See part 1
molds. Bake and unmold the cakes in the same manner as the previous batch
of cakes.
Make the chocolate glaze:
1.Put the chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, set over medium
heat, heat the cream and corn syrup, stirring constantly with a wooden
spoon, until the mixture comes to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the
chocolate. Let the mixture stand for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate.
Gently whisk until smooth. Stir in the cognac and vanilla.
Glaze the warm chocolate cakes:
1.Arrange the chocolate cakes so that they are all on one wire rack. Set
the rack with the cakes over a baking sheet. Spoon the warm chocolate glaze
over the chocolate cakes, coating them completely.
Decorate the chocolate cakes (optional):
1.If the chocolate cakes are not going to be served warm, they can be
decorated in the following manner. Lift up the rack with the glazed cakes
and transfer it to a clean baking sheet. Put the baking sheet with the
glazed cakes in the refrigerator and chill for 5 to 10 minutes, to set the
glaze.
2.Scrape up some of the leftover glaze from the used baking sheet and spoon
some of it into a small paper cone or a pastry bag fitted with a coupling
and a small writing tip (such as Ateco #1). Pipe thin lines of chocolate
over the top of each glazed cake. Store the decorated glazed cakes under a
glass cake dome or a large upturned bowl for up to 3 days at room
temperature.
Prepare the vanilla cream:
1.In a chilled 4 1/2-quart bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer, using the
wire whip attachment, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla until soft mounds
barely start to form and the cream is still pourable. Do not overwhip.
To serve the warm or cooled chocolate cakes:
1.Using a pancake spatula, transfer the cakes to the center of nine dinner
plates. Carefully spoon some of the vanilla cream around the base of each
cake. Put some cocoa powder in a sugar shaker. Lightly sprinkle cocoa
powder over the vanilla cream and around the plate borders. Serve
immediately.
Yields
9 Servings