I made this fancy cake for my mother-in-law’s birthday. There are several steps which can be done ahead of time; ganache, cake, syrup and glaze. The recipe comes from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan but she states the recipe comes from Bon Appetite. I started sourcing ingredients just after Christmas thinking it was close enough to the holiday to still be available but I was wrong. Trader Joe’s did not have any chestnuts in stock but I was able to get some from Gelson’s. I ordered the sweetened chestnut spread with vanilla online and was glad to get delivery in time for her birthday.

For the ganache, Dorie states it is best if refrigerated overnight. The ganache contains a whopping 9 ounces of milk chocolate, 3 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, 1 cup of heavy cream, and 10 ounces of butter. This is not a low-fat dish. The cake can also be made in advance which I did. The cake also contains 8 ounces of butter. Are you seeing a trend 🙂 The syrup to soak the cake contains brandy and brown sugar. And finally, the shiny glaze is made with 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and 1 cup of heavy cream.

When I had finished and assembled the cake I could not believe the weight, it is a heavy cake in more ways than one. Was it worth it? Yes! It is a very rich cake so the 16 servings for a 9 inch cake is appropriate. This cake is made for the chocolate lovers. I don’t know if I would call it a new family favorite but we enjoyed this celebration cake.