Dolly on a Hat

Posting on behalf of MY GUEST-WRITER to link up with my ongoing event 'Sweet Celebration' :)

PARTICIPANT NAME: Rashmi Madhan

RECIPE NAME: Dolly on a Hat

For this pretty lady I used two Chocolate Cakes.  One made exactly as above and another made in a deep pudding basin.  If you do not have a pudding basin, you can easily use any bowl shaped vessel that is a) deep enough to hold the batter at two-thirds full, so as not to over-spill its edges and b) Ovenproof, it would be disastrous to try and bake in a pan that was unsuited to being in an oven!

To put it together I used Chocolate Ganache.  When I initially heard the term Ganache, I was quite intimidated but now I know that it is just a fancy term for melted chocolate mixed with cream to a nice spreadable consistency.  Here I used three large bars of dark chocolate and about 200mls. of fresh cooking cream.  To make the Ganache, break the chocolate into small pieces and put it in a heatproof bowl. You can then microwave it in short bursts of 1 minute each or hold it over a pan of hot simmering water and stir till it is soft and gooey.  Remove it from the heat and wipe the outside with a towel.  Take care DO NOT let any water into the Chocolate, because the Chocolate will seize up and you will not be able to use it!  Once you have removed the chocolate you can whisk in the cream till you have a desired nice chocolate cream that is easy to spread.  If at this stage you feel it thickening too much just return it to the simmering pot and stir it again or give it a 30 second burst in the Microwave.

Just spread the Ganache over the cakes and sandwich them.  Decorate with multicolored sugar strands, silver balls and sugar flowers and of course top with a pretty little Dolly.

This particular version of the cake has had many Avatars, it has transformed into A Dinosaur, A Farm with A Sheep and Pig, A Cat and lately it was a Graveyard.  It happily changes its persona to suit the occasion or the Birthday Boy or Girl’s preference.  Very versatile indeed.

Linking this recipe to Shruti’s ‘Sweet Celebration’ Event :)