Monday, February 13, 2012

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.

15 comments:

  1. so pretty hope you and your valentine have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Claudia,
      Thank you for your sweet words! I hope that you and your Valentine have a Happy Valentine's Day, too.

      Delete
  2. Oh, Bailey!!! What a thief!! Our little on took a mini taco off of my sons plate, but he doesn't "gobble" anything, he "dines". So my son came back to the couch (he had left it on the coffee table with the table pulled too close to the couch) and Tavo sat there all proud of his catch!
    LOVE the cake, Becky, and you've topped it with raspberries, a perfect combo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kim,
      I guess that Bailey isn't the only one,that steals food;) Bailey is very sneaky and tries to hide, usually under our bed. Glad that you liked the cake, and raspberries are the best.

      Delete
  3. I used to have a sneaky one like Bailey. Our dog would go so far as to act like he was asleep so we were definitely not thinking he would get into anything when we left the room-but soon learned his trick.
    Happy birthday to Toni-I am sure that he enjoyed every bite. I know I would have, chocolate cake with chocolate chips-yum! Also, love the touch of raspberry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tina.
      Those dogs can be sneaky. she didn't even leave any tongue marks on the plate. Just like that 2 cupcakes vanished.

      Thank you for Tony's Birthday wishes. He loved the cake!

      Delete
  4. I hope Bailey didn't get sick. Our basset hound stole half of a leg of lamb off the table one Easter. I bet Tony loved these. Wanted to wish you and Scott Happy Valentine's Day.
    -Gina-

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gina,
      Bailey didn't get sick. i guess that she didn't have much that chocolate. The cupcakes were mini sized.

      Thank you for the Valentine Wishes. Happy Valentine's Day to you and your Valentine:)

      Delete
  5. Oh Bailey sounds like my pooches...hope feeling well after that. Happy Birthday to Tony. I'm sure this was a huge hot because it looks fabulous:) (happy that ganache worked for you so well;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lora,
      Bailey suffered no ill effect from eating the cupcakes, Thank goodness! Thank you for the birthday wishes for Tony. The heart brownie was a big success.

      Delete
  6. Becky-What a post...didn't know if I should laugh or cry, about what Bailey did. One those stories where it's funny, but not a "ha, ha" funny thing that Bailey did, stealing the cupcakes. Good thing she didn't get sick from the chocolates, which are literally "deadly" to some dogs. Lucky Bailey, and lucky you!

    The heart shaped cake looks so pretty, and festive for Valentine's, and the Nutella ganache from my daughter Lora, is really, very yummy! It's been a while since she made a Nutella ganache. So nice of you to link it!
    Happy Birthday, to Tony, and Happy Valentine's to both of you!

    BTW-your raspberry coulis turned out perfect, and love the cute design!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elisabeth,
      Bailey is very lucky this time. Hopefully, we will have no more chocolate issues with Bailey:)

      Lora's Nutella Ganache was perfect with the brownie heart, paired with the Raspberry Coulis, Yum!

      Happy Valentine's Day to you and your family.

      Delete
  7. Bailey looks so sweet and innocent...I can't imagine that she's a cupcake snatcher :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, she is very sneaky, and not very innocent:)

      Delete
  8. really really cute!
    i can't believe vday is already 1 week behind us.

    ReplyDelete

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