Chocolate Ganache Cake

I was looking for a quick dessert to serve the other day and came across this recipe from one of my Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. I had never actually tried to make this cake before, however, I have to admit, my mouth watered every time I looked at the picture in the cookbook. I had all the ingredients in the house except for the hersey's chocolate syrup so I thought I'd give it a try. This recipe is definitely a keeper, not only because it was delicious, but it was so easy to make and it required very few ingredients. Before you try making it, let me mention a couple of things I had to do differently. The recipe advises not to overbake. I found that I did have to bake it longer than the recipe recommends in my oven. Even though the cake is suppose to be very moist, I found the cake still very wet in the middle when I bake for the recommended 45 minutes. So I ended up baking it a few minutes more. Just keep that in mind when you try this recipe because ovens bake differently. Also it recommends glazing the cake while on a wire rack. I glazed it on the cake dish because I wasn't really sure how to easily get the frosted cake from the wire rack to the cake dish without making a mess of the cake. It didn't look picture perfect on my cake dish, but the taste.....it was amazing.

Ingredients for cake:

• 1/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
  
• 1 16 ounce can Hershey's chocolate syrup
  
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
  

Ingredients for ganache:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
  
• 8 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
  
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
  

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a 8-inch round cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together with mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Don't overbeat, or the cake will be tough.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Don't overbake! Let cool thoroughly in the pan.

For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

Place the cake upside down on a wire rack and pour the glaze evenly over the top, making sure to cover the entire cake and sides. You can tilt the rack to smooth the glaze. Decorate with candied violets, if desired.

Do not refrigerate.


The recipe states you can make this cake up to a week in advance. It recommends wrapping it tightly with plastic and refrigerate. Glaze it the day you serve it.

Source: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Parties, 2001