Another lame chef move

I love to bake but do so rarely, mostly because I live alone and so the responsibility of eating the baked goods falls to me, but also because baking really is a sharing thing. Anyways, when it comes to birthdays we always make Nana's famous sour cream-chocolate cake, and it was my turn this weekend to get it looking good for my brother's 40th.


One of my dearest friends is a professional pastry chef and he has tried to explain to me on more than one occasion his "foolproof" method for making Italian buttercream, which he swears is the very best for cake frosting. But I must admit that on a Saturday afternoon I wasn't in the mood for buttercream. I was in the mood for a nap. So I made my cheater's frosting -- just whipped chocolate ganache -- and glazed the whole affair with straight-up mocha ganache. The cake was frosted in less than 15 minutes. Rich, oh man, yes, almost too rich to eat. But pretty enough. And I got my nap.



Cheater's Frosting: Bring 250 mL whipping cream to the gentlest simmer. Pour over 8 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate and stir until melted. Let cool to winter room temperature, about 19 C (this can be sped up by using an ice bath). Whip on high til fluffy.

Cheater's Mocha Glaze: Bring 250 mL whipping cream to the gentlest simmer (does this sound familiar?). Pour over 8 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate and 1 - 2 tbsp instant coffee. Stir until melted. Let cool just a bit then pour over the frosted cake. Put it in a cool place to set (the back porch works well so long as the dog/raccoons/neighbours aren't sniffing around).