For The Birthday Boy

Chocolate truffle cake

Portland’s acclaimed restaurant ‘Beast’ owner-chef Naomi Pomeroy’s chocolate truffle cake is mighty fine! The rich, velvety textured cake may be too rich for some but for my husband, my son and myself, we give this cake two thumbs up. Chef Pomeroy was a contestant on season 3 of ‘Top Chef Master’. She finished fourth out of 12 master chefs. I thought I taped the show but by some mishap it wasn’t, darn it!  She was a challenger on Iron Chef America too. She didn’t win but her taste score was better than Chef Garces. So there, she is good! My husband and I have been to ‘Beast’ once and had an excellent fixed course dinner. However I don’t care for the communal table seating.  Having dinner with total strangers is interesting but not all that fun even though we consider ourselves friendly people. It was as if written in bold letters on our menu ‘No speaking in foreign language/Japanese is allowed for two hours or more’. We should be polite, agreeable, should have impeccable table manners and have conversation topics focused mainly on weather because you don’t want to offend anybody do ya? Just kidding. But seriously, the first five minutes were really awkward. On the other hand, the communal table is ideal if you go there with your friends for special occasion such as (MY) birthday? Either way, get a reservation early.

Last Friday was my grandson’s ONE year birthday. He is the cutest one year old boy that ever existed on this earth!  I’m not exaggerating. Well, I am but who cares. I wanted to make him a cake to celebrate from afar. My husband was working from home on Friday and offered to make this cake featured in Oregonian Food Day (7/19/2011) to give me a break. I was quite busy cleaning house in preparation for the guests that were coming later that evening. I should have done it earlier but a hot water pipe leak in the crawl space derailed the plan.

 

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Cake

• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon)
• 18 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) 60% cacao or semisweet chocolate, chopped.
• 1 teaspoon plus a pinch of truffle salt or regular salt*
• 6 eggs

Ganache

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 8 ounces bittersweet (again not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped.
• Lightly sweetened whipped cream for garnishing.

To make cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. butter a 10-inch-diameter spring form pan. Line bottom of pan with a round of parchment paper; butter parchment. Wrap bottom and sides in three layers of heavy duty aluminum foil.
2. Combine 1 cup water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer 5 minutes. remove from heat.
3. Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth.
4. Whisk sugar syrup into chocolate; cool slightly.
5. Add eggs to chocolate mixture and whisk until well blended.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Place cake pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan.
7. Bake cake until center no longer moves when pan is gently shaken, about 50 minutes. Remove from water bath; transfer to rack. Cool completely in pan.

To make ganache:

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring whipping cream to simmer. Remove from heat.
2. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth.
3. Pour chocolate mixture over top of cake still in pan. Gently tilt pan to distribute ganache evenly. Refrigerate cake in pan until ganache is set, about 2 hours.

Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Serve with whipped cream.

* I think a bit less salt is better.

 

I’m very curious to know how much chef Pomeroy’s balsamic and truffle caramel sauce over the cake would elevate the taste or to what degree truffle salt would change the flavor?We should find shouldn’t we, darling (HINT: make it again please).

Our guests finally arrived after 9:30 PM. They are very good friends of my daughter. The wife is a successful food blogger. She and my daughter travel to New York and San Francisco for food blogger convention last year. She came with her two gorgeous children and genuinely kind husband, I hope they all enjoyed a few days of great Oregon summer. We wish them good luck in their new adventure await in Brazil.

They too loved the chocolate truffle cake very much. As for my grandson, I’m sure that he’ll appreciate this cake as soon as he is allowed to eat chocolate. Happy Birthday!Still not finished…