Author Notes
I've been crushing pretty hard on the ombre trends I've seen in food, but I'm (usually) not willing to sacrifice flavor for look. Enter the triple chocolate ombre: a cake that tastes as good as it looks - because one chocolate just isn't enough. The hard work comes from making three ganaches, letting them cool, then whipping them to fluffy consistency. You could use any cake recipe, I stuck with a simple vanilla cake so the chocolate could really shine. —Erin Jeanne McDowell
Ingredients
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one
recipe vanilla cake (https://food52.com/recipes...)
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1 1/2 cups
roughly chopped dark chocolate
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3/4 cup
heavy cream
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1 1/2 cups
roughly chopped milk chocolate
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1/2 cup
heavy cream
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1 1/2 cups
roughly chopped white chocolate
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1/4 cup
heavy cream
Directions
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Slice the cake into three even layers. Set aside.
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Place the dark chocolate in a heat safe bowl, and bring the 3/4 cup cream to a boil in a small pot. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate, and let sit for 20-30 seconds, undisturbed. Stir the mixture from the center, working outwards until the ganache is smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
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Place the milk chocolate in another medium heat safe bowl. Heat the cream in the same small pot to a boil. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate, and let sit for 20-30 seconds, undisturbed. Stir the mixture from the center, working outwards until the ganache is smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
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Place the white chocolate in another medium heat safe bowl. Heat the cream in the same small pot to a boil. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate, and let sit for 20-30 seconds, undisturbed. Stir the mixture from the center, working outwards until the ganache is smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
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Once all the ganaches have cooled to room temperature, transfer them to the bowl of a an electric mixer (or use a hand mixer in the bowls the ganache are each in) to whip the ganache until it's light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Repeat with the remaining two ganaches.
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Place one cake layer on a cake turntable or cake stand. Top it with dark chocolate ganache, and spread it evenly across the cake. Top with another cake layer, then fill it with milk chocolate ganache. Top with the last cake layer and top with white chocolate ganache, smoothing it out evenly.
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Apply dark chocolate ganache to the bottom third of the cake. Don't worry about it being even, messy is part of the look. Apply the milk chocolate ganache to the middle third of the cake, then finish by closing the gap between the milk and top of the cake with the remaining white chocolate ganache. Apply the frosting generously.
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Hold a palette knife parallel to the cake, touching the base of the turntable or cake stand. Hold the knife still and rotate the stand quickly - this will meld all the chocolates together and smooth the sides. Finish by cleaning off the top edge of the cake, and voila - a delicious ombre.
I always have three kinds of hot sauce in my purse. I have a soft spot for making people their favorite dessert, especially if it's wrapped in a pastry crust. My newest cookbook, Savory Baking, came out in Fall of 2022 - is full of recipes to translate a love of baking into recipes for breakfast, dinner, and everything in between!
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