Heart Shaped Chocolate Cakes with Nutella Ganache

I bet you thought that these yummy Chocolate Hearts were made for Valentine's Day. No, I made these for Tony's birthday, one of our friends. These little babies are chocolate cake with mini chocolate chips, and topped with Nutella Ganache and raspberries. I had a jar of Nutella in the pantry, just begging to be opened.  OK, maybe I had a spoonful, too. Who can resist Nutella?  These birthday treats were a hit at the dinner party.

I used a chocolate cupcake recipe to make four heart shaped cakes with the ledtover batter, I made a few mini cupcakes in cute red foil liners.  

I had taken this picture, and turned my back for a minute, when two of the cupcakes were missing. At least she didn't get the heart shaped cake!  What do think happened?  Do we have a cupcake thief in our midst? Yes, we do and here she is, Bailey.

 Now these were chocolate, but she only ate two, and the red foil liners were lined with paper, so hopefully she is all right.  She seems fine now, and she stole the mini cupcakes Saturday. She has eaten her share of chocolate in the past, Hershey's Kisses, wrappers and all. and mini Snickers.  She is fast, and moves like a stealth. Has your dog ever "stolen" food off of your counter or table? Will I ever learn?

Because of the missing cupcakes I went to Plan B.  I thought I would have to decorate the plate with the heart cake on it.  I would make Raspberry Coulis.  Now I had never made coulis, before, and only seen it in restaurants.  Raspberry Coulis is just raspberries and sugar, whirled with my immersion blender, until pureed. The the puree is then pushed through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, and voila, Raspberry Coulis.  I only had a handfull of raspberries left, but I still got enough coulis to decorate the plate of the birthday boy!

 

***Bakers Note: I used this recipe to make four heart shaped cakes in a heart shaped pans. Spray pans with cooking spray, and dust with cocoa, fill 1/2 way the batter and bake 12-15 min, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool cakes on rack for 10 min, and then remove from pan, and continue to cool on rack.
 

Chocolate Cupcakes Adapted  from Chockylit and Cupcake Project

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Beat butter until softened. 
2. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. 
4. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.
5. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
6. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. 
7. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry. 
8. Stir in chocolate chips.
9. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 1/2 full. ***
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes for regular size, 12-13 min for minis, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

 

Nutella Ganache  Adapted from Cake Duchess

1/4 cup heavy cream

5 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped  I used dark chocolate chips

3 tablespoons Nutella

 

Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat. Make sure to stir occasionally. Remove pan from heat, and stir in the chopped chocolate until it is combined. Fold in the Nutella.  Pour over cakes or frost cupcakes.