Chocolate Walnut Ruffle Cake

Last Sunday, I was possessed by a baking demon. It took hold of me around 3:30 in the afternoon and didn't release its death-grip until 10:30 at night.

That's how long it took me to make this next cake. Just about.

It's another of my attempts to make a pretty cake with fancy decorating techniques, and it turned out semi-well (and delicious) despite major obstacles on the way. But I'm sure real pastry chefs would laugh at my chocolate ruffle attempt. I promise myself that I will try this recipe again a few times in the future--actually try perfecting a recipe instead of just doing it once and moving on.

Here it is, in all its complexity: Chocolate Walnut Ruffle Cake from Shirley O. Corriher's "Cookwise."

Chocolate Walnut Ruffle Cake:

Ingredients:

-Nonstick cooking spray with flour, or 1 T shortening and 1 T flour, to grease pan
-5 T butter
-1 c packed light brown sugar
-1/4 c vegetable oil
-1/4 c light corn syrup
-6 large egg yolks
-1 1/4 c cake flour [I actually found this! I'd never been able to find cake flour in my big chain grocery store, then, a couple trips ago, I noticed it in a cardboard box like a cake mix box.]
-2 T cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process [or normal cocoa powder with a pinch of baking soda]
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 carton (8 ounces) sour cream
-7 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, such as Hershey's King Size Special Dark [what I used, definitely the cheapest], Lindt, or Tobler, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
-1/4 c light cream or half-and-half
-2 tsp vanilla extract
*Roasted Walnut Butter Filling (see below)
*Chocolate Ribbons (see below)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan with a parchment circle and spray with nonstick spray with flour, or grease by rubbing the pan with shortening, shaking the pan with 1 tablespoon flour, and shaking out the excess.
2. Cream butter and sugar with whisk beater on low to medium speed for 5 minutes in mixer bowl, scraping down the sides at least once. Beat in the oil and corn syrup. Beat in egg yolks. Scrape down the sides.
3. Using a sifter or two large bowls and a large strainer, sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt three times to mix thoroughly. [Confession: I just stirred it well with a whisk.]
4. Add half of dry mixture to mixer bowl and beat on low for 20 seconds. Add sour cream and beat to blend in well. Add the rest of the dry mixture and beat to blend in well, about 10 seconds.
5. Heat 1 1/2 inches of water to a biol in a large skillet, then remove from the heat and let stand 3 to 4 minutes. Place chocolate and cream in a metal bowl and place the bowl in skillet of hot water. Stir constantly with a plastic spatula and remove the bowl from the water when most of the chocolate is melted. When the chocolate is completely melted, beat it and the vanilla into the batter until well mixed, 5 to 10 seconds, scraping down the sides once. Pour the batter into the pan, level with a spatula, and drop the pan from 2 to 3 inches above the counter onto the counter to level and remove bubbles from the batter. [I loved that part!]
6. Place on a shelf in the middle of the oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted an inch from the center comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack and cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert onto the cooling rack. Cool completely.
7. Slice cake horizontally into three equal layers. Place the former top layer, cut side up, on a cake cardboard (or a 9-inch cardboard circle covered with foil) [I used the bottom of a spring-form pan]. Reserve 1/2 cup ganache in a measuring cup and set aside. Spoon and spread with about 1/4 cup ganache. Let it sit 1 to 2 minutes to soak in a little. Spoon on half of the nut butter in tablespoon-size dabs dotted all over the layer. With a spatula that was dipped in hot water and dried, spread dabs onto the layer. Top with middle layer. Spread it with ganache and nut butter just as before, then top with bottom layer, cut side down. Glaze top and sides with ganache, spreading as needed with a large cake spatula.
8. Let the cake sit for 30 minutes in a cool place to set the glaze. Heat reserved ganache in the microwave for 30 seconds or a small saucepan over low heat just to thin. Strain ganache through a medium strainer. Now pour strained ganache on top of cake and tilt to spread. Do not touch with a spatula.
9. Flute a circle of chocolate ribbon into a ruffle circle with the outer edge slightly larger than the cake and arrange on the cake. Make two or three progressively smaller ruffle circles and arrange on the cake. Serve at room temperature.


Modeling Chocolate:
Chop 10 ounces good semisweet chocolate and melt it very carefully--break or chop it into 1-inch or smaller pieces first and then process in a food processor with a steel knife until finely chopped. Then melt it either with a double boiler (very careful not to let the steam get to the chocolate) or in the microwave at 50 percent power, being sure to stir several times while it is heating. When chocolate is melted, stir in 1/3 cup corn syrup. Chocolate will tighten but still be a soft dough. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let stand refrigerated overnight. The modeling chocolate is now ready to shape into forms or ribbons.

After refrigerating, chocolate will be rock-hard but will become pliable when it warms up. Warm under a gooseneck lamp or by working with your fingers. If it is very hard, soften it with a 10-second burst in the microwave on Low (30 percent). If the dough gets too soft, let it stand to harden. When the dough is pliable, roll a 3-inch-long cylinder between your hand and the counter. Flatter into a thick ribbon. Roll this thick ribbon thin between sheets of wax paper with a rolling pin or, without the wax paper, in a pasta machine. [Who actually owns one of those?] Use the ribbon to create bows, ruffles, and other elaborate decorations. When left uncovered, the ruffles or bows harden into firm shapes that hold well. [On my first try, I didn't get mine nearly thin enough. I had run out of time, so I just made some super-chunky ruffles. But I want to do it again some time and do it right!]

Ganache Glaze:
1 pound good-quality semisweet chocolate, such as Hershey's King Size Special Dark, Lindt, or Tobler, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons corn syrup

1. Process chocolate in the food processor with the steel knife to chop fine.
2. In a heavy saucepan, carefully bring cream to a boil. Watch constantly. Let simmer for 1 minute. Pour the hot cream into a medium mixing bowl that has a wide surface. Let cool about 4 minutes. Sprinkle chopped chocolate over the entire surface. Start stirring in the middle, blending the melted chocolate and cream together. Stir steadily until all the chocolate is melted and blended. Stir in the corn syrup. [I also had ganache troubles. It was too thin and was falling off faster than I could put it on. Maybe I should have let it thicken in the fridge for a while before putting it on. I tried to beat it in the mixer to thicken it, and it lightened the color, so when I put the extra glaze on, it was different looking. But it still tasted good...]

Roasted Walnut Butter Filling:
1 pound walnuts, chopped
3 tablespoons and 4 tablespoons butter (7 total), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
pinch salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spread the walnuts on a large baking sheet and roast until lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir in 3 tablespoons butter and the salt while walnuts are hot. Let stand until no longer hot to the touch. Process the walnuts and 4 tablespoons butter in the food processor with the steel knife with quick on/off pulses until the nuts are just short of butter.