Chocolate Midnight Cake or Bolo Brigadeiro

I love the Bolo Brigadeiro aka Brigadier Cake, that they make down in Brazil.  I haven't had it in years, and I thought it was long overdue so why not make it myself?

In my quest for cake I found a slew of recipes and settled on one by Edu Guedes.  I watched his video, researched his blog, etc. and decided his was the recipe I liked best.

His is very traditional, and because I didn't have standard chocolate powder...I had to use what I had on hand: Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Powder.  My cake was black.  It was deep, dark, rich, sugared, rich deliciousness.  It was ridiculous.

It takes a little time to prepare, but was definitely worth it.  I made it for our Easter dinner with family, and while the men enjoyed it they were a bunch of lightweights and said it was rich and chocolately beyond bearing.  Imagine that...like I said...lightweights. 

Anyway, I took it in to work and I brought home an empty plate.  I work with mostly women...women who can take the chocolate...who reveled in the decadence...danced around in it...and if I had let them, probably would have rolled around in it...but it did not revert down to some kind of chocolate bacchanal, just lots of licked fingers and longing looks that said "Do I dare lick the plate when no one is looking?"

Anyway--big hit, would make it again. 

If dark chocolate is too much, use the regular chocolate powder or mix it up as you please.  I am including my recipe and photos below.

Enjoy!

Ingredient Listing

Cake Batter:

·         3 eggs                                                             

·         1 C. Water                                                      

·         1 C. Oil

·         1 C. Dark Chocolate Powder: Hershey’s Special Dark

·         1 C. Sugar

·         2 C. Flour

·         1 Tbsp. Baking Powder

·         Butter and flour to grease and flour the pan: If you like you can use Pam Cooking Spray, or margarine instead of the butter.  I used the Pam.

Dark Chocolate Filling:

·         3 C. of Sweetened Condensed Milk

·         8 Tbsp. Dark Chocolate Powder: Hershey’s Special Dark

·         1 Tbsp. Butter

Chocolate Broth:

·         1 C. Water

·         2 Tbsp. Dark Chocolate Powder: Hershey’s Special Dark

·         1 C. Sugar

Ganache: 

·         500g of Chocolate: Bar Form

·         2 C. Crème de Leite or Media Crema: you will find it under the name of Media Crema in the Hispanic section at the grocery story.  It is in a can and generally found near the Dulce de Leche and sweetened condensed milk.

To Decorate:

·         Shaved Chocolate

·         Strawberries

·         Jimmies

Other:

·         Approximately 16 servings

·         Process time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Preparation

Cake Batter:

1.      In a blender, beat the eggs, water and oil.

2.      Put the mixture in a mixing bowl and slowly add in the powdered chocolate, the sugar, the flour and the baking powder

3.      Mix until everything has incorporated.

4.      Pour the batter in your prepared (greased and floured) baking pan (you can use a spring form pan if you like)

5.      In a pre-heated oven, bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

6.      Let the cake cool and set aside

Dark Chocolate Filling:

1.      In a pan, on medium heat, combine the sweetened condensed milk, powdered chocolate and butter.

2.      Mix continually until the chocolate filling comes away from the bottom of the pan (around 6 minutes). Reserve.

Chocolate Broth:

1.      In another pan, on medium heat, mix the water, chocolate powder, and sugar.

2.      Let it come to a boil.  Set aside.

Ganache:

1.      Via a Bain-Marie/Double Boiler, melt the chocolate bar.

2.      Mix the melted chocolate with the Crème de Leite/Media Crema until thoroughly combined.  Reserve.

Assembly

1.      Carefully cut the cake in half through the middle.

2.      Evenly, and with a ladle, pour half of the chocolate broth over the bottom half of the cake.  Then add your chocolate filling.

3.      Next, flip the top half of the cake upside down, so the smooth baked part of the cake is on the bottom, and the rough internal side of the cake is facing up.  Pour the other half of the chocolate broth evenly over the top of the cake.  Cover it with the ganache.

4.      Decorate the cake with the shaved chocolate or jimmies.

5.      Add strawberries around the bottom of the cake or on top of it as you please.

Notations

o        The original cake recipe calls for using regular powdered baking chocolate, Hershey’s would be appropriate.  Because I did not have this on hand, I used the Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate powder everywhere it was called for.  The result was a very rich, very dark chocolate cake all the way around.  You can mix and match your chocolates as you please to taste. 

o        Women loved the ridiculousness of the dark chocolate, the men enjoyed the cake but would have rathered it be a little “tamer” if you will.  Approach your audience accordingly.

o        On my first attempt with this cake, I made a bundt cake.  This took about 10 additional minutes to cook, because it is a tall cake.

o        I also did not make the ganache.  I was under a time constraint and had to get out the door to a party.  The chocolate filling was definitely enough for the inside and then to decorate amply the top of the bundt cake.  The chocolate filling will set up quickly, so if you want to add jimmies or chocolate shavings don’t wait too long to do it or they won’t stick.  I would do the ganache moving forward.

o        If you do a bundt cake, only use the chocolate broth on the bottom half of the cake.  I did both, tried to invert my top right ways up and it broke into several large pieces and gave me no end of trouble after that, though it was delicious broken or whole.  I managed to salvage it with giant strawberries around the entire bottom of the cake.  We renamed it the “Black Crag Cake” because of it. 

Serves very nicely as a refrigerated cake as well.

Homemade Fettuccine Alfredo and Garlic Bread

Kids! Tonight's dinner was delightful!  My house smells A-MAY-zing.

We have always been lovers of fettuccine Alfredo in this house.  We love butter and cheese, especially when it's hot.  I've made homemade fettuccine Alfredo here at home for years.  However, of late, it has been quite awhile.  I had a special request this morning and so I thought "Yeah, that sounds fantastic!"  And so I stopped by the grocery store, picked up some of this and some of that, and proceeded to the kitchen.

Now, I LOVE the movie Moonstruck...yeah...the one with Cher and Nicholas Cage.  There is nothing about this movie that I do not love.  I know all of the words, I have seen it dozens of times.  There is something homey, nostalgic, and comforting about this movie and it makes me hungry every time I watch it.  It has some excellent dialogue, interesting characters and I recommend it hands down.

Anyway, it also has an excellent soundtrack, perfect for cooking to.  You can sing along with some of it, or just roll around in the emotions that some of this fantastic music brings to the surface while you dip your wooden spoon here, and tweek the heat on the stove there, and fix your salad in a flurry of lettuce and cucumbers.

So...armed with fresh Parmigiano Reggiano and Romano Cheeses, some unsalted butter, and heavy cream, along with my trusty wooden spoon and my chef's knife I went to work.

The dinner consisted of the following: Fettuccine Alfredo, Broiled Garlic Bread and a Green Salad with Zinfandel Vinaigrette.  All of the recipes can be found below.

Let's start with the Alfredo sauce and fettuccine.  This recipe was based off of the Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe from Emeril Lagasse.  Minor modifications have been made, by me.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients:

Pasta:

• 1 lb Dried Fettucine
• Water
• Olive Oil

Sauce: 

• 8 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 1 Shallot, minced (opt for the shallot instead of a regular onion, the flavor was fantastic)
• 1/2 Tbsp minced Garlic (I used garlic from my Costco jar I bought that I keep in the fridge)
• 1 1/2 C. Heavy Cream (Heavy Whipping Cream)
• 1/2 C. finely grated Parmigiano-Regiano Cheese**
• 1/2 C. finely grated Romano Cheese**
• 1/2 tsp Salt

**I grated 1 C. of each and used half for the fettuccine, and the other half for the garlic bread and for topping the fettuccine.

Optional:

• Black Pepper
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Fresh Parsley

Directions:

Bring a pot of water with salt and olive oil to a boil.  Add in the fettuccine.  Boil as directed, making sure to stir regularly so that the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.  Drain, reserving 1/2 C. of the pasta cooking water.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the minced shallots and the garlic and saute until tender.  Add in the cream and bring it to a simmer.  Cook the sauce until it has slightly reduced, about 5 minutes, remove from the heat.

Once strained, add the pasta back into the pot it was cooked in and set over medium-high heat along with the cooking liquid.  Stir.  Add in the butter-cream mixture and half of the shredded Parmesan and Romano cheeses and toss to combine.  Season with the salt, and if choosing to use it the black pepper and red pepper flakes.

Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and Romano cheeses and garnish with parsley, if desired. Serve immediately.

Garlic Bread

Ingredients: 

• 1 Loaf of French Bread
• 1 Stick of Unsalted Butter
• Salt
• Pepper
• Parsley
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder 
• 1/2 C. finely grated Romano cheese
• 1/2 C. finely grated Parmigiano-Regiano cheese 

In a microwave safe bowl soften and slightly melt the butter.   Add in the seasonings, mixing well.

Slice the French bread in half and then each of those halves in half.  If you prefer, you may cut the bread into slices.  Place bread slices on a broiler pan.

Spread the butter mixture on the French bread, followed by the cheeses. 

Broil the bread until cheese is melted and the bread is golden and toasty on the edges.  Be careful not to burn.

Serve hot with the fettuccine.

Green Salad with Vinaigrette

Ingredients: 

• 1 small head of Red Leaf Lettuce, torn into pieces
• 1 medium sized Cucumber, peeled, sliced in half, and then sliced into half moons
• 8-10 Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half
• Several rings of Red Onion, sliced thinly, and cut in half

Vinaigrette: 

• Olive Oil
• O Zinfandel Wine Vinegar (or you can use another red wine vinegar as you please)
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Salt

I like to use a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of Olive Oil to Vinegar when I make my vinaigrettes.  For this one, it was closer to the 3:1 ratio.  In a container with a secure lid, add in the oil, then the vinegar, add the seasonings to taste.

Shake well, and then give it a taste to see if the flavor is right.  Is it tart enough, too tart, enough salt and etc.  Adjust if needs be.  Dress salad and then gently toss.

Serve.