Robert Wemischner
notes in the company’s cocoa powder and
chocolate to shine and not be overshadowed
by other ingredients in the dessert. “My goal
is to allow the flavor of the cacao to come
through loud and clear, unmasked by other
flavors,” she says. “Chocolate in these two
forms dominates the cake.”
An assortment of bean-to-bar chocolates.
To keep the chocolate flavors front and center
and to round out the visuals on the plate,
Ruckman adorns the cake with either a simple
vanilla bean crème anglaise or a custard sauce
flavored lightly with a delicate Tasmanian
leatherwood honey. She adds texture on the
plate with a shard of honeycomb as garnish.
AN ETHNIC SLANT
Alex Whitmore, founding partner of Taza
Chocolate, Somerville, Mass., is another
chocolate producer who controls the process
from bean to bar. “Our entire process is
completely inspired by the Mexican chocolate-
making tradition,” he says. “When there, I saw
how they made chocolate. There is a tradition
where the townspeople bring spices, herbs,
chilies, almonds, dried vanilla and cacao beans
to a miller in town who grinds these foods by
hand, using a large mortar and pestle made
Rhonda Ruckman, Pastry Chef Herbsaint New Orleans Patric Cake
Yield: 8 servings.
9 fl. oz. water
1.4 oz. Patric Chocolate extra brut
cocoa powder
6 oz. all-purpose flour
9 oz. granulated sugar
1 t. salt
0.25 oz. baking soda
9 fl. oz. buttermilk
4 fl. oz. flavorless oil
2 eggs
Sour Cream Ganache (recipe follows)
Ganache Glaze (recipe follows)
with whisk attachment. Bring butter just
to a boil; add chocolates. Lower heat; stir
continuously to prevent scorching. Bring
mixture to 170ºF. Add hot chocolate to
sour cream/sugar in mixer; emulsify. Mixing
slowly at first, scrape down well; mix on
speed No. 3 for 3 minutes (mixture should
be completely homogenous without
“breaking” and well-emulsified). Store,
covered, in container at room temperature;
place piece of plastic wrap directly on top
of ganache to prevent crust forming on
surface. As ganache cools, it will thicken.
bowl. Add cooled cocoa; mix 2 minutes on
medium speed. Scrape down bowl well.
Rest batter 20 minutes. 4) Scale batter into
prepared pan. Bake in preheated 350ºF
oven 35 minutes. 5) Allow cake to cool
completely. 6) To assemble: Line ring molds
with appropriate-sized strip of acetate. Using
2-inch round cutter, cut 16 rounds of cake,
using two rounds for each dessert portion.
Place cake round in bottom of each ring
mold. Pipe in layer of sour cream ganache
to cover cake and reach edges of ring
molds. Place another cake round on top of
the piped-in ganache layer; press gently
to compact. Top off with more sour cream
ganache; level top with spatula. Freeze.
To garnish: Remove cakes from rings;
remove acetate. Place cakes on rack; glaze
completely with ganache glaze.
GANACHE GLAZE
6 oz. Patric Chocolate 70% Madagascar,
Sambirano Valley, chopped
1 T. honey
8 fl. oz. heavy cream
1) Coat 9-inch x 9-inch square pan with
pan spray; line bottom and sides with
parchment paper. 2) Boil together water
and cocoa powder, stirring frequently
(mixture will thicken). Set aside, off heat;
cool to at least 130ºF. 3) Sift together flour,
sugar, salt and baking soda. In another
bowl, mix buttermilk, oil and eggs; add to
dry ingredients. Using whisk attachment
on electric mixer, mix thoroughly on
medium speed 3 minutes. Scrape down
SOUR CREAM GANACHE
6 oz. unsalted Plugrá butter
4. 5 oz. sour cream
9 oz. powdered sugar
3 oz. unsweetened Patric Chocolate
1.5 oz. Patric Chocolate 70%
Madagascar, Sambirano Valley
Method: Melt butter in large pot or kettle. Put
sour cream and sugar in bowl of mixer fitted
Method: Put chocolate and honey in
stainless-steel or glass bowl. Bring
cream to a simmer. Pour hot cream over
chocolate. Let stand 1 minute; gently stir to
blend. When ready to glaze frozen cakes,
heat ganache gently over pan of simmering
water. Do not allow chocolate to get too hot
or mixture will separate. Ganache should
flow easily and be just slightly warmed.
