Awake at 2:00am for not special reason, possibly because of weirdness at work, could be the snoring dachshund or unsettled summer plans, might be that extra Arnold Palmer with a shot of Southern Comfort at the end of my evening - who knows why? Regardless of what wakes you, the wee hours of morning can be the best time for baking cake layers, such a cool and quiet part of the day. Except for using the darkest cocoa I could find and adjusting for altitude, I made Michelle Urvater's Chocolate Blitz Torte exactly by the precise recipe. It's on page 160 in 150 Chocolate Cakes. This one piqued my interest because Michelle marked it as a favorite and because I felt like making layer cake. Layers cooling on the rack, back to sleep for the baker.
Later that morning, looking at these layers with rested eyes and fresh perspective - the meringue tops are lovely. Already it's easy to see how this might be a favorite.
Rather than following Michelle's recommendation for filling and frosting, I went for Wicked Chocolate Frosting, p. 298, which is really a buttercream on chocolate steroids. To make sure it was thick and sturdy enough, I skimped on milk. Once the between-the-layers filling was applied, I whipped in more milk to ice the sides thinly, leaving the gorgeous meringue top uncovered. My home-from-college-for-summer son said it was the most beautiful cake he'd ever seen. My dear friend and cooking cohort was a little under the weather, she ate some Chocolate Blitz Torte, and she recovered almost instantly due to the recuperative powers of extreme chocolate.
Rich with eggs and butter, the torte must be stored in the fridge. To me it's much more delicious @ room temperature, but two men I know prefer it straight out of the icebox.
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