HCB Free Choice: Chocolate Layer Cake with Caramel Ganache

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 104: Chocolate Layer Cake with Caramel Ganache

We had a fellowship gathering at a friend's place so I decided on this, simple cake..and only 2 pages long..and look fairly fuss free too.  The recipe is pretty straight forward.  After i baked the cake, i realised that my cake layer is not very tall, so i wonder how to split it into two..and i'm more cake person than frosting.. so i gather my ingredients again and baked another layer. 

The caramel ganache is another story..LOL! It didn't turn out caramel because somehow i stopped the sugar syrup at 120c (instead of 188c) and poured in the heavy cream!  At that point, i wondered by my caramel looked so white...but it didn't occur to me that i read the temperature wrongly. I think i was probably in auto mode for making italian meringue!  Instead of throwing away and starting all over again.. (heavy cream very expensive here ok..and i had to use 2 tubs of it..), i decided to just use that milk syrup..:p  I boiled it further for another 15mins or so and then pour into the 99% Lindt chocolate.   Turned out quite good..my ganache looked very shiny and smooth and tasted like ganache except no caramel taste. 

Oh...the thing about room temperature. I have now concluded that room temperature mentioned in any book is not the same as our room temperature here in Singapore.  Even though our thermometer states 25-26c at home, somehow, the oil in the ganache separated when i try to frost the cake..the more i stirred it, the worse it became.  In order to salvage it, i turned on the aircon, and waited for a while and miraculous, it turned back to it's original smooth state.   I managed to frost the cake really nice with sharp edges....here it is...

I regretted that i didn't have enough time to cover this cake with fondant because this base now is perfect for just that as taught by Planet Cake. 

I brought the cake to the gathering and everyone LOVED it.  Everyone said my baking skills improved. I tried to explain that it is not my doing and it is because of a great recipe written by Rose Levy (i don't like to claim credit when it is not mine..lol!)...but nobody really seem to understand....*shrugs*....so i just ended up saying "thank you" when someone complimented how yummy my cake was. :)

Verdict:  LOVE! Extremely moist, soft crumbs, rich and chocolatey. Well, i still have to try the caramel ganache again, but this ganache which was a mistake turned out to be really good too. lol! I'm sure the caramel version will taste even better, so i will have to attempt this cake again!

I had to take a quick photo of the inside of my cake with my phone before the cake disappeared..lol!  

Side note, my son has been asking me to buy Pinky and The Brain's toy figurines for him.  He hardly talks or communicate, but when he does i find it hard to say No to him.  This cartoon is not even popular anymore, so i had to make them out of clay. I just made them today during my lunch hour in the office with just a ball point pen and a pen knife. If i had my clay tools with me, would have been better imo, at least will have smoother sides etc. 

I hope he'll like them. If he plays with them means he likes them a lot. If not, he will not even look at them.  Buying presents for him is a difficult task!  It's either a hit or a miss!   The things he likes, are usually not available.  So, if he comes across anything he likes and i can afford it, i would usually buy for him...(well, if not, i'll make for him..lol).  Oh..there's one thing i didn't buy for him and couldn't make for him, he always wanted the foreign exchange rate chart (like numbers lego pieces) at the department stores.. my husband found out a distributor that sold it, but it was way too expensive and the only part that my son liked about it was the "Visa", "American Express", "Mastercard" tabs!?!  LOL! Strange isn't it? I don't understand it myself what he sees in them..  But that is what makes him so special. :)   Oh..i did end up cutting up the logo out from my expired visa, american express, mastercard cards as an alternative...lol!