Rose's Heavenly Cakes (78 page)

Plan Ahead:
Do
not
prepare in high humidity.

Special Equipment

Star decorating tip (number 18 or 22) and a disposable pastry bag     |    Baking sheets lined with a Silpat or other nonstick liner

Preheat the Oven

Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 200°F/95°C.

Make the Meringue

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, beat the egg whites and red food color, if using, on medium speed until foamy. With the mixer off, add the cream of tartar. Raise the speed to medium and gradually add 1 tablespoon of the superfine sugar, beating until soft peaks form when the beater is raised slowly. Raise the speed to medium-high and gradually beat in the remaining superfine sugar, continuing to beat until very stiff, glossy peaks form when the beater is raised slowly.

Sift the powdered sugar over the meringue. With a slotted skimmer or large silicone spatula, fold it in.

Insert the star tip into the pastry bag and fill it with 1 cup of the meringue. Don't be tempted to overfill the bag as the heat of your hand will soften the meringue and the shapes will become less distinct.

Pipe the Kisses

Hold the bag straight up and down at a 90-degree angle, ¼ inch above the surface of the liner. Squeeze the bag firmly without moving it until the kiss is as wide as you desire. Push the tip down slightly and stop squeezing completely. If you continue squeezing, you will get a higher peak on top of the kiss. Slowly and precisely lift the tip straight up and away. Proceed with the remaining meringue and allow the kisses to sit uncovered at room temperature until ready to bake.

Bake the Kisses

Bake without opening the oven door for 1 hour. The meringue should not begin to brown. To check for doneness, try one. Use a small metal offset spatula to lift it from the liner. It can still be a tiny bit sticky, but it will dry while cooling. If it is very sticky, then leave it in the oven for another 15 minutes, or until done. To prevent cracking, allow the kisses to cool slowly. Turn off the oven and prop open the oven door with a wooden spoon handle. Allow the kisses to sit for 10 minutes. Open the oven door completely and allow them to sit for another 10 minutes before removing them from the oven. When they are cool, lift the kisses from the baking sheet with your fingers or a small offset spatula. At low humidity, the kisses will keep in an airtight container for at least 6 months.

Working with Chocolate

When melting chocolate, it is always best to start by chopping the chocolate into fairly small pieces. This ensures that the chocolate melts as evenly as possible; overheating destroys some of the flavor. You can place the chocolate in a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag and whack it with a mallet or meat pounder to break it up into manageable pieces and then process it more finely in the food processor, or use an odor-free cutting board and a large sharp chef's knife held at a slight angle to shave off pieces of the chocolate.

If you have an oven with a pilot light that does not exceed 122°F/50°C, and about 2 hours of forethought, the very easiest way to melt dark chocolate is simply to place it in a pan in the oven. Milk chocolate or white chocolate, however, require frequent stirring while melting to prevent seeding.

A microwave on high power is great for melting chocolate as long as you stir the chocolate every 15 seconds. I like to use a silicone bowl reserved for this use (see
Bowls
), but glass is also fine. If melting chocolate together with other ingredients such as sugar, butter, or cream, it is best to use a double boiler because the chocolate will heat up much more quickly than the other ingredients. (The silicone bowl works well as the upper container.)

When melting chocolate in a double boiler, take great care that not even a drop of water splashes into the chocolate and make sure that the water is not simmering. Even a minute amount of water or steam can cause the chocolate to seize and make it unworkable. It is best to bring the water almost to a simmer, remove the pan from the heat, and place the upper container or large bowl on top, making sure the bottom doesn't touch the water.

With whatever method, remove the chocolate from the heat source when there are still a few bits of unmelted chocolate and stir to complete the melting.

Because chocolate so readily absorbs aromas, it is important to avoid using utensils and containers (including the food processor bowls and blades, cutting boards, and silicone spatulas) that have retained savory odors. In an ideal world, the baking kitchen would have its own equipment and utensils separate from the savory kitchen.

Ganache

The Cassell's French dictionary that I've relied upon since junior high school defines ganache as "a well-padded easy chair." I suppose that's because a ganache is thought of as the epitome of comfort. It is therefore not a stretch that the word was subsequently applied to the ultimate chocolate confection and comfort food as well. Ganache, this miraculously simple blending of heavy cream and chocolate, transforms firm chocolate into a creamy mixture just right to deliver immediate chocolate impact without your having to wait until the chocolate begins to melt as you would when eating a chocolate bar. And as the chocolate in the ganache slowly melts, a time release of flavor coats your mouth in a satiny-smooth and luxurious bath of pure delight. As if this weren't enough, butter adds velvety texture and extra flavor enhancement, while adding a little vanilla extract beyond that contained in the chocolate rounds out any possible rough edges and heightens the flavor still further.

It's hard to believe that thirty-five years ago ganache was virtually unheard of in this country. Back then, when I wanted to make a dark chocolate frosting, I tried using brown food color, which turned almost black as it sat for a few hours and turned everyone's tongues black as well. Then I went to Switzerland, and my chocolate life has never been the same since. There I discovered chocolate truffles and the wonderful word that sounds just like it feels to eat it:
ganache.

When I returned to America, I started off making ganache in the traditional way by heating together cream and chocolate in a saucepan. Once, however, when the ganache became slightly overheated, the cocoa butter left the chocolate and rose to the surface, where it refused to reincorporate into the mixture. (This can also happen if ganache is stirred during the time it is cooling between 75° and 85°F/24° and 29°C.) This incident inspired me to use the food processor to grate the chocolate and to heat the cream to the boiling point to melt it. It seemed like a good idea because chocolate loses flavor when heated much past 122°F/50°C, but cream should be scalded (brought to the boiling point) to increase its shelf life. The speed of the processor's metal blades integrates the hot cream into the chocolate perfectly, forming a smooth shiny cream with a finished temperature of 122°F/50°C. Any small bubbles that form disappear when the ganache is applied to the cake. When using the food processor, always be sure to stir in any cream that gets caught under the processor blades. Note: If the cream has not been heated adequately, or for chocolates that may not be well manufactured, tiny specks may appear. In these cases, pass the ganache through a fine-mesh strainer. It will be slightly lighter in color. If using ganache as the finishing adornment, you may opt to strain it to ensure the smoothest, shiniest possible appearance.

I've never found a better way to make ganache. When I make a ganache glaze, however, I want it to be perfectly bubble free, so I use the food processor to grate the chocolate and then I transfer the chocolate to a bowl and pour hot cream over it. Then I cover the bowl and allow the chocolate to melt before stirring very gently with a silicone spatula.

An alternative way to make ganache is by melting the chocolate either in the microwave or double boiler as described above, heating the cream, and then gently stirring the two ingredients together with either a whisk or a silicone spatula so as not to incorporate air and lighten the mixture in color and texture. Combined in this way, the ideal temperature for each component is 115°F/46°C (warm to the touch). The resulting ganache will be less smooth, dark, and shiny unless it is pressed through a strainer; straining will also shorten the time it takes to set by as much as two hours.

Ganache Proportions

Classic ganache is made with an equal weight chocolate and heavy cream or crème fraîche, which lends the ganache a slightly tangy quality. The resulting consistency is fine with a low-percentage chocolate, but if using a 60 percent or higher cacao chocolate, I prefer to increase the amount of cream so that when the ganache sets on the cake, it doesn't pull away or separate from the cake when I serve it. Use the following guideline based on 8 ounces/227 grams chocolate.

For 60% to 62% cacao chocolate, I use 9 ounces/255 grams cream (1 cup plus 1½ tablespoons).

For 63% to 64% cacao chocolate, I use 10 ounces/283 grams cream (about 1¼ cups).

For 66% cacao chocolate, I use 11 ounces/312 grams cream (about 1 1/3 cups).

For 70% cacao chocolate, I use 12 ounces/340 grams cream (about 1½ cups).

If you are adding butter, use high-fat butter, preferably cultured, for the best flavor and texture. I like to add up to a third the weight of the chocolate in butter and up to ½ teaspoon liqueur per ounce of chocolate. So, for 6 ounces/170 grams chocolate, I add 1 to 2 ounces/28 to 56 grams (2 to 4 tablespoons) butter and 1 tablespoon liqueur.

Ganache takes from 3 to 7 hours to cool, depending on the quantity and the temperature of the room. It should be left uncovered for about an hour to allow the heat to escape. Then it should be covered to prevent evaporation and left undisturbed to set. It's fine to stir gently two or three times during the first 30 minutes while the temperature is still above 85°F/29°C to equalize the temperature. (Rapid cooling would not give the cocoa butter a chance to form small stable crystals that melt gradually when eaten.) When firm enough, press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the entire surface to keep the edges from drying.

If you need to use the ganache before it is thickened adequately, whisking it for a few seconds will do the trick but also lightens it in color.

With the correct proportions, ganache will stay spreadable at room temperature for several days. Store it covered in a glass bowl or other glass container so that it does not pick up a metallic taste. It can be held at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you plan to store the ganache for longer, you can refrigerate it for up to 2 weeks or freeze it for up to 6 months after it has set. If frozen, remove it to the refrigerator overnight. Soften it by allowing it to sit at room temperature for several hours. If necessary, you can set it in an oven with no pilot light but with the oven light turned on and it will soften in about 2 hours. Alternatively, you can scoop out chunks with a large spoon and soften them in the microwave with 5-second bursts, stirring very gently to equalize the temperature, or in a double boiler. Remove the ganache from the heat when it is partially melted and stir very gently.