#*Chocolate Cabbage Cake* *This cake is the pièce de résistance of the book. Bake a sponge cake in 2 round bowls and sandwich the halves together with whipped cream. Mold chocolate leaves from a real cabbage, place them around the cake, then present guests with the prettiest knock-em-dead creation they have ever seen.*
SERVES 15 TO 20
##INGREDIENTS 1 recipe Chocolate Sponge Cake (page 61) Rum, Grand Marnier, or crème de cacao (optional) 1 cup heavy cream, whipped stiff and sweetened and flavored to taste 1 pound semisweet or compound chocolate 8 leaves green cabbage (not savoy) 2 1½-quart stainless-steel mixing bowls, 8 inches round 2 or 3 pale pink rose buds
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the mixing bowls. Place bowls on a cookie sheet. 2. Prepare the Chocolate Sponge Cake batter. Divide the batter between the 2 mixing bowls and smooth the tops evenly. Place sheet with bowls in the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Remove cakes and let cool for 5 minutes. They should shrink slightly away from the sides of the pans, and then they will unmold easily. Leave to cool completely. The cakes should be allowed to firm at least 3 hours for best results. 3. Hollow out a portion from the flat center side of each cake Sprinkle the cakes with optional liquor, then crumble the dug-out portions. Whip and flavor the cream, then stir in the cake crumbs. Refill the hollowed centers of the cakes and sandwich them together. This round ball will be the head of the cabbage. Refrigerate until needed. 4. Melt chocolate over warm water. Set aside. 5. Coat the backs of 5 nice cabbage leaves with chocolate by spreading it on with a pastry brush. Brush chocolate to within ¼ inch of the leaves’ edges. Coat the top side of 3 other leaves, upper half of the leaf only. 6. Leave 1 fully coated leaf flat and drape the others over small bowls so they will harden in slightly rounded shapes. Refrigerate leaves for 8 minutes. 7. If any chocolate has dripped over the unpainted sides of the leaves, chip it off. Loosen the fat stem end first, then gently work the cabbage leaf off the chocolate. As long as you have 3 good whole leaves you are all right, for broken halves can also be used effectively. 8. Prepare glaze by putting chocolate, sugar, corn syrup, and hot water in a saucepan, then cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Let the mixture cook at a slow boil for 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, then add the vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. Stir until the glaze cools slightly and is a nice spreading consistency. 9. When glaze is somewhat cool and thick enough to swirl into a pattern, coat 1 side of the round cake. Set 3 large leaves on a platter and place the frosted side of the cake on top of them. 10. Glaze the top of the cake, then press other leaves around the sides; let a few small broken portions suggest a gathering of leaves atop the cabbage. Let the glaze firm. Tuck the roses about the cake. 11. To serve, cut portions from the round cake. The bottom leaves can be nibbled on with coffee or removed and used for another recipe.
##THICK CHOCOLATE GLAZE 4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips or grated squares ½ cup granulated sugar ¼ cup light corn syrup ¼ cup hot water 5 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 to 5 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
ptolemy18
This would be a good one for Dylan Hollis.
RAPMONSBIGFEET
How will this actually taste? Lol
baby_armadillo
Ooh, I used to check this book out of the library as a kid just to drool over the pictures and imagine how amazing my life was going to be once I was a master chocolatier in a major European city. As you do.
idanrecyla
I thought this was gonna be one of those recipes where they try and hide the veggies, so shredded cabbage, or more so, sauerkraut, stirred into the cake mix. I remember one like that years ago where people raved it was the most moist and flavorful cake. I wasn’t expecting this outcome!
effie-sue
I’ve had sauerkraut cake before. It’s not bad!
2kids3kats
They’re not wrong! The guests would definitely be talking about that cake and nothing but the cake after it’s produced!
henrytabby
I’m so sorry if this is a silly question, but are you leaving the hollowed out cake intact( the sides you’re left with )and you’re kind of putting the cabbage ball on top of that? And then you decorate it not to see the sides of the cake so much. Thanks!
oreo-cat-
This comments section is like a reading quiz. Honestly though, this looks really cool. For the right party, it could be a great addition.
SaltMarshGoblin
I have to make that for my next birthday cake!! I am the Queen of Cabbage!
SaltMarshGoblin
Would you please share pg 61’s Chocolate Sponge Cake recipe? This looks delightful!!
11 Comments
*Image Transcription: Book Pages*
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#*Chocolate Cabbage Cake*
*This cake is the pièce de résistance of the book. Bake a sponge cake in 2 round bowls and sandwich the halves together with whipped cream. Mold chocolate leaves from a real cabbage, place them around the cake, then present guests with the prettiest knock-em-dead creation they have ever seen.*
SERVES 15 TO 20
##INGREDIENTS
1 recipe Chocolate Sponge Cake (page 61)
Rum, Grand Marnier, or crème de cacao (optional)
1 cup heavy cream, whipped stiff and sweetened and flavored to taste
1 pound semisweet or compound chocolate
8 leaves green cabbage (not savoy)
2 1½-quart stainless-steel mixing bowls, 8 inches round
2 or 3 pale pink rose buds
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the mixing bowls. Place bowls on a cookie sheet.
2. Prepare the Chocolate Sponge Cake batter. Divide the batter between the 2 mixing bowls and smooth the tops evenly. Place sheet with bowls in the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Remove cakes and let cool for 5 minutes. They should shrink slightly away from the sides of the pans, and then they will unmold easily. Leave to cool completely. The cakes should be allowed to firm at least 3 hours for best results.
3. Hollow out a portion from the flat center side of each cake Sprinkle the cakes with optional liquor, then crumble the dug-out portions. Whip and flavor the cream, then stir in the cake crumbs. Refill the hollowed centers of the cakes and sandwich them together. This round ball will be the head of the cabbage. Refrigerate until needed.
4. Melt chocolate over warm water. Set aside.
5. Coat the backs of 5 nice cabbage leaves with chocolate by spreading it on with a pastry brush. Brush chocolate to within ¼ inch of the leaves’ edges. Coat the top side of 3 other leaves, upper half of the leaf only.
6. Leave 1 fully coated leaf flat and drape the others over small bowls so they will harden in slightly rounded shapes. Refrigerate leaves for 8 minutes.
7. If any chocolate has dripped over the unpainted sides of the leaves, chip it off. Loosen the fat stem end first, then gently work the cabbage leaf off the chocolate. As long as you have 3 good whole leaves you are all right, for broken halves can also be used effectively.
8. Prepare glaze by putting chocolate, sugar, corn syrup, and hot water in a saucepan, then cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Let the mixture cook at a slow boil for 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, then add the vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. Stir until the glaze cools slightly and is a nice spreading consistency.
9. When glaze is somewhat cool and thick enough to swirl into a pattern, coat 1 side of the round cake. Set 3 large leaves on a platter and place the frosted side of the cake on top of them.
10. Glaze the top of the cake, then press other leaves around the sides; let a few small broken portions suggest a gathering of leaves atop the cabbage. Let the glaze firm. Tuck the roses about the cake.
11. To serve, cut portions from the round cake. The bottom leaves can be nibbled on with coffee or removed and used for another recipe.
##THICK CHOCOLATE GLAZE
4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips or grated squares
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
¼ cup hot water
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 to 5 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
This would be a good one for Dylan Hollis.
How will this actually taste? Lol
Ooh, I used to check this book out of the library as a kid just to drool over the pictures and imagine how amazing my life was going to be once I was a master chocolatier in a major European city. As you do.
I thought this was gonna be one of those recipes where they try and hide the veggies, so shredded cabbage, or more so, sauerkraut, stirred into the cake mix. I remember one like that years ago where people raved it was the most moist and flavorful cake. I wasn’t expecting this outcome!
I’ve had sauerkraut cake before. It’s not bad!
They’re not wrong! The guests would definitely be talking about that cake and nothing but the cake after it’s produced!
I’m so sorry if this is a silly question, but are you leaving the hollowed out cake intact( the sides you’re left with )and you’re kind of putting the cabbage ball on top of that? And then you decorate it not to see the sides of the cake so much. Thanks!
This comments section is like a reading quiz. Honestly though, this looks really cool. For the right party, it could be a great addition.
I have to make that for my next birthday cake!! I am the Queen of Cabbage!
Would you please share pg 61’s Chocolate Sponge Cake recipe? This looks delightful!!