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Chocolate Almond Cherry Cream Cake
Cummulative Rating
N/A
Servings
Makes one 9
Difficulty
Involved |
Ingredients
For syrup:
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup kirsch
2 teaspoons vanilla
For cream:
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup chestnut spread
1/2 cup almond paste
2 Tablespoons kirsch
For chocolate glaze:
1 cup whipping cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
For cake:
1/3 cup gf flour
1/3 cup corn starch
1/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder
3 large eggs, plus 3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
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Directions
For cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and set an oven rack in center of oven.
Butter a 9" round cake pan or a 9" springform pan, lining bottom with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch and cocoa.
In a metal mixing bowl, or metal double boiler, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water and continue to whisk until mixture registers 100 degrees F. with a candy thermometer. Remove from simmering water and whip with an electric mixer until mixture is cool and has increased in volume, about 3 minutes.
Sift dry ingredients into egg mixture in 3 batches, gently folding each until blended.
Pour batter into prepared pan; gently shaking to level batter.
Bake for 30 minutes until cake center is firm to the touch. Slide a knife around sides of pan and invert cake onto a rack. Place another rack on cake and invert again so that cake cools right side up. Let cool.
If you are making cake ahead, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
For syrup:
In a small saucepan combine water and sugar and bring to a boil over low heat. When cool, stir in kirsch and vanilla.
For cream:
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter beat until it is light. Add chestnut and almond spreads; continuing to beat mixture until light and smooth, about 5 minutes. Beat in kirsch a little at a time, so that the buttercream does not separate.
For chocolate glaze:
In a medium saucepan bring cream to a simmer over low heat. Remove from heat and add chopped chocolate all at once. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, then whisk smooth.
Strain chocolate into another pan and let cool.
To assemble cake:
With a sharp serrated knife, slice cake into 3 equal layers. It is very important to slice layers as even and equally as possible.
Place cake bottom layer on a springform base. Carefully brush top of layer with syrup to moisten, then spread top and sides with 1/4 of the cream. Place second cake layer on top of bottom layer; brush with syrup and then spread with 1/4 of the cream. Place third and final layer over second cake layer; brush with syrup and
cover top and sides of cake with 1/4 of the cream. The entire cake should be covered with the cream.
Refrigerate cake for 1 hour.
During this time, keep remaining cream at room temperature.
Remove chilled cake from refrigerator and place on a rack over a jellyroll or roasting pan.
The chocolate should be cooled but liquid enough to pour over cake. If chocolate is too thick, place it over a pan of simmering water for a minute or two, just long enough to thin it enough to pour, but not long enough to warm it.
Starting in cake center, pour chocolate onto cake outwardly in larger and larger circles, ending at cake’s edge. Allow chocolate to run down sides, covering cake. Let cake sit for 5 minutes.
To decorate: place remaining cream in a pastry bag with a decorative tip and pipe rosettes around top edge of cake.
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Tips
This cake is involved, but well worth the effort. It is one of the best cakes we have ever tasted!
Kirsch is a cherry flavored liqueur and is gluten-free.
The cake in this recipe is called ’Genoise’ and is a French sponge cake. It is amazingly light and our gluten-free version is almost indistinguisable from the original. We used the Gluten Free Pantry’s Country French Bread Mix as a direct substitution for flour.
To make this cake a little easier, I made the Genoise cake in the morning and refrigerated it. That afternoon, I completed the remaining steps. |
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