Aug 31, 2009

Deep Chocolate Rosebuds


You could bake these little chocolate morsels in small muffin pans, and they would still be good, but they wouldn't be nearly as cute. I'm going to recommend that you do what I did, and buy this NordicWare rose muffin pan



They're pretty expensive for muffin pans--$30 at Amazon.com, but very well made from heavy cast aluminum and the rosebud design is sharp and clear. I had no problem extracting the cupcakes from the molds. You could use any cupcake or muffin recipe in this pan, but, unless you get two pans, you'd probably have to make some of them in regular pans. These make very petite cakes.
These aren't on the quick-and-easy list, but they're quite easy and pretty quick, so I don't know why they aren't. They're now on my personal quick-and-easy list as well as on my list of adorable desserts that will make people coo in pleasure.
There are two steps, but neither is complicated. The first is to make dark chocolate ganache puddles. Here's how easy that is:
1. Melt chocolate.

2. Heat cream.
3. Mix melted chocolate and heated cream. Et voila.
A bonus to this super-easy ganache is that if you have a little left, you can refrigerate it and roll it into a few chocolate truffles. But before you get to that stage, you cover the ganache and let it cool.
The batter is just cocoa, melted in boiling water,

egg yolks, vanilla, cake flour, superfine sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter.
It makes a nice, creamy, chocolatey batter.

Each little rosebud is filled about half full with cake batter.

I had no problem with the cakes sticking to this intricate pan, but I both sprayed it with baking spray and brushed the spray in the crevices for good measure. This care in preparation might seem to be another reason for not shelling out $30 for a new muffin pan that you don't really need, but, really, don't you just want to be able to bake rosebud cupcakes?

After all the batter is in the pan, you put about a teaspoon of ganache in the middle.
Jim got bored taking pictures and he wandered off somewhere as I was cleaning off the pan, so the only picture is of the dribbled-on pan. You can still see the ganache in the cakes after they're baked.

I was overjoyed when I turned the pan upside down and saw that everything had turned out just as it was supposed to!

I served these little baby cakes with whipped cream, blueberries, and strawberries. They probably didn't really need anything, but they looked a little naked on the plate by themselves, especially if the serving was one little piece. (The men all chose two-cake servings, but the women all had just one little cake.)

I was pleased with the way these turned out--not just their appearance, which was fetching, but their taste as well: a robust chocolate flavor in such a little cake, and a delicate texture. If I make these 30 times, my $30 pan will work out to just $1 per batch, or only about 8 cents per cakelet. A real bargain if I just keep baking!

TASTING PANEL:

Jim: "You know me. I like chocolate."

Sarah: "It's got a good, rich chocolate taste. Some chocolate cakes taste like Hershey bars, but this tastes like expensive chocolate."

James: "I really like them. Except for the fruit. I don't like fruit."

Joe: "Ummm. Scrumpdillyicious."

Liz: "I think they're a little dry, but I don't like cake that much. They're really cute though!"

















15 comments:

hector said...

Omg, I've seen this pan for years and always put my thumbs down thinking NO cake could achieve great texture on such format! But here you add ganache puddles, so I could already feel these are the most heavenly mini cupcakes cakes! And who can resist chocolate! I will declare these as a chocolate dessert on its own rather than a cupcake! Thx for sharing Marie, now I will run to my local kitchen store to spend my $50 coupon I earned from the Julia Child movie premiere!

Melinda said...

So sweet! These are perfect for a tea party. I think I have already said that for another bake you did, but these are a gorgeous little treat. You'll have to make them for your book club. They will think you are so clever! (I already know you are, Blanche, you are, you are!)

doughadear said...

Marie,
These are the cutest little cakes and your presentation is quite beautiful. My husband Randy loves chocolate and I know he would love these.

Marie said...

Hector,
Wait a minute! What is this about a $50 gift certificate for going to see Julie and Julia. I haven't heard about any such promotion. But if you're lucky enough to have the gift certificate, this pan would be a nice way to use it.

Melinda,
Yes, I can see that I am going to have to have to tea party now that I know how to bake some perfect tea party items.

Oriana,
In my limited experience, I would say that men definitely like these, but don't ooh and aah over them like women would because men, poor things, don't seem to realize that oohing and aahing over cute things is one of life's pleasures.

evil cake lady said...

Wow, ganache baked into the cakes? I know I am a broken record, but I can't wait for this book.

I have a pan similar to this, and I always spray the heck out of the pan to make sure all the cakelettes come out nicely too! Except I've never brushed the spray into all the corners, which I just might do next time...

Very nice presentation!

Anonymous said...

These are adorable! I th
ink you will be able to claim commission from Nordicware soon, when sales of this cake mould hit the roof! Jeannette

hector said...

I was just about to write, that Marie should ask Nordicware for promotion!

Idea, if we allow the ganache to set till almost firm, then use a piping bag with a plain tip (i know marie... i may be scaring you...) could we pipe the ganache in the center of cake batter, so it will appear in a more orderly fashion when baked and plating!

BTW, i have a amazon.com wish list, and you all should contribute =)

oh, forgot to say that my $50 gift card came about by buying the gift card for myself at my local kitchen store, and for that, the store gave me a pass for two for the honolulu premier of Julia & Julie.

Marie said...

ECL,
Oh, wait until you see! There are other recipes that do even trickier things with the ganache.
It's hard to go wrong with whipped cream and fresh fruit, isn't it?

Jeannette,
I love the way you keep thinking that people should pay me! I only wish that the people with the money would think the same way.

Hector,
Believe it or not, I gave serious thought to piping the ganache into the cakelets, but the directions did not tell me to do that, and so I didn't. I think it could be done very successfully, and it would lead to a more orderly presentation, but I personally think that orderliness is overrated. I like the homey look.

Julie said...

Lovely little cakes! Rose's ganache syrup is high on my list of things to try soon, and now I'll need to try this as well.

Beautiful plated presentation, and I agree with you- the irregular spots of ganache are very appealing!

Marie said...

Julie,
Yes, do try it. Dabbing the ganache on the cakes is such a simple idea it seems obvious--once someone else has thought of it.

hector said...

i LOVE LOVE LOVE these messy cakes! agreed, that messy tastes good!

Rose Levy Beranbaum said...

and i love the concept of cooing over them! coo is SUCH a good word from the master wordsmith marie.

the plating is as professional as 3 star restaurants.

evil lady, don't feel bad about repeating yourself--i can't stand that you don't all have the book already! even woody hasn't seen it but i'm bringing him his advance copy in two weeks when we do the michigan epicurean event. marie, you're not so far away--wish you would come! we're demoing 4 cakes from the book but you don't need to see that--you could see what the other chef/authors are doing and we could hang out!

Marie said...

Rose,
Jim and I are going to be in Detroit on Labor Day weekend, so except for the fact that it's the wrong weekend and the wrong part of Michigan, we'll be almost close enough to hang out. St. Joseph is just miles from the northern Indiana town where I grew up.
The one-month countdown for book publication is about to begin!

Anonymous said...

We're all eagerly awaiting your next update!

Marie said...

Anon.,
I made something wonderful over the weekend, but just haven't had time to post a blog yet--I can't wait to tell you about it!