Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Chocolate Cake


Fresh zucchini, chocolate cake, and a simple ganache come together for this surprisingly easy and rich chocolate cake!

INGREDIENTS

Cake

  • 1 box Immaculate Baking Co.™ chocolate cake scratch baking mix
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 3/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup finely shredded unpeeled zucchini (about 2 medium)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 4 eggs

Ganache

  • 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 6 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped

Topping

  • 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries or raspberries

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with round pieces of cooking parchment paper, and grease parchment paper.
  2. In large bowl, beat Cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide and spread batter evenly in pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on cooling rack; remove from pans. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
  3. In 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream over low heat until hot but not boiling; remove from heat. Stir in chocolate until melted; let stand at room temperature 20 to 25 minutes. Ganache is ready to use when it mounds slightly when dropped from spoon. It will become firmer the longer it cools.
  4. Place 1 cake layer top side down on cake stand or plate. Spread with 1/3 cup of the ganache. Top with second layer, top side up. Pour remaining ganache carefully onto top center of cake; spread with large spatula so it flows evenly over top and starts to drip down sides of cake. Let ganache set before cutting. Serve with strawberries.