Dream Torte

"Let's face it.  A nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people."
~Audrey Hepburn
 

My father in-law adores dark chocolate.  The darker the better.

Lately, I’ve been baking cakes for most our family’s gatherings, and aside from the Dark Chocolate Guinness Stout Cake recipe, this one has been overwhelmingly appreciated… one of the Chef Instructors at OCI gave it to me, and it’s the most popular dessert on our school’s restaurant menu.  Everyone who tastes it can’t help but rave, and there is a trick to enjoying it fully:

Take a small bite, and press it to the roof of your mouth while you inhale slowly and gently.  Close your eyes.  Your senses will reel with the warm, deep, rich, comforting thrill of chocolate.  Swallow slowly and take a sip of either a ripe red wine or hot coffee. 

Heavenly.

OCI Chocolate Dream Tort

*If you have a kitchen scale, be sure to use it.  The students in the baking and pastry programs at my school rarely measure using cups and spoons; they almost always weigh things out on the scale instead.  As a home cook, I have finally switched to this method and it makes a world of difference in baking.

Line a 1”x9” spring form pan with parchment paper after buttering inside of pan and set aside.

12 oz. Dark Chocolate (cut into pieces)
5 oz. Water
1 Tbs. Dark Rum
6 oz. Sugar
9 oz. Unsalted Butter
6 Eggs
3 oz. Sugar (to whip with eggs)

Cut butter into small pieces and mix with chocolate.  Bring water and 6 oz. sugar to boil.  Pour syrup over chocolate and butter and stir until completely melted.  Whip eggs with 3 oz. sugar to soft foam, triple in volume.   Gently whisk whipped eggs into chocolate mixture.  Pour mix into a lined cake pan and bake in a water bath at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. (Most ovens vary in temperature; just make sure it’s firmed up in the middle before taking it out of the oven.  A skewer will come out clean from the center when done) Chill (or freeze) at least 2 hours before un-molding.

Ganache Glaze

8 oz. Cream
8 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate

1 oz. Butter, softened

Bring cream to a boil and pour over chocolate and butter and stir until melted.  Pour over chilled cake.