Chocolate Bull's-Eye Cakes

Golden genoise cups, vanilla rum syrup, apricot glaze and chocolate pot de creme. A delicious cake is made of delicious components, and this is no exception.

Chocolate Bulls-Eye Cakes

January 3, 2011
Name of Cakes: A Perfect Amount of Chocolate
Occasion: HCB
Constituents: see above

Happy New Year my lovely readers!

These little cakes are really easy to make and assemble, despite having several components. The liquor/sugar syrup for moistening the genoise and the apricot glaze to seal the cakes are both really quick and require very little effort. So really, it is just the genoise and the chocolate filling that demand your attention.

The best part about genoise is what happens to a couple of eggs after beating on high for 5-6 minutes. I think I have a similar photo for every genoise we've baked, but I can't help it. It is so pretty, and the best of baking alchemy.

Chocolate Bulls-Eye Cakes

I made a mistake and dumped all the flour in at once instead of in two batches. No worries; I used the KA whisk attachment to fold everything together and poured the batter into the cake pan. I actually have an individual MaryAnn pan, as I found it for eight bucks at Sur La Table this summer. For eight bucks I will indulge in a single-use pan.

Here they are just out of the oven.

Chocolate Bulls-Eye Cakes

I used my homemade vanilla rum for the sugar syrup.

Chocolate Bulls-Eye Cakes

I also used some leftover lekvar from the Chocolate Apricot Roll for the apricot glaze. Actually, what I used was the leftover apricot "glue" from the Apple Caramel Charlotte, which was made from leftover lekvar from the Chocolate Apricot Roll. Does this stuff ever spoil?

Now for the chocolate centers. Other HCB have been describing it as adult chocolate pudding and I think it is a cross between chocolate pudding and ganache. Yesterday when it was more fluid, it was like the best and most rich chocolate pudding. Today the centers have set up to a thick truffle-like consistency. Either way, it is a very good thing. Since the chocolate centers only need a couple ounces of dark chocolate, I decided to splurge and try a new brand.

Chocolate Bulls-Eye Cakes

I've been using their vanilla extract with much satisfaction so was interested in their chocolate, too. Pretty good, but expensive. That three ounce bar was $5.60!

There is a recipe for a chocolate ganache drizzle, but I found leftover chocolate butter glaze from The Bostini in the fridge and used that instead.  I also just used a spoon to drizzle, and was surprised it turned out as well as it did.

Chocolate Bulls-Eye Cakes

These are delicious cakes. There is just enough rich chocolate for my tastes, with the golden genoise to support it. The glaze adds a very light fruity flavor that just perks up all the flavors. That eight dollar pan will probably get used more than I thought, for fresh berries in the summer and this richly satisfying chocolate pretty much anytime.

Chocolate Bulls-Eye Cakes

Chocolate Bulls-Eye Cakes

Comments

  1. Ohh pretty.. and like you agree the lekvar never spoils.. I made it back in April of last year and it's just as good today as it was then.!

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  2. Your cakes are beautiful!

    Homemade vanilla run sounds like a great idea.

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  3. Monica, yeah that lekvar is like the energizer bunny!

    Lois, thanks! The vanilla rum started out as a way to do something with all those vanilla pods we've used up, and now it is my favorite rum!

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  4. How gorgeous are these! They look absolutely delicious.

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  5. ECL!!! You've done it again! The cakes look delicious and your photos are excellent!!!
    joelf

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  6. Jennifer,
    Your cakes turned out beautifully! Have you thought about doing food shoots on the side? You really do take lovely photos.

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  7. They turned out beautiful! And what a great prize for than pan. I made mine in a large pan that also had an indentation. Worked great.

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  8. thanks BSA!

    j-dog, thanks dude!

    oriana, thank you!! food shoots on the side would be fun, plus it would give me the excuse to buy a fancier camera :)

    hanaa, i loved your one big cake in your maryann pan. so pretty!

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  9. I left you a comment and it seems to have been eaten up. I am having a google unfriendly day today. Same problem over at Marie's blog.
    Anywho...these look loverly. How cute are these sweetie pies er...sweetie cakes!
    Happy 2011 Jennifer! x

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  10. Anonymous6/1/11 16:03

    Beautiful photogs, ECL!
    -Char

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  11. Melinda, boo on google! These are great sweetie cakes! That would be a great name for a bakery. Happy 2011 to you, too!

    Vicki, thanks!

    Carlotta, thanks lady!

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  12. ב''ה

    Everything looks fantastic!

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  13. Homemade vanilla rum!?! I love it! Should I use light or dark rum? And, oh yeah, your cakes are gorgeous :)

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  14. How come you guys still have lekvar?!? Mine became moldy in like 6 months!

    ECL, your cakes look gorgeous! Love the chocolate drizzle and the photos. The blue background fits perfectly.

    And you have to share the homemade vanilla rum recipe... pretty please..

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  15. Mendy, thank you!

    Jenn and Sarah, homemade vanilla rum is easy: take a dark rum. Stick all your used vanilla pods in the rum. Keep in a dark cupboard.

    That's as far as I've got. I've been adding vanilla pods to the rum all year long and the vanilla pods have smoothed out the rum nicely. I love it.

    This bottle is full of pods; not sure whether to start another bottle or pull out some of the older (and possibly broken-down) pods. I also plan on topping off this bottle of rum with more rum to keep the vanilla goodness lasting. Don't know if that is a good idea either. ('Cause it goes back to pull out the old pods so i can keep adding new pods or start another bottle?)

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  16. mmmm...delicious and beautiful! Very nice presentation!

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  17. Thanks, Amanda! By the way, sorry it took me so long to publish your comments; I didn't notice until now that they were awaiting moderation. I'm a bad blogger :(

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