Devils Food 4 Layer Cake With Peppermint Frosting

"The cake is layered with dark chocolate ganache and white chocolate cream, then topped with marshmallowy peppermint frosting. I found it in Bon Appetit Dec. 2008. This cake is heavenly!!!"
 
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photo by Flavor VIsion photo by Flavor VIsion
photo by Flavor VIsion
Ready In:
1hr 30mins
Ingredients:
22
Serves:
8-10
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ingredients

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directions

  • For cake:

  • Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Dust pans with flour; tap out excess. Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in yolk. Add cocoa and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with ice water in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating until just blended and smooth after each addition. Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth tops.
  • Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks and cool completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in foil; store at room temperature.
  • For dark chocolate ganache:.
  • Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat; add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer to small bowl. Chill until firm enough to spread, about 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Before using, let stand at room temperature until soft enough to spread, about 30 minutes.
  • For white chocolate cream:

  • Place white chocolate in large heatproof bowl. Bring 1 cup cream to simmer in saucepan. Pour hot cream over white chocolate. Let stand 1 minute; whisk until smooth. Whisk in extract. Cover; chill until mixture thickens and is cold, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill.
  • Add 2 cups chilled cream to white chocolate cream and beat until smooth and peaks form. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk to thicken, if necessary, before using.
  • Using long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 cake layer on platter, cut side up. Spread 1/3 of dark chocolate ganache over cake. Spoon 2 cups white chocolate cream in dollops over cake; spread evenly to edges. Top with second cake layer, cut side down; spread 1/3 of ganache over, then 2 cups white chocolate cream. Repeat with third cake layer, cut side up, remaining ganache, and remaining cream. Cover with fourth cake layer, cut side down. Chill while preparing frosting.
  • For peppermint frosting:

  • Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, egg whites, and corn syrup in large bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer. Whisk by hand to blend well. Set bowl with mixture over saucepan of gently simmering water; whisk constantly with hand whisk until mixture resembles marshmallow creme and ribbons form when whisk is lifted, 8 to 9 minutes. Whisk in peppermint extract. Remove bowl from over water and attach bowl to heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until mixture is barely warm to touch and very thick, 7 to 8 minutes.
  • Using offset spatula and working quickly, spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle chocolate curls over top and sides. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill.

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Reviews

  1. For flavor, this one gets 5 stars. The cake batter is beautifully smooth and the cake is aromatic and flavorful. The bittersweet ganache was nice, although possibly a little bit too strong for me. And the rest... wow. I was wild about the peppermint-white-chocolate whipped cream filling, which is unlike anything I've ever made. Really nice strong peppermint fragrance and flavor. And the marshmallow-meringue frosting is also unlike anything I've ever made. It was the devil to work with (it took at least twice as long to get to the right consistency, and then it was still liquid enough to drip everywhere, covering my kitchen and making a headachey sticky mess), but once it dries it's got the neatest texture. I did have a caketastrophe with this recipe, but it was all entirely of my own doing (forgetting to level off the cake tops before stacking, not letting the layers cool quite long enough before filling them, and then accidentally jamming on a cake dome that was shorter than the cake itself... oops). Despite having to serve it in a bowl with meringue glopped on top, the flavor I thought was really superb. Now that I know what to expect, I'll try this cake again for sure. It's time-consuming, but I think worth the effort.
     
  2. Beauty cake -- an icing variation I use aside from cutting out the sugars throughout the recipe is to take a tea bag of mint add a shot of vodka for my flavorings. I blend that with spirulina, blending into almond butter. I also cut the flour with a fifty fifty blending of the quinoa instead of full on flour to help keep a clean dietary tract. kudos on a most awesome recipe tho, eh? namaste~ Ooh, sugars are replaced with real maple syrup and molasses and use the corn syrup to fertilize out in your garden...
     
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Tweaks

  1. Makes 36 regular sized cupcakes
     
  2. Beauty cake -- an icing variation I use aside from cutting out the sugars throughout the recipe is to take a tea bag of mint add a shot of vodka for my flavorings. I blend that with spirulina, blending into almond butter. I also cut the flour with a fifty fifty blending of the quinoa instead of full on flour to help keep a clean dietary tract. kudos on a most awesome recipe tho, eh? namaste~ Ooh, sugars are replaced with real maple syrup and molasses and use the corn syrup to fertilize out in your garden...
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Where do I begin… I am a passionate cook! I have a very high regard for fine cuisine. More importantly, I love being in the kitchen. The final reward is so satisfying it’s always worth the effort. Like I always say, who wants FLAVOR VISION? I believe flavor vision is the key to understanding food. If you can see with your taste buds you can create any dish you dream of... I am a food lover! At the end of the day, when you're cooking for yourself and others; you are always guaranteed a satisfying meal! There’s nothing worse than going out to a restaurant and being disappointed because you know you could have made it better. I live in NYC and let me tell you we have some of the best restaurants from around the world. As for me, I would rather stay home and cook for myself. I guess you could say cooking is my passion… I’m here to network with other passionate chefs to ensure my library of recipes will continue to grow. I get bored easily and love to try new things. I'm not someone who finds something they like and sticks to it... BORING! I’m looking forward to sharing ideas with my fellow chefs! Bon Appetit!!!
 
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