Chocolate Ganache Cakes
Always a favorite, these hot tender cakes release a flood of chocolate when broken open. They are served right out of the oven, with only a minute’s rest before unmolding onto plates. They can be assembled in the muffin cups and chilled until 20 — make that 21 — minutes before serving, then baked.
Ingredients
- Ganache
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 3/4 cup
- Valrhona extra-bittersweet chocolate - 4 oz, chopped
- Cake Batter
- Melted Butter - For brushing muffin tins
- Extra-bittersweet chocolate - 3-1/2 oz, chopped
- Unsalted Butter - 3 tablespoons, softened
- Eggs - 3 large, separated
- Almond Flour - 1/4 cup
- Cake Flour - 1/4 cup
- Confectioner’s Sugar - 1/4 cup
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1 pint, beaten to firm peaks
- Chocolate Sauce - 1 cup, warm
Instructions
To make the ganache: Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap. In a heavy saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and pour the cream over the chocolate. Let stand 30 seconds, then gently stir the chocolate and cream together. Pour into the prepared pan and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Remove from the pan and cut six 1-1/4-inch-diameter circles from the ganache; set aside in the refrigerator.
To make the cakes: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Brush six muffin cups with melted butter and set aside.
In the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water, melt the chocolate. Whisk in the butter and take off the heat. Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time. Sift the almond and cake flours together into a bowl. Fold the flours into the chocolate mixture. Beat the egg whites until foamy in the bowl of an electric mixer. Continue beating as you add the confectioner’s sugar, then increase the speed and beat to stiff peaks. Whisk one third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whites in two additions. Scoop 1/4 cup of the batter into the bottom of each muffin cup. Freeze until the batter becomes stiff, at least 5 minutes. Place a ganache circle in the center of each muffin cup, then pipe in enough batter to cover the chocolate completely. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest one minute before unmolding onto serving plates.
To serve: Serve the cakes immediately after they are unmolded, accompanied by whipped cream and chocolate syrup if desired. Vanilla ice cream also goes well with the cakes On cutting into a cake, ganache will pour out onto the plate.
