A staggeringly sweet chocolate cake served with chocolate bunnies and what one can only hope are chocolate eggs.
Hatching Tide is, just like Starlight, an important festival to gather and celebrate with your loved ones. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic has barred us from seeing the people we care about. May this cake become a dream of better times for the future.
You will need
One Sachertorte cake without the icing
350 grams (approx 12 oz.) white chocolate
600 grams (approx. 21 oz.) milk chocolate
400 grams (approx. 14 oz.) dark chocolate
600 grams (approx 21 oz.) heavy cream
Easter chocolate decorations
Bake the cake according to the recipe linked above. To ensure even baking and a flat dome, I have wrapped my baking tin with a kitchen towel completely drenched in water. Once the cake is cooled down, cut once or twice through to create cake layers. Set aside. You may also wrap each cake layer individually in plastic and aluminum foil (seal tightly!) and freeze for up to a month. Remove wrapping completely while defrosting, otherwise, the cake will get mushy.
Chop your chocolate (or be lazy like me and use couverture chips) into pieces and place each type, (i.e., white, milk, and dark) into a separate bowl. Heat your heavy cream either in the microwave or carefully on the stovetop until the cream starts boiling. Pour over the chocolates, dividing the liquid evenly among the three (i.e., one-third for each). Let the chocolates melt in the hot cream for approx. five minutes. Carefully stir each ganache until it is smooth and glistening. Slightly cover and let them cool on your countertop for several hours, preferably the next day.
Place the white ganache in the refrigerator for approx. half an hour or until it is completely cold. Whip it up with beaters until it becomes stiff. Spread the whipped ganache on your cake layers and assemble your cake. Place the cake in the refrigerator to firm it up.
Just like the white ganache, whip up your milk chocolate ganache until it becomes pale and fluffy. We don’t need to put it in the refrigerator as the ratio between chocolate and cream makes for a stiffer consistency than the white chocolate version.
Take out your cake and generously slather the ganache all over your cake to cover it completely. After this, you may either place your cake in the freezer for approx. 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for approx. 2 hours so that the cake is completely cold. This step is important to create a drip effect.
Don’t worry if by now your dark ganache has become solid. You can gently reheat it over a warm water bath (stovetop only, as microwave rays might burn the chocolate). Keep on stirring until the ganache is liquid again. Let it cool down until the chocolate feels cold on your lips.
Take out your cake from the freezer or refrigerator and carefully drizzle or spoon the chocolate ganache around the edges of your cake to create a drip effect. Once the edges have set slightly (should be immediate if your cake is properly chilled), pour the remaining ganache over the top and spread to create a cover. Add Easter decorations while the chocolate is still setting. Enjoy and Happy Hatching Tide!
