Delectables with Dan: GRASSHOPPER CAKE!! (ST PATRICKS DAY SPECIAL)
It's St Patrick's Day, so in other words, a day to get proper shitfaced. That being said, there's actually no alcohol in this cake. Don't worry the other St. Patricks's Day special will have alcohol. I didn't do a cake last year, so this year I decided to do something with a cake with the help of Pastel Pork Chop.
(If you want to get one of your own, if they are still available then check out the Dan & Phil shop link on the Delectables with Dan baking special featuring their March calendar photo.)
We're going to start with a standard boxed chocolate cake mix. (I was originally going to do this as a marble cake, but I forgot a yellow one and didn't really want to make one from scratch; thanks, again depression!) Make the cake as instructed on the box. Allow cake to be completely baked before removing it. Allow cake to chill completely before attempting the next steps. I put the cake in to chill for an hour, made the peppermint buttercream icing and got everything together for the chocolate ganache before I pulled the cake out.
We're going to start with a standard boxed chocolate cake mix. (I was originally going to do this as a marble cake, but I forgot a yellow one and didn't really want to make one from scratch; thanks, again depression!) Make the cake as instructed on the box. Allow cake to be completely baked before removing it. Allow cake to chill completely before attempting the next steps. I put the cake in to chill for an hour, made the peppermint buttercream icing and got everything together for the chocolate ganache before I pulled the cake out.
PEPPERMINT BUTTERCREAM
I'm pretty sure I did something like this back around Christmas time, but since we're here, let's go through it. You will need a medium-large-size mixing bowl and an electric mixer. I've really gotta get me one of those stand-up bastards. I'd like one in black now that I have the counter space, I might just treat myself to one of these. Who knows?
140g/5oz butter, softened
280g/10oz icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1-2 tbsp milk
2-3 tsp peppermint oil (FOR COOKING JESUS CHRIST)
3-4 drops green food colouring** amount varies on the concentration of your food colouring.
I've found in my experience that not all of them are made equal.
You want to be careful with your peppermint oil, it's different from peppermint extract. The oil is far more concentrated than extract, so if you're using extract you will have to add a bit more to get the minty flavour that you're searching for.
Combine half the milk, half the butter and half the icing sugar in the bowl and begin to beat together on medium speed. (Yes, I'm well aware that I use a different method, but the same ingredients every time that I do this. I just get bored I guess, or it gets jumbled in my head.) Once you've done that, add in the vanilla essence and the peppermint oil. Blend. Add in the rest of the icing sugar, butter and milk. Your icing should become thick and creamy, like someone I know who's being a malignant cunt right now. Add in your food colouring. You want it to be a minty, pale, yet poppy green colour. Blend well, you don't want the colour to have white icing streaks in it. So many people make that mistake and it looks like shit, it really does.
You want to be careful with your peppermint oil, it's different from peppermint extract. The oil is far more concentrated than extract, so if you're using extract you will have to add a bit more to get the minty flavour that you're searching for.
Combine half the milk, half the butter and half the icing sugar in the bowl and begin to beat together on medium speed. (Yes, I'm well aware that I use a different method, but the same ingredients every time that I do this. I just get bored I guess, or it gets jumbled in my head.) Once you've done that, add in the vanilla essence and the peppermint oil. Blend. Add in the rest of the icing sugar, butter and milk. Your icing should become thick and creamy, like someone I know who's being a malignant cunt right now. Add in your food colouring. You want it to be a minty, pale, yet poppy green colour. Blend well, you don't want the colour to have white icing streaks in it. So many people make that mistake and it looks like shit, it really does.
Once you've done this, take your cake out of the fridge (remember we've waited) and level them using a cake leveller or a serrated knife. you only need to do this to one of the cakes. Setting the flat edge made by the pan up in the air; we're going to ice that bad boy. Taking a cake icing spatula, drop a nice thick dollop of icing in the centre of the cake, working it outwards. You'll need more than that first dollop you drop. You want the icing to look like one of those ghetto girls in low-cut jeans, more than an inch of thickness between the waistband of the jeans and the bottom of the low cut top...Okay, maybe not that much, but a nice amount. When you bite into this later you want it to caress your tastebuds like Jack did Rose in the car. Actually, now that I think about it, she gave it up pretty quick. I know he saved her life and all, but is really all that a bloke needs to do to unlock some legs? He actually didn't do that much tbh.
Now that's finished push the second cake into the first one, yes do another Jack and Rose, but be careful not to put your perverted paw through the cake. Cakes are tender beings. Think of cakes as virgins, you need to be gentle and delicate with them. Once you've done that, set it to the side, it's time to make the ganache. We're not going to ice this cake, but cover it with a delicious and svelt chocolate ganache. Put the cake on a cooling rack with a tray underneath. You're going to need that once we've finished making the ganache.
GANACHE ME BABY
People think of it as an icing, but I think of it as more as a sauce. A chocolate sauce, really. There are so many different ways to make it, you can make it your own way, but this is the way I like to do it.
You will need
You will need
2 tsp vanilla essence
480ml double cream
1 lb of semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks.
*This will make a LOT of ganache, so you will most likely have some leftover.
*This will make a LOT of ganache, so you will most likely have some leftover.
In a medium-sized saucepan combined the vanilla essence and the double cream. On to heat on low-medium heat. DO NOT ALLOW CREAM TO BOIL. When a small, thin film starts to appear on the cream, give it a decent stir. It's ready for chocolate. Add in your chocolate bit by bit, stirring as you do. Remove from heat. Allow the heat of the cream to melt the chocolate. DO NOT STOP STIRRING. Stir until all your chocolate has melted and you have a thicc chocolate like soup. I feel that using a whisk is better toward the end to make sure that all the chocolate bits have melted down.
Now that our ganache is mature, it's ready to be poured all over the cake. Start in the centre of the cake, allowing the liquid chocolate to waterfall down the sides. You may need to use a rubber spatula to help ensure that it's evenly coated. POUR MY PRETTY! MAKE IT RAIN UP IN THIS BITCH! If you've missed a few spots, wait a few minutes and collect the extra chocolate in the drip pan you set below. Put the chocolate back into your pan or if you used one, a device to pour it out of, put the pan back in position and pour the rest of that chocolate.
After you've made sure that your cake is evenly coated, put it in the fridge to chill for several hours. I left mine overnight. And now it's time to ice. We're going to use the icing that we made last night to do this. You may need to whip up a small batch of extra icing for the top if you're using a large star tip to do the icing; I used a small one.
Around the middle of the cake, ice small stars to create a nice ribbon of minty green icing. I've never experimented with this before and I think it works pretty well. I just wanted to try something a little bit new. Along the top of the cake, ice the stars in a clockwork motion around the top of the clock. And there we go! Its nice and chocolatey and mint! Nice thin slices are all you need! Works great with a mint chip icecream too!
Enjoy!
Tomorrow I'll launch the Delectables with Dan Doughnut Special!
Now that our ganache is mature, it's ready to be poured all over the cake. Start in the centre of the cake, allowing the liquid chocolate to waterfall down the sides. You may need to use a rubber spatula to help ensure that it's evenly coated. POUR MY PRETTY! MAKE IT RAIN UP IN THIS BITCH! If you've missed a few spots, wait a few minutes and collect the extra chocolate in the drip pan you set below. Put the chocolate back into your pan or if you used one, a device to pour it out of, put the pan back in position and pour the rest of that chocolate.
After you've made sure that your cake is evenly coated, put it in the fridge to chill for several hours. I left mine overnight. And now it's time to ice. We're going to use the icing that we made last night to do this. You may need to whip up a small batch of extra icing for the top if you're using a large star tip to do the icing; I used a small one.
Around the middle of the cake, ice small stars to create a nice ribbon of minty green icing. I've never experimented with this before and I think it works pretty well. I just wanted to try something a little bit new. Along the top of the cake, ice the stars in a clockwork motion around the top of the clock. And there we go! Its nice and chocolatey and mint! Nice thin slices are all you need! Works great with a mint chip icecream too!
Enjoy!
Tomorrow I'll launch the Delectables with Dan Doughnut Special!
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