beat for at least 10 minutes until you have a very pale and foamy creamy mixture. Then, beating constantly, add one egg at a time, at room temperature, until you get this result. Now beat in the melted chocolate, after cooling a bit, until blended.
Here’s the resulting mixture. At this point, in a bowl, mix the flour, the cocoa powder, the baking powder and the salt, and sift them into the mixture… alternating with the milk.
Pour the resulting dough into a heart-shaped cake pan, that has been buttered and floured; this one holds 5 cups (1,2 lt). Now bake the cake at 350°F (180°C), after about 45 minutes test for doneness with a toothpick and, if needed, bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.
While the cake is baking, move on to the hazelnut cream, to fill our heart layer cake. First of all, beat the softened butter with the hazelnut paste, that, be careful, is not the hazelnut spread that can be eaten alone (with bread, for example): the hazelnut paste is an unsweetened paste, made from ground hazelnuts, that is used to make the hazelnut flavoured cream. So, if you beat the softened butter with the hazelnut paste, you’ll get this result. Set the mixture aside and place it in a cool place, but not the fridge. Now we’ll make the Italian meringue, that must be added to the butter and hazelnut mixture, to create our hazelnut cream, let’s see how to do.
To make the Italian meringue, you need to have 2 different mixtures ready at the same time, so take a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and a candy thermometer. In a small saucepan, like this, combine 1/3 cup (125 g) of sugar with 2 1/3 tbsp (35 ml) of water… and bring to a boil until it reaches 240°F (116°C) and becomes a syrup, that’s why you need a candy thermometer. While the sugar and water are simmering, beat 3,5 oz (100 g) of egg whites in the stand mixer, that is about 3 medium eggs, at room temperature; as soon as they turn white, add the remaining sugar (25 g). When the sugar begins to bubble, do not use a spoon, but swirl the pan around, in this way you’ll stir the mixture and mix in any sugar from the sides; so bring it to 240° using the candy thermometer.
Now the syrup is at 240°F, so pour it in a thin stream… into the bowl of the mixer… and continue to beat… until the mixture is cold.
The mixture is cold, so turn off the mixer and, as you can see, we have a stiff meringue; now add the butter and hazelnut mixture to the Italian meringue, beating at a lower speed.
Now the cake is cold, so cut into 3 layers, like this, and place it on a serving dish. Now we’ll move on to filling: so, save a couple of tablespoons of hazelnut cream, to use for decorating later… and use half of the cream to fill the first layer. Now lift the central layer with 2 spatulas, to avoid breaking it, and place it on top… align the edges… and spread the remaining hazelnut cream.
Now cover with the top layer… and move on to the coating, that is the chocolate ganache.
In a saucepan, combine the heavy cream with the butter and, as soon as it comes almost to a boil, add the roughly chopped chocolate… remove from the heat and stir until completely melted.
Transfer the mixture to a pan like this, with 2 handles and a round bottom, place it in an ice water bath, and beat with an electric beater until thick.
As you can see our ganache is ready, the texture is smooth, but thick and spreadable… now coat the heart cake; use a spatula… to make the surface smooth or wavy, as you prefer.
And now, just decorate the cake with the reserved hazelnut cream, I am writing I love you…
The wine is chilled, the candles are lighted, I’m just waiting for him… happy Valentine’s day!
Ingredients for a chocolate cake in a heart-shaped pan holding 5 cups (1,2 lt)
For the cake
• 1 ¾ sticks (200 g) of butter
• 1/3 cup (30 g) of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3,5 oz (100 g) of dark chocolate
• 1 ½ cups (200 g) of flour
• ½ tbsp (8 g) of baking powder
• 1 pinch (1 g) of salt
• 1 cup (200 g) of sugar
• 5 medium eggs
• 1/5 cup (50 ml) of milk For the hazelnut cream
• 2 1/5 sticks (250 g) of butter
• ½ lb (250 g) of hazelnut paste
• 2 1/3 tbsp (35 ml) of water
• ¾ cup (150 g) of sugar
• just under ½ cup (100 g) of egg whites
For the chocolate ganache
• 4,5 oz (125 g) of dark chocolate
• ½ cup (125 g) of heavy cream
• 1 ½ tbsp (20 g) of butter