As you may have seen on social media, I was recently in Santiago de Chile and Rapa Nui (Easter Island). To say it was the trip of a lifetime is an understatement. I am including some photos from Santiago in this post. Stay tuned for those from Easter Island.
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| Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral |
Whenever I travel anywhere, I like to bring back some sort of food-related item that I can use in my kitchen... spices, a spoon, nuts, a tea towel, a cookbook, and the like. This trip I brought only a tiny suitcase, so my space for souvenirs was minimal.
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| La Vega Central de Santiago (fruits and vegetables plus home goods) |
As a chocolate-obsessed kinda guy, it seemed like a no-brainer: bring back chocolate and cocoa.
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| El Mercato Central - fish market |
While Chile isn’t a source of cacao, I did manage to find several artisanal chocolate bars made in Santiago, though most of them never made it to Arizona.
However, two bars from the Hunab Ku Chocolateria in Santiago de Chile did make it back with me. And rather than eat them straight out of the wrapper, as I did with the others, I decided to use them for a ganache.
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| Street Markets |
This chocolate is 67% cacao, which - for me - is the perfect percentage for ganache. Rich and dark, it is amazing when combined with cream.
While I absolutely love ganache on a cake, the one I made wasn’t half as pretty as I had wanted.
I imagined a perfectly-shaped cake with decorative drips coming down the sides. The kind you see on Pinterest or Instagram.
But my ganache thickened quickly and, when let drop down the sides, it looked more like The Blob, from the B-movie, sci-fi horror flick from the 60s.
Then I decided to spread the ganache to fully ice all four sides and the top. I barely had enough ganache for the job and was kicking myself for not bringing back more chocolate.
While it wasn’t what I had envisioned, it also didn’t look like one of the disasters from Nailed It!
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| Mercado Tirso de Molina |
In the end, I liked the thin coating of chocolate, as it didn’t overpower the subtle flavor of the cake and apricot filling.
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| Preparing for a street performance |
Next time, though, I might flip the cake so that the wide part is on the bottom - or, trim the cake so the sides are perfectly vertical.
Or maybe i just won’t worry about it. After all, I am not a pastry professional and the important thing is that it tasted great!
The cake part of the recipe is from my very talented friend, Mimi of The Chef Mimi Blog. The layering and ganache came from me with some inspiration from a cake my mother used to make.
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| Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino |
I hope you have enjoyed the photos from the Santiago and Valparaíso part of my trip. Some recipes from Rapa Nui will be forthcoming!
~ David
Four by Four by Four
(A Quatre Quarts Gateau in four Layers, filled and iced)
1 Quatre Quarts Gateau (pound cake), recipe follows
1 jar high-quality apricot preserves
4 ounces dark chocolate (65-72% cacao), chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
Cut the cake horizontally into four even slices. I used a large wooden spoon as a guide on the back side of the cake to keep my slices even.
Place the first layer on a platter. If you are concerned about getting chocolate on your platter, place strips of waxed paper underneath the four edges; they can be pulled out when you are done.
Slather several tablespoons of apricot jam on the cut side of the layer, and top with the 2nd layer. Slather several tablespoons of apricot jam, and top with the 3rd layer. Repeat and finish with the 4th layer.
To make the ganache, scald the cream (meaning bring it almost to a boil - tiny bubbles will form around the edge of the pan). Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to soften, then whisk to make a smooth ganache. If you want drippy sides, use it sooner than later. If you want to spread the ganache, it will thicken as it cools, and become spreadable.
Ice the cake (or allow drips to trickle down), and refrigerate. Remove from the refrigerator at least a half an hour before slicing and serving.
Serves 8-10.
Quatre Quarts Gateau
Recipe from Mimi Rippee, The Chef Mimi Blog
4 eggs
Unsalted Butter
Sugar
Flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour a deep 8-inch loaf pan.
Weigh the eggs. Weigh an equal amount of butter, sugar, and flour. (For example, if your eggs weigh 8 ounces, you will need 8 ounces each of butter, sugar, and flour.)
Melt the butter in a sauce pan. When it begins to melt, remove it from the heat and let it cool.
Using an electric hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar for 5 minutes in a medium mixing bowl. Add vanilla extract, if using, and mix in thoroughly.
Add the flour and mix just until it’s incorporated.
Fold in the the cooled butter until batter is smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven to 300° degrees F and bake for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, turn off the oven and set a timer for 10 minutes.
There should be some slight browning around the edges, but not much. Remove the cake from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes on a cooling rack. Then remove the cake from the loaf pan and let it cool completely on the rack.
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| The home of poet Pablo Neruda |
Labels: cake, chile, chocolate, ganache, hunab ku chocolate, santiago de chile, the chef mimi blog, valparaíso
