thanks ill look into it :D

Love this recipe. My friend and I have been using this as a staple celebratory cake. Super yummy!

What is a crumb coat? Did I miss somethiing obvious in the instructions?

Step 3 of the video (at around 2:17) talks about crumb coating. Here is a bit more information. A crumb coat is a thin layer (or can be multiple layers) of frosting or icing that is applied before the final icing of a cake. It helps to seal in the moisture and more importantly it seals in any crumbs, so that they don't end up in the final frosting or icing.

Hope this helps!

Hi Dawn,
I just made the cake batter and would like to put it in the oven. However, the batter looks thinner than it does in your video (even after adding additional flower). How can I tell how thick it should be? I was very precise in my measurements...

I think before adding more flour you should have just baked it to see how it was.

I say, don't wait...bake it right away as batter shouldn't sit and see how it comes out. Your batter may just have looked thinner than what it "seemed" to look like on the video, but if you trust your measurements then you should be okay.

Good luck - let me know how it turns out!

Dawn,
the cake turned out excellent even with the extra flour.
I used whole-wheat pastry flour which surely changed the over-all taste, can I use "cake-flour" next time?

Also, I think next time I would like to jazz it up a bit by adding a hint of lavender. Please let me know if this would work out; 1) Soak lavender in the heavy-cream with a cheese cloth 2) soak lavender in the whole milk while warmed then allow to cool??? Could I use lavender-water instead of coffee or is that overkill?

Hi. Cake flour would produce a great cake as it is lower in gluten. You should watch this lesson in the cooking school as it will provide a lot of help to you in understanding which types of flours are better for certain things.

http://techniques.rouxbe.com/cooking-school/lessons/81-wheat-gluten

As for the lavender-water, you could try it. I personally don't think that it would be as tasty as the coffee infused version. In my opinion, "expectations" play a major role in cooking and serving food. If you do try this and I encourage you to try, be sure to tell people that this is a lavender-infused chocolate cake or they will find it might taste a bit funny. The reason is that people will expect the cake to have a very rich chocolatey flavor and not one with a floral taste. So be sure to set the expectations with your guests so they can evaluate the cake based on their expectations.

Good luck.

So, I made this cake before and it was perfect. However, this time I neglected to use my parchment paper :( The cakes stuck hard-core! When I turned it up-side down onto the platter I had a plate full of broken pieces of cake. They are both ruined! Any alternate uses for these tasty chunks? I don't want them to go too waste. Can I make something yummy?

Ah Yes...the parchment is an important step, I bet you won't make that mistake twice :-)

As for the cake you could just put some ice cream on top or you could make a nice triffle...maybe with some caramel sauce on top.

What would be the changes to make a milk chocolate version of the ganache?

Milk chocolate ganache is a bit trickier to make since quality milk chocolate will contain milk solids (dark chocolate does not contain milk solids - refer to the Cooking School Lesson on the Basics of Quality Chocolate.

Depending on the type of milk chocolate you use, try a 2:1 ratio (2 parts chocolate to NO MORE than 1 part cream). I'd even skip or add just 1 ounce of unsalted butter. A bit of butter will give the ganache extra shine but too much might make it too fluid and hard to spread.

Dark chocolate is definitely easier to work with. We will be tackling ganache in the Cooking School in the near future. In the mean time, good luck! I hope this helps.

I made this cake again and as the first time the result was disappointing it didn't look anything like what you made but to tell you the truth this is the second time that I tries to frost a cake and as I understood it get's easier.

The trickiest part in my opinion is cutting the dome any idea on how to do it correctly?

The other funny thing is that the cake didn't take that long in the oven about 30 minutes and the skewer went out clean.

Hi Khaled,

You just need a steady hand and practice to be able to cut the dome off cakes. A rotating cake stand makes this easier but you just need to keep the knife level, saw gently back and forth while turning the cake, as shown in the video. Make sure you use a long, serrated knife to do this (larger than the cake).

As far as baking time goes, this just depends on your oven. You were right to check it. In culinary and pastry school, cooking and baking times are not given. It is done when it is done. Cooks in restaurants often have to share ovens so they have to make adjustments and know when to take things out based on one temperature being used. This is where you learn to watch for key indicators, rather than follow times - this also makes you free from the constraints of a recipe. Practice practice practice. That is what it is all about. Hope this helps!

This recipes is fantastic, everyone loves it. But I don't know what to do with the leftover ganache, I kept it in refrigerator but I don't know if I still can used it again. Please advise.

We've never had any leftover ganache from this recipe. Perhaps you are spreading it a bit too thin. However, if you do have any leftovers, the ganache will keep for quite some time in the refrigerator. Just let it come to room temperature and spread over other cakes, cupcakes or cookies. Or, grab a spoon and enjoy a little treat now and then :)

Try making a Ganache tart just bake the tart shell let it cool fill it with ganache cool in the fridge and enjoy...

I have used heart shape cookie cutter to make many little cakes and put the ganache only on the top. I do I keep these over night? Should I put it in an air tight container or in the fridge?

Thanks!

Nice idea! This cake will keep fine in an air tight container overnight. If you don't eat everything tomorrow, you can put it in an air tight container in the fridge to extend the shelf life by a few days. Just bring to room temperature before serving. Hope you enjoyed them!

This was wonderful! We had a pasta making party on Valentines Day and the cake was a hit for desert. I too made the mistake of putting the Ganache in the fridge...made it almost as hard as it's original chocolate form. I placed the bowl in a bowl of warm water and it was all ok. Next time I'll just "set it aside". I used 70% and although it was yummy, maybe next time I'll try 63%...might be a little sweeter.
Dawn,Rouxbe....thank you so much for this website. This was one of the best things I've ever spent money on (life time membership...ya ya!). I have so much fun cooking. Thank you

Great to hear you enjoyed the cake and that you are finding lots of value in Rouxbe. Happy cooking!

this is a such a moist and delicious cake! i strongly recommend it!

Made the cake again for one of my co-workers 25 year anniversay and it was a hit but the Ganache was still giving me trouble hardening up even though this time I didn't put it in the fridge. Read throught the receipe again and woops...it's 5oz of butter not 5 tablsp..I'm sure that should make a difference, can't wait to bake another one and try again.

i found that the cupcake does not have the details of the dinosaur on its surface. only when i turned a jelly out of the mould did the picture of a dinosaur turned out perfect.

may i ask is there a cake recipe that will show a clear dinosaur cupcake? perhaps if i pour liquid caramel on the bottom of the mould (to show the pattern) before adding the cake batter?

thank you.
alison

I think this might just be a case of what you are making. A jello or jelly will generally always show the shape of the mold better than a cake would.

You might want to do a bit of experimenting or maybe even do a bit more research as this is quite specific. I am sure there are even cookbooks that are dedicated to this sort of thing. Cheers!