Gigi Burton of Plainsboro won the grand prize in Ghirardelli Chocolate Company’s “Is Your Dessert Intense Enough?” recipe contest with a triple chocolate truffle cake with milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and white chocolate. The winning recipe beat out hundreds of entries to win Burton a deluxe Hawaiian family cruise. She, and her husband Ray, will celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary in July on the cruise.##M:[more]##
Burton, 35, is a former financial services marketing executive. She worked at JPMorgan Chase in New York City for close to 12 years. “In December of 2004, I left the corporate world and decided to spend time honing my baking skills and determining if it could be a viable second career path,” she says. “My dream is to open a bakery/cafe that pairs great coffee with sweet treats that people remember from their childhood, like big cookies, brownies, and cupcakes.”
She loves baking as a creative outlet and enjoys experimenting with ingredients to create delicious recipes. A “sucker” for truffles, Burton wanted to create a cake that had the similar texture and softness of a truffle, but with more structure. The Ghirardelli contest was the first recipe contest Burton entered and she is now thinking she may be able to turn her baking passion into a career. Burton’s winning three-chocolate cake recipe featuring a semi sweet cake, milk chocolate ganache and white chocolate garnish, served chilled is in a Ghirardelli ad in the April issue of Ladies Home Journal.
“Winning this contest has given me that extra boost of confidence to take the necessary steps toward making my dream a reality,” she says.
Ghirardelli “Is Your Dessert Intense Enough”
Grand Prize Recipe
Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake by Gigi Burton
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for pan 3 cups Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 8 large eggs, cold 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 cup Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips 2 ounces Ghirardelli White Chocolate Baking Bar, chilled
Note: this recipe requires that cake is refrigerated overnight before frosting.
Preheat oven to 325ø degrees F.
Arrange rack in center of oven. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 by 2-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Melt butter and semi-sweet chocolate chips over double boiler until smooth; cool slightly. Meanwhile, with a hand mixer or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip eggs and salt on medium speed until doubled in volume, about 5 minutes.
Gently fold, in thirds, whipped eggs into melted chocolate.
Pour batter into prepared cake pan and place pan in water bath. Bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and is set in the center, about 40 minutes. Remove pan from water bath to a cooling rack and cool cake completely in pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
To remove cake, dip the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan in warm water and run a thin metal spatula around the inside of the pan. Invert onto a plate to unmold, remove parchment paper.
To prepare ganache, bring heavy cream to a simmer and pour over milk chocolate chips. Stir gently until smooth; cool slightly. Pour ganache over top of cake and spread with an offset spatula to evenly cover. (There will be some ganache leftover.)
Chill cake until ganache sets, about 30 minutes. To garnish, use vegetable peeler or grater to grate white chocolate bar into curls or shavings onto top of cake.
Serves 12.
