Strawberry Brandy Chocolate Cake
- Ready In:
- 1hr 35mins
- Ingredients:
- 19
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- 20 ounces frozen strawberries
- 2 cups sugar, separated
- 2 tablespoons sugar, separated
- 1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3⁄4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1⁄2 cup milk
- 1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1⁄2 cup brandy, plus
- 1 teaspoon brandy, separated
- 1 cup strawberry puree, separated
- 1⁄4 cup strawberry puree, separated
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup cream, separated
- 10 tablespoons cream, separated
directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Butter 8 eight oz. ramekins and coat with cocoa powder.
- Place ramekins on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
- In glass bowl, defrost strawberries in microwave.
- Strain into another bowl and gently press out juice through fine strainer – keep pulp.
- Microwave liquid for 8 to 10 minutes until reduced to approximately ¼ cup.
- Place liquid and pulp into food processor and blend mixture.
- Resulting content should be approximately 1 ¼ cup of puree.
- In a large bowl combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda.
- Incorporate eggs, milk, oil, vanilla, ½ cup brandy, and 1 cup strawberry puree.
- Fill ramekins ¾ full. The cakes will overflow while baking.
- Bake 35 to 40 minutes.
- While ramekins are baking, prepare whipped cream and ganache.
- For the whipped cream, mix remaining puree with 2T sugar.
- In a separate bowl, whip 1 cup cream until it forms soft mounds.
- Add the sweetened puree to cream and whip until stiff peaks can be formed.
- Refrigerate strawberry whipped cream.
- For the ganache, begin by heating ½ cup plus 2 T cream on stove until steam begins to rise.
- Meanwhile, place 1 cup chocolate chips in bowl and microwave 1 minute.
- Remove and stir until all chips are almost completely melted.
- Pour cream over melted chocolate chips and stir until smooth.
- Add 1 T brandy and mix until incorporated.
- To assemble, place each ramekin on a plate, spoon ganache over the tap so that it spills over the side.
- Top with a mound of strawberry whipped cream.
- Enjoy!
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Reviews
-
Wow, were these good! I loved the brandy and chocolate together, and the strawberry whipped cream is absolutely inspired. I had a couple of difficulties in making the recipe, which may be entirely beyond the inventor's control. The ingredient list is formatted a bit strangely, calling for the strawberries and puree separately, when the puree is actually made from the frozen berries. This may be a 'Zaar formatting glitch. Also, my cakes didn't overflow the ramekins in that so appetizing way I had hoped. But it could be that my baking powder is a bit old. In either case, it didn't seem to affect the taste, and the cakes were a hit at my house. Best of luck in the contest!
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I love to cook and I love to read. But I don't have much time to do either. So when I read, it's cookbooks. And when I have time, I bake - towering cakes of chocolate, pie with large cinnamony chunks of apple, and cookies that go oh-so-well with another cookie. In the mornings, the kids and I have taken to making pancakes - chocolate chip, blueberry, carrot cake (yes, it's true), egg nog, cinnamon, and on and on. It's a lot of fun.