Happy Valentine's Day

 

Happy Valentine’s Day !

This week’s bake is a Chocolate Heart Chiffon Cake by Stephanie Jaworksi of Joy of Baking. 

It’s a dark chocolate, heat shaped chiffon cake, filled with chocolate whipped cream and toopped with a chocolate ganache and homemade white chocolate truffles.  

Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, through later folk traditions, has become a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world. 

There are a number of martyrdom stories associated with various Valentines connected to February 14, including an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine of Rome for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century.  According to an early tradition, Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer.  Numerous later additions to the legend have better related it to the theme of love: an 18th-century embellishment to the legend claims he wrote the jailer's daughter a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell before his execution;  another tradition posits that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry. 

The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14.  The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love flourished, apparently by association with the "lovebirds" of early spring. In 18th-century England, it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").

Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. 

Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Heart Cake by Stephanie Jaworski of Joy of Baking

Ingredients

Chocolate Chiffon Cake:

3 large eggs

1 large egg white (30 grams)

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar, divided

2/3 cup (85 grams) all purpose flour

1/3 cup (35 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch processed)

1 1/4 teaspoons (5 grams) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) baking soda

1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) salt

1/2 cup (120 ml) safflower, canola, vegetable, or corn oil

1/3 cup (80 ml) coffee or water, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon (6 grams) pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) cream of tartar

Chocolate Whipped Cream

1/2 cup (120 ml) cold heavy whipping cream (cream with a 35-40% butterfat content)

1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons (25 grams) white sugar

1 tablespoon (7 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (regular unsweetened or Dutch processed)

Chocolate Ganache

8 ounces (230 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream, at room temperature (cream with a 35-40% butterfat content)

2 tablespoons (25 grams) unsalted butter, diced

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier, brandy, or rum (optional)

Instructions

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour an 9-inch heart-shaped cake pan with 2 1/4 inch (6 cm) sides.

Separate the eggs, placing the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. To the whites, add the additional egg white and then cover both bowls with plastic wrap. Bring the eggs to room temperature (this takes about 30 minutes) before using.

Meanwhile whisk or sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the oil, coffee or water, and vanilla extract.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer or wire whisk) beat the egg yolks with 2/3 cup (135 grams) of the sugar. Turn the mixer on low speed and slowly pour the oil mixture into the egg yolks and beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until well incorporated.

In a separate mixing bowl, fitted with the whisk attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/3 cup (65 grams) of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula or wire whisk, gently fold the egg whites into the batter (in three stages) just until blended (being careful not to deflate the batter). 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 - 40 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (When lightly pressed the cake will spring back). Cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. To remove the cake from the pan, run a spatula around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake. Invert onto a wire rack. 

Chocolate Whipped Cream

In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients. Then beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.

To Assemble the Cake

Once the cake has cooled completely, place on a flat surface and, using a sharp knife, cut the cake, horizontally, into two layers. Turn over the top layer of the cake (so the top of the cake becomes the bottom) and spread with the chocolate whipped cream.  Place the second layer of cake, cut-side down, on top of the chocolate cream, gently pressing to compact. Cover with plastic wrap and place the cake in the refrigerator for several hours, or even overnight, before covering with the ganache.

Ganache

Place the finely chopped chocolate in a medium sized heatproof bowl. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Then immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for a few minutes so the chocolate melts.  Gently stir until smooth. Add the liqueur, if using, and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator, take off the plastic wrap, and place the cake on a wire rack. Put the wire rack onto a baking sheet to catch any drips. Pour the ganache over the top of the cake and, with a large spatula, push (spread) the ganache over the sides of the cake, to create an even coating of ganache. If there are any bare spots on sides of the cake, cover with some of the ganache that has accumulated on the baking sheet. (If there is leftover ganache you can use it to make chocolate truffles. Strain the ganache to remove any crumbs, chill until firm, form into small rounds, and roll in cocoa powder.)

Let the cake set a little on the wire rack and then gently transfer the cake to your serving platter and place the cake in the refrigerator until serving time. This cake can be made a day or two before serving. You can decorate the top of the cake with the chocolate truffles or fresh raspberries or strawberries, if desired.

Here are some pictures from the bake:

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day !