Chocolate Truffle Christmas Cake

Create your own dramatic centerpiece with this "wrapped" cake.

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup C&H Pure Cane granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 3 cherry or strawberry fruit rolls, (three-foot)

Chocolate Ganache Filling

• 2 cups cream, whipping
• 8 ounces chocolate, bittersweet, finely chopped

Chocolate Glaze

• 12 ounces chocolate, bittersweet, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup butter, unsalted

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans. Line with wax or parchment paper. Grease paper. Dust with flour and tap out the excess.

Chocolate Cake

1. n small bowl, stir together cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large mixing bowl at high speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add egg and continue beating 1 to 2 minutes until well mixed. Add the buttermilk and vanilla extract and combine well. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients one-third at a time, alternating with the hot water, blending well after each addition.
3. Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Let cool 10 minutes. Turn layers out on cooling rack and cool completely.
4. Assemble the cake: With a serrated knife, cut each layer in half horizontally. Put 1 tablespoon of the ganache in the center of a 7 inch round cardboard round and set one of the cake layers, bottom side down on the cardboard. Spread the cake layer with some of the ganache and top the ganache with another cake layer. Continue to layer the cake in the same manner. Spread the remaining ganache around the sides and on top of the cake. Chill until cold.
5. Set the cake on a rack over a jellyroll pan and pour the glaze over it, smoothing the glaze with a spatula to completely cover the cake. Chill the cake, covered loosely with plastic wrap, until the glaze is set.
6. Cut 2 strips of fruit rolls, 15 inches long, for the ribbon. For the bow, cut 8 strips of fruit rolls, 7 inches long. Place longer strips perpendicular to each other on glazed cake to form ribbon. To make the bow, bring ends of each small strip together to form loops. Arrange loops on top of cake in the center to form a bow.

Chocolate Ganache Filling

1. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer, remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir the mixture until it is smooth, transfer it to a bowl, and chill, covered, until it is cold but not set.

Chocolate Glaze

1. In a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the glaze to a bowl and let it set for 30 minutes.

Notes

Ganache, created in Paris around 1850, is a smooth chocolate icing made of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate and whipping cream.

Attribution

Recipe and photo used with permission from: C&H Sugar, Inc.