Sam's Favorite Chocolate Cake

I'm making this cake for my boyfriend's birthday; I'll be baking it the day before. Should I refrigerate the cake once it's layered and then pour the ganache over it the next day, or should I just do everything, ganache included, and just refrigerate for the next day? Does it even need to be refrigerated? Also, was the semi-sweet/bitterseet dilemma ever solved? Thanks guys!

Ali Worthalter
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3 Comments

PieceOfLayerCake August 18, 2015
Its common practice for me to freeze cake layers before decorating, especially if they're going to be tiered/intricately decorated. I then torte, fill, crumb coat, frost, etc. semi-frozen layers. I try never to refrigerate baked goods because, a. they don't need to be refrigerated and b. the environment tends to speed up staling. Since you're just pouring ganache over the cake, and keeping it only a day, you could get away with just wrapping it tightly and keep it on the counter without any noticeable damage to quality. Whatever is more convenient for you...again, since its only a day I don't think it matters if you freeze it or keep it at room temperature.

As for the chocolate debate (which I'm unaware of), there is no difference between "bittersweet", "semisweet" and "dark" according to the FDA....but in my personal opinion, bittersweet contains slightly less added sugar and more liquor.
 
Ali W. August 18, 2015
Thanks so much! I think I'll freeze the layers because my apartment is 10000 degrees. This was so useful!
 
PieceOfLayerCake August 18, 2015
No problem :)
 
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