Sumptuous 24-Layer Chocolate Cake – Gemma’s Larger Bolder Baking

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Hello Daring Bakers!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: Our Sumptuous 24-Layer Chocolate Cake makes a mouthwatering observation when it’s birthday celebration time. And we unquestionably have one thing to have fun—it’s Larger Bolder Baking’s 10th anniversary! Ten years of baking with you, development a powerful neighborhood, finding what you’d like to discover ways to cook dinner, and creating recipes—it’s been a pleasure! So we’re marking this decade milestone with an increased model of fan-favorite Highest Ever Chocolate Cake with Whipped Darkish Chocolate Ganache. Our Sumptuous 24-Layer model is GINORMOUS! It’s two dozen fudgy layers of cake, chocolate filling, and a bittersweet and milk chocolate ganache. Pass large or cross house!

• This cake is made with vegetable oil, giving it an opulent texture and a humid crumb.
• Silky chocolate pastry cream is slathered on each and every layer, and the cake is enveloped in wealthy milk chocolate ganache.

Should you’re like me, maximum of your kitchen time is taken with whipping up wholesome breakfasts, packing faculty lunches, and understanding dinners that everybody will consume! That’s why it’s so amusing to dig right into a gorgeously indulgent recipe like this showstopper cake. Take a look at extra Larger Bolder Baking favorites that deliver the drama, like Surprising Tiramisu Cake, Wealthy German Chocolate Cake, 3-Layer Neapolitan Cake, and Salted Caramel and Chocolate Brownie Trifle.

Stay studying for a FREE reward I need to give to you for this momentous instance.

Desk of Contents

What’s Sumptuous 24-Layer Chocolate Cake?

• Sumptuous 24-Layer Chocolate Cake is a decadent multi-layered chocolate cake made by way of stacking 24 particular person layers with layers of chocolate filling in between. Each and every layer is skinny, and the cumulative, visually spectacular impact creates a wealthy and lavish dessert.
• Completely yummy chocolate pastry cream is sandwiched between the layers, with the pudding-like filling giving the best textural distinction to the cake and conserving it wet!
• In contrast to the anticipated chocolate buttercream, this cake is roofed in swirls of decadent ganache, sending it over the threshold to make the luxurious dessert of your goals.
• Layered desserts date again to historic Greek and Roman instances. After baking powder used to be invented in 1840, fluffier layered desserts grew in recognition, and within the Victorian Generation, serving an elaborate layer cake conveyed wealth and social standing. Lately, a multi-layered cake is the center piece of a marriage, birthday, or vacation birthday celebration.

Key Substances and Why

For the Chocolate Layer Cake:

• All-purpose flour

  • All-purpose flour with a protein content material of September 11% is best for making a cake with sufficient gluten building to create a essential construction whilst nonetheless having a young crumb.

• Granulated sugar

  • The sugar sweetens the cake and contributes to its wet texture.

• Dutch-processed cocoa powder

  • Dutch-processed cocoa powder is cocoa handled with an alkalizing agent to neutralize the naturally going on acids, giving it a superbly mellow chocolate taste.
  • For the reason that Dutch procedure cocoa isn’t acidic, it doesn’t react with an alkaline leavener like baking soda to provide carbon dioxide. That’s why recipes that use Dutch procedure cocoa are generally leavened by way of baking powder or a mixture of the 2 like we have now on this recipe.

• Immediate coffee powder

  • Don’t concern, the cake received’t style like espresso! The 4 teaspoons of coffee powder are right here best to intensify the chocolate taste.

• Baking powder

  • Baking powder incorporates each an acid (cream of tartar) and a base (baking soda), which provides it leavening energy even in a cake with a non-acidic component like Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
  • Be informed extra about baking powder and baking soda and the best way to make your personal.

• Baking soda

  • Baking soda contributes to the upward thrust and tenderizes the cake’s crumb.

• Eggs

• Vegetable oil

  • Vegetable oil, a liquid fats, normally makes moister and extra soft desserts than the ones made with forged fats like butter.
  • The impartial style of vegetable oil shall we the chocolate taste shine thru.

• Highly regarded water

  • Highly regarded water turns on the cocoa’s taste compounds and dissolves the cocoa, making sure the combination is lump-free and lightly dispersed.
  • The water additionally hydrates the batter, bettering the cake’s moisture content material.

For the Filling:

For the Milk Chocolate Ganache:

• Heavy whipping cream

  • The fats content material in heavy cream is round 36%. This high-fat content material is an important to making a solid ganache aggregate that received’t cut up.
  • Heavy whipping cream provides the ganache a velvety mouthfeel and wealthy taste.

• Milk chocolate

  • Creamy milk chocolate has 38-42% chocolate solids and a excessive milk content material. It lends contributes to a creamy, easy ganache.
  • Milk chocolate is nice and is referred to as “consuming chocolate.” Its gentle taste assists in keeping the ganache balanced and no longer overwhelming.

• Bittersweet chocolate

Make 24-Layer Chocolate Cake

• Get ready to bake: Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C) with the fan on, butter 4 cake pans and line them with parchment paper. Put a cake board at the cake adorning stand.
• Mix the dry elements: In a stand mixer, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt on low for 30 seconds.
• Combine the rainy elements and end the batter: Upload the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup (4 fl oz./120 ml) of sizzling water. Combine to moisten. Upload the remainder sizzling water in two additions, scraping the bowl down with a silicone or rubber spatula, and blend to mix.
• Bake and funky the cake layers: Pour the batter into the ready pans. Bake within the preheated oven for 30 to 35 mins till a cake tester or toothpick comes out blank. Let the desserts cool utterly. Wrap the layers nicely in hang movie and kick back within the refrigerator for no less than 4 hours.
• Make the Milk Chocolate Ganache: Position the finely chopped milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Warmth the cream simply to simmering, and pour over the chocolate. Let it take a seat for 5 mins, after which stir till blended. Let the ganache take a seat at room temperature, stirring sometimes, till thickened.
• Compile the cake: Reduce each and every cake into 3 layers. Put one cake layer at the cake board at the cake adorning stand. Unfold lightly with ½ cup (4 oz./115 g) of pastry cream. Repeat the method till the entire cake layers were used. Unfold the remainder pastry cream over the cake as a crumb coat, and refrigerate for one hour.
• Frost the cake: Take the cake out of the refrigerator and position it again at the cake adorning stand. Unfold the chocolate frosting lightly however briefly (the need ganache briefly company up when implemented to the chilled cake). Serve straight away or refrigerate.

Can I Make 24-Layer Chocolate Cake in Advance?

Sure, you’ll make parts of 24-Layer Chocolate Cake prematurely so it is going to take much less time to gather.

• Make the cake layers prematurely:
  • Wrap the baked desserts nicely and retailer them within the fridge for as much as 4 days.
  • For extra prolonged garage, position the well-wrapped desserts in a freezer bag and retailer them within the freezer for 3 months.
• Make the ganache prematurely:
  • To retailer within the fridge:
    • Position a work of plastic wrap without delay over the skin of the particularly warm ganache to prevent it from forming a troublesome pores and skin.
    • After the ganache has cooled utterly, position it in an hermetic container and retailer it within the refrigerator for as much as seven days.
    • When in a position to make use of the ganache, gently reheat it by way of hanging the ganache in a heatproof bowl and hanging the bowl in sizzling water. Stir till spreadable.
  • I don’t suggest freezing ganache because the consistency would no longer be the similar as soon as thawed.

Retailer 24-Layer Chocolate Cake

• Retailer leftover cake within the fridge for as much as two days.
• Depart the cake out at room temperature for half-hour earlier than serving.

FAQs

• How do I make a 24-Layer Chocolate Cake with out a enormous ability mixer?

  • Since that is one of these huge cake batter, you’re going to desire a huge ability style if you wish to use a mixer.
  • Should you don’t have a large-capacity mixer or 4 cake pans, you’ll divide this cake recipe in part and make it in two batches.
  • To do that with out making mistakes, it’s best to print out the recipe, cross by way of weight, and use a calculator to part the entire quantities. Make notes to your recipe earlier than measuring the entirety, and use a kitchen scale for accuracy.
  • Should you don’t have a stand mixer, you’ll additionally combine each and every batch with a handheld electrical mixer or combine it by way of hand.

• How do I be sure that my ganache doesn’t cut up?

  • Be certain that to not overheat the cream. It’s absolute best to make use of a heavy backside saucepan and heat the cream on LOW warmth simply till it begins to simmer–search for tiny bubbles across the edges.
  • Use finely chopped chocolate bars as an alternative of chips. Chocolate chips have added elements to stay them from dropping form, so it’s arduous to soften them utterly. Overmixing will separate fats from chocolate to damage the ganache.
  • Don’t overheat the chocolate. Let the heated cream take a seat with the chocolate, and don’t stir for 5 mins. This procedure will soften chocolate lightly with out inflicting it to grab.
  • SLOWLY stir chocolate and cream in combination from the middle till it’s great and easy. Swirling the bowl will assist the chocolate to soften with out overmixing. Because it cools, it is going to thicken up extra.
  • To mend damaged ganache, heat the combination in a bowl over a pot of simmering water whilst whisking vigorously the usage of an immersion blender. If that doesn’t paintings, upload in a small quantity of room-temperature milk whilst proceeding whisking. Don’t use cream to revive your ganache for the reason that aggregate already incorporates an excessive amount of fats to return in combination.

• How do I stay my cake layers from breaking after I lower and stack them?

  • Making cake layers that received’t crack and that stack nicely begins while you combine your batter. Steer clear of overmixing, as that may incorporate an excessive amount of air and create huge air bubbles within the cake, making the layers difficult to chop and stack.
  • Slicing a baked cake into thinner layers is known as torting. Relax the baked desserts for no less than 4 hours, and ideally in a single day, earlier than torting. Heat cake is simply too fragile to chop.
  • Should you’re slightly fearful about torting, you’ll put the cake at the adorning stand, view it at eye degree, and ranking it or mark with toothpicks earlier than you chop.
  • When slicing the cake with a serrated knife, flippantly put a hand at the best of the cake (don’t use an excessive amount of drive), and use a steady sawing movement to chop.
  • Imagine the usage of an additional cake board to transport each and every layer to reduce the risk of breakage.

Gemma’s Professional Chef Pointers

• In case your oven doesn’t have a fan, be aware to place cake pans on other racks and rotate them midway thru. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for round 30-35 mins or till a cake tester or toothpick comes out blank.
• The cake layers wish to be chilled earlier than splitting and meeting, or they’re going to be too soft to maintain.
• A rotating cake adorning stand is preferable for adorning this cake as it is very important that the layers are even. There are lots of layers, and in the event that they begin to tilt, the entire cake might fall over because of the peak. As you set the layers, you’ll rotate the stand to peer the cake from each side. In fact, you’ll fill and frost this cake and not using a adorning stand, however you’ll want to have a look at the cake from each side after each and every layer of cake and filling.
• The cake board is a spherical piece of cardboard that you’ll construct your cake on. Since that is one of these huge cake, it’s more straightforward to fill and frost it on a board so it may be lifted from the adorning stand to the fridge and in your serving plate.
• The layers of pastry cream will appear very skinny, however that is to verify the structural integrity of the cake. If the pastry cream layers are too thick, they may be able to slip.
• An offset spatula is the most efficient instrument to unfold the pastry cream and ganache lightly.
• As a result of this cake is stuffed with pastry cream, it should keep refrigerated. Maximum desserts style higher at room temperature, however as a result of that is an oil-based cake, it stays comfortable and wet even if chilly. The ganache has sufficient cream that it is going to additionally keep comfortable whilst chilly.
• Serve this cake with a beneficiant dollop of Freshly Whipped Cream, Chocolate Whipped Cream, or Two-Factor Vanilla Ice Cream!

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