Chocolate Ganache Cake

This recipe is from the Book The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friburg. I have made this cake several times with great results. The one thing that I will state is do not skimp on the chocolate, use only the best for the best results.

Chef Bo Friberg is a certified Master Pastry Chef with over 40 years of professional experience in the industry. Chef Bo (as he is known to his students) graduated from the Confectionery Association School of Sweden and holds a degree as a Master Confectioner. He has worked in both small shops and large retail and wholesale operations in the United States and Europe, and was Pastry Chef for Swedish American Lines Cruise Ships. In addition, he has demonstrated his pastry artistry on television shows including the two highly acclaimed public television series Cooking Secrets of the CIA, and Cooking at The Academy, as well as NBC's Today Show and the locally produced Bay Cafe.

Chef Bo has taught baking and pastry courses to all levels of students - from beginners to seasoned professionals - since 1978. Chef Friberg currently holds the position of Department Chair of the Baking and Pastry Program at the Professional Culinary Institute in Campbell, California. From 2001 to 2004 Chef Friberg was the Executive Pastry Chef at the San Diego Culinary Institute where he taught a very special 30-week Baking and Pastry Certificate Program, which he developed specifically for the school. Chef Bo previously spent nearly 20 years teaching at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, where he was part of the school's opening faculty team. In 1995 Chef Friberg was selected as a member of the start-up teaching group for The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in the Napa Valley, where he spent five years as a Chef-Instructor before returning to CCA for a brief stay.

Chef Friberg has received awards and honors for his work in Europe and in the United States. He has earned gold medals on two occasions at the American Culinary Federation's Culinary Arts Exhibit of the Pacific Coast. Chef Bo's book The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef was the recipient of a 2004 IACP Cookbook Award. Chef Friberg is also a member of the Advisory Board for PastryScoop.com.

Chef Bo's celebrated cookbook The Professional Pastry Chef, has now been revised to its Fourth Edition, with the expanded material divided into a two-volume set, Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry and The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef. Either of these two new volumes alone is a comprehensive reference. Together, they cover the full spectrum of baking and pastry. Both books are certain to become classics- essential sources for recipes, information and inspiration for professional pastry chefs, apprentices, students, and pastry lovers everywhere- in the same way as the previous three editions.

Chocolate Ganache Cake

Makes two 10-inch cakes

• One -half recipe baked chocolate sheet batter.
• 1 ounce bread flour 
• One 15 by 22 inch Ribbon Sponge Sheet made with diagonal stripes 
• Chocolate Ganache Filling
• Unsweeten cocoa powder
• Twenty-eight Cookie Butterflies
• Edible flowers

Instructions:

1. Set a 10-inch stainless- steel cake ring on a sheet of baking paper. Fold the edges of the paper in while turning the ring to secure the paper on the bottom of the ring. (This is the same method of fastening the paper that is used in savory cooking for baking in parchment.) Repeat with a second ring.
2. Make the Chocolate Sheet batter, sifting the additional 1 ounce of bread flour into the batter at the end when folding in the egg white. Divide the batter evenly between the catke rings. Bake immediately at 375 degrees for approximately 12 minutes or unitl baked through.
3. Cut 13/4-inchstips, lengthwise, from the Ribbon Sponge. The ribbons will run diagonally on the cakes.
4. Run a knife around the inside of the chocolate cakes to loosen them, then remove the cake rings. Clean the rings and place them on the cardboard cake circles for support. Line the inside of the rings with strips of acetate or baking paper. Place the Ribbon Sponge strips inside the rings so that the striped side is against the acetate or baking paper.   Peel the baking paper from the chocolate sponge layers (trim to fit if needed) and place one layer inside each ring.
5. Divide the Ganache Filling between the two cake rings (reserving a small amount to use in attaching the butterflies, if desired) and smooth the tops to make them even. Take extra care here, because the cakes will not be iced but simply dusted with unsweetened cocoa powder to finish. Place cardboard circles on top of the rings to cover the cakes. Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours to set the filling.
6. Remove the cake rings and peel away the plastic or paper strips. Shift cocoa pwder lightly over the topes of the cakes. Cut each cake into fourteen servings, using a knife dipped in hot water. Wipe the knife clean and dip into hot water after each cut. Place a butterfly at the edge of each slice, pressing them into the cake gently so they stick(or pipe small dots of the reserved filling on top of the cake before placing the butterflies, to hold them at a slight angle).
7. Presentation:Make a stencil with a 6-inch round opening and attach it to a bottomless pie tin. Place the stencil against the base of a dessert plate. Sift unsweetened cocoa powder lightly over the stencil. Carefully remove the stencil. Place a slice of cake in the center of the cocoa round. Place an edible flower on the cocoa next to the slice.

  Baked Chocolate Sheet

• 6 - Eggs, Separated
• 4 Ounces granulated sugar
• 6 ounces sweet dark chocolate, melted

Dirrections:

1. Beat the egg yolks with half of the sugar until light and fluffy. set aside
2. Whip the egg whites to a foam. Gradually add the remaining sugar and whip to soft peaks.
3. Comnbine the melted chocolate with th eegg yolk mixture. Carefully fokd in the egg whites. Spead the batter out to a 12-by-14 -inch rectangle on a sheet of baking paper. Drag the paper onto a sheet pan
4. Bake immediately at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Ribbon Sponge Sheets
Chocolate Tulip Paste
1 pound, 14 ounces or 3 1/4 cups paste

• 8 ounces soft unsalted butter
• 8 ounces powder sugar, sifted
• 1 cup egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 ounces bread flour, sifted
• 2 1/2 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

Dirrections:

1. Cream the butter and powder sugar together. Gradually incorporate the egg whites and vanilla.
2. Sift the flour with the cocoa powder. Add to the paste and mix just until incorparted; do not overmix.
3. Store covered in the refrigerator. Tulip Paste will keep for several weeks.

Making cookie butterflies is the easiest way of dressing up a dessert or pastry using Tulip Paste, Because they require you to have very little contact with the hot cookies to form them-the V shape support box does the job for your. When a butterfly is placed next to an edible flower, mint sprig, or a piece of fruit, it not only gives the dessert height but adds a touch of elegance and beauty to the presentation. Cookie Butterflies should always be thin and fragile like a real butterfly. If the paste is spead out too thick the decorations look clumsy and the desired effect is lost.

1. To form the butterflies you will need a V-shaped molding box. Or make a simpleified version as follows: Begin with a 6-inch whide strip of corrugated cardboard. Make a cut lengthwise down the center of the strip, cutting only halfway through. Bend the cardboard into a V-shape, placing a strip of tape accross the top at both ends to hold the proper angle. Hold the form upright as you work, secure it between the rows of an inverted muffin tin.

1. Lighly grease the backs of clean, even sheets pans coat with flour, and then shake off as much flour as possible, or use silicone mats, which do not need to be greaseed and floured.
2. Mix the cocoa powder into 2 tablespoons of the Tulip Paste, stirring until smooth. Place a portion in a piping bag. 
3. Spread the plain Tulip Paste thinly and evenly within the butterfly template on the prepared pans or silicone mats.
4. Pipe three dots of cocoa - color paste in descending size on each wing, with the largest dot at the bottom. 
5. Bake the butterflies, one pan at a time, at 400 degrees for approoximately 6 minutes or until the cookies begin to develop brown spots. Leave the pan in the oven with the oven door open, remove the cookies one at a time, selecting the cookie with the most brown spots first, then place them into the V-shape form. Arrange the butterflies so that they are straight. If you have time, and your fingers are up to it, press the very end of the center of the butterfly against the box (between rounded ends) to make the front of the wings spread out at a slight angle. Remove the formed Cookie Butterflies once they have hardened (this only takes a few seconds) and repeat to form the remainder. It is a good idea to make a few more than you will need to allow for breakage.

Chocolat Ganache Filling
10 cups filling

• 1 pound, 12 ounces sweet dark chocolate
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 5 cups heavy cream
• 8 eggs yolkd
• 1/2 cup or 6 ounces honey
• 1/3 cup Frangelico Liqueur

Dirrections:

1. Chop the sweet and unsweetened chocolates into small chunks. Place in a bowl set ovr simmering water and melt together. Set aside, but keep warm.
2. Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks from. Reserve.
3. Whip the egg yolks with the sugar for about 2 minutes; the mixture should be light and fluffy. Bring the honey to a boil, and gradually pour it into the egg yolks while whipping. Continue whipping until cold. Fold the reserved chocolate and the Frangelico Liqueur. Quickly stir in the whipped cream.