Zucchini Bundt with Chocolate Ganache - I Like Big Bundts 2013 - Day 9

Zucchini Bundt

I Like Big Bundts 2013 - Day 9

Hello! Do you have some great neighbors with a green thumb? Do they leave fresh tomatoes on your doorstep every summer?

And do they leave boatloads of zucchini on your porch and run? Oh, zucchini. I love you, but I know that sometimes you go and multiply for gardeners. If you do get some zucchini, make this bundt from The Kitchn (love this website!)

I added some chocolate chips and ganache to the bundt, but it is lovely as is too. Since zucchini can be a watery veggie, you squeeze out as much water as possible before adding it to your batter. Great tip!

Of course, you can enjoy this plain with just a dusting of powdered sugar. Or...

...you can add some ganache. I happened to have some leftover ganache in the freezer and just let it thaw in the refrig until soft enough to spread on the bundt. You can also heat it to get it liquefied and pour it over the bundt.

You may wonder...What happened to Day 8 of I Like Big Bundts? Um...I went out with friends for lunch at Canter's (famous Jewish deli in Los Angeles) and we had a lovely time on our day off. When I walked back to my car, I couldn't find my keys (I've never lost a set of keys!). Nothing like dumping the contents of your purse on the sidewalk! Luckily, one friend didn't drive off yet (we came from three different areas of town) and was able to search the sidewalk, restaurants and bakery (of course we stopped in at Diamond Bakery) for my keys to no avail. So he drove to my friend's work where I hung out and shredded documents for her (hey, what are friends for?) until the end of the workday. Then we went to my area of town, had dinner, drove back to my house for my extra set of car keys, then drove back to Canter's, and I picked up my car. Thus, my 1:00 pm lunch took me until 9:30 pm to get home. Lovely to chat with my friends for an extended period of time...but no time to Bundt!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway for cool Snapware Pyrex food containers. See this post - deadline 11/13/2013.

P.S.S. If you bake a bundt for National Bundt Day on Nov 15, I'm doing a round up (with a giveaway for an awesome bundt pan for those who bake). Submission info will be up soon...I've been delayed in getting that together but never fear...we'll be celebrating! :)

P.S.S. Need ideas of what Bundt to make? Check out my I Like Big Bundts page with lots of links, and here are this year's so far...

I Like Big Bundts 2013 (so far)
Day 7: Cranberry Crème Fraîche Bundt
Day 6: Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt
Day 5: Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt
Day 4: Moosewood's Fresh Apple Spice Bundt Cake
Day 3: Butterscotch Bundt Cake
Day 2: Ultimate Lemon Pound Cake Bundt
Day 1: Orange Marmalade Jubilee Bundt

Recipe: Zucchini Bundt with Chocolate Ganache 
Adapted from The Kitchn, How to Make Zucchini Bread by Emma Christensen

Bundt:
1 pound zucchini (about 2 medium-sized)
3 cups (420 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup (200 grams) white sugar
1/2 cup (50 grams)  brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup olive oil or canola oil (I used olive oil)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Optional extras: 1 cup chopped nuts, 1 cup raisins, or 1 cup chocolate chips (I used one cup of chocolate chips)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a 12-cup Bundt pan by spraying it with Pam with Flour or Baker's Joy, or greasing and flouring the pan.
2. Shred the zucchinis on a box grater. Place shreds in a clean kitchen towel or several layers of cheese cloth and squeeze to press out as much moisture from the zucchini as possible.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to combine.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sugars, olive oil, and vanilla extract together to combine.
5. Add the squeezed zucchini and the optional nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips into the flour mixture and gentle combine with a spatula. Add the liquids to the flour/zucchini mixture. Fold the batter together, being careful not to overmix.
6. Place batter in Bundt pan and smooth out top with an off-set spatula or spoon. Bake 45-50 minutes until skewer inserted in the center come back clean, and the top springs back when touched.
7. Let cook in the Bundt pan for 15 minutes and then invert and cool completely on a wire rack.
8. Optional: Add some ganache to the top (either pour over ganache or spread on)

Ganache - This makes a cup or so of ganache. You will have extra and can freeze it or use it on another baking project!

1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1. Ganache is a combination of heavy cream and chocolate. So easy and so delicious. You can use semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (or a mixture of both). The ratio is heavy cream (in fluid ounces) : chocolate (in weight)
2. Therefore, I used 8 fluid ounces (1 cup) of heavy cream to 8 ounces (weight) of semi-sweet chocolate.
3. Place the chocolate in a bowl. Bring the cream to a light simmer. Turn off heat and slowly pour the cream over the chocolate.
4. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. Then slowly whisk the liquid and chocolate together. Mix slowly...you don't want to incorporate extra air into the mixture. Stir until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. You can use ganache in different stages of "set". When it is warm, you can pour it over a cake or cupcake. When it firms up a bit more, you can spoon it on the treats. A bit more settling and you can frost with it. You can also whip it up for a lighter frosting. Oh, the possibilities of ganache.

Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Sometimes I make recipes into bundts.
This time, I made something from a bundt.


I took my favorite cinnamon chocolate bundt and make them into cupcakes... topped with ganache. Easy peasy and delicious.

For this batch (above and below photo), the ganache was allowed to set for about an hour before use.


This recipe is really simple to make. Boil the ingredients, pour it over a flour mixture, stir in some buttermilk, eggs and other things you already have available in your kitchen, and in a few minutes you have a cupcake.

I think the best compliments are the ones overheard. My co-worker said she heard two colleagues talking about how much they enjoyed the cupcakes I bought to a meeting that day...while they were in the ladies room!


You don't need to drag out KitchenAid mixer and just a couple bowls will do you fine. The resulting cupcake is very moist because it uses both butter and oil.


So, I made this recipe twice in two days (I had two meetings to attend). The first day, I made the ganache in the morning and let it sit for about an hour before using an offset spatula to apply it to the cupcake. As you can see in the photos labeled "one hour ganache", the ganache was still pretty soft. After I glazed those cupcakes, I put plastic wrap around the remaining ganache and placed it in the refrig. That night, I came home, pulled out the ganache to put it on the counter, walked the dog, and then made the cupcakes again and let them cool. The ganache was set up more than the previous day so these cupcakes had more of a "frosting" look. I placed the frosted cupcake in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, the ganache looked dull on the cupcake - see the left photo above. I remember a hint from a cookbook (was it Dorie Greenspan?) to lightly blow dry the ganache for a few seconds with a hair dryer and the gloss would come back! I did that...and it totally worked. Don't go crazy with it...you don't want to completely melt it...just a few seconds do the job. Imagine that - your cupcake gets a blow out.

Cupcakes
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/4 c plus 1 T (or 5 T) cocoa (I have used both Dutch processed and natural cocoa with fine results). I used 30 grams of Hershey's Cocoa.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 c buttermilk
1 t baking soda

2 eggs
1 t vanilla

Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, combine together with a whisk: flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon

2. Bring to a boil in a pot: Water, oil, butter and cocoa. Once it reaches a boil, remove from heat.

3. Add the chocolate mixture to the flour and whisk by hand until combined.

4. Add the buttermilk and baking soda and mix.

5. In a small bowl, combine the eggs and vanilla. Add to the batter and combine.

6. Pour batter into 24 cupcakes cups lined with paper liners (or sprayed with Pam with Flour).

7. Bake at 365 degrees for 16-20 minutes (depending on your oven), until a toothpick comes out clean.

8. While it is baking, make the chocolate ganache and let it set up before use. Frost with chocolate ganache.

Ganache
1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

Ganache is a combination of heavy cream and chocolate. So easy and so delicious. You can use semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (or a mixture of both). The ratio is heavy cream (in fluid ounces) : chocolate (in weight)

Therefore, I used 8 fluid ounces (1 cup) of heavy cream to 8 ounces (weight) of semi-sweet chocolate.

Place the chocolate in a bowl. Bring the cream to a light simmer. Turn off heat and slowly pour the cream over the chocolate.

Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. Then slowly whisk the liquid and chocolate together. Mix slowly...you don't want to incorporate extra air into the mixture. Stir until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

You can use ganache in different stages of "set". When it is warm, you can pour it over a cake or cupcake. When it firms up a bit more, you can spoon it on the treats. A bit more settling and you can frost with it. You can also whip it up for a lighter frosting. Oh, the possibilities of ganache. It rocks. (It also freezes really well so you should always have some on hand for chocolate emergencies!)

Flour Bakery Yellow Birthday Cake with Fluffy Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Flour Bakery Yellow Birthday Cake with Fluffy Chocolate Ganache Frosting

My friend Rosie came over to bake! We were supposed to bake together...but somehow I ended up making Jello (that post is coming soon), lying on the couch, eating Red Vines and watching Top Gear. Anyway, I took photos of Rosie making a cake in my kitchen. That's close enough, no?

Rosie's been on the blog in the past (Lessons from a Pastry Chef and Challah) and is a recent graduate of the Baking and Pastry Arts program at the prestigious Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. She's heading back to finish her BS degree in a couple weeks...and guess who's going to Parent's Weekend?! Road Trip! (Well, JetBlue red eye trip to be exact). My friend Helen (Rosie's mom) and I are going to J&W Family Weekend in early October. I've known Rosie since she was three years old, picked her up from pre-school, been the emergency contact on her school forms, and watched her grow up - so I earned my place at Family Weekend! Can't wait to see Rosie in situ at her college. We have other day trips planned too...more on that later. ;)

I've made Flour Bakery's Yellow cake in the past (cupcake form) and I did make the ganache for the frosting. But frosting it? Rosie did all that...while watching Top Gear. Somehow, it took us all day to make this cake, but I'm sure if you are more efficient than us, you will get this done in a jiffy.

We had about one cup of frosting remaining. We planned to pipe a nice border, but time got away from us and we needed to head out. I dropped off a slice to my friend JustJenn and she said it needed more frosting. I hate frosting so I thought she was crazy (hee hee)...but you might want to use all the frosting.

We decided to put little ball decorations on the edges - chocolate balls, pearl balls from NY Cake Company, and silver nonpareils dragees. These silver balls aren't sold in California due to a lawsuit so my friend Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet mailed me some from the East Coast. Thanks Mary!

Anyone would love this for their birthday!!

Cidney the Girl Dog helped (?) out too by just being cute.

 

Thanks Rosie for coming over and baking! And thanks for helping me reorganize that pesky junk drawer in the kitchen. See you at Family Weekend at Johnson & Wales!

Recipe:
Joanne Chang has very detailed directions in her book. You should really purchase the book Flour Bakery because it is way awesome, or get the book at your library. The Daily Meal posted the recipe.

New School of Cooking - Pro Baking 1 - Class 5: Chocolate

I'm taking the Pro Baking 1 series at the New School of Cooking in Culver City (Los Angeles) this fall/winter. For Class 5, it was all about the Chocolate! As you can imagine, no one was absent from class! :)

We learned about cacao seeds, nibs, and the history of chocolate. We had a chocolate tasting with a bunch of Tasting Chocolates (these are expensive and NOT for baking). My favorites were the single origin chocolates of Michel Cluizel. These chocolates are made from a single plantation, not a combination of many growers.

Hint: The Trader Joe's Pound Plus blocks of chocolate are repackaged high end chocolate from Belgium. Get it. It's yum and way way cheaper. (By the way, you can usually find this chocolate above the freezer and near the little boxes of mini peanut butter cups and chocolate covered sunflower seeds, it is not in the baking section)

We made brown sugar chocolate cupcakes (made with Dutch-processed cocoa) and had a selection of frostings and toppings. So-called "Buttercream" (next week we'll make an Italian Meringue Buttercream - the real buttercream): Vanilla and Chocolate, and a chocolate gananche. We used jumbo cupcake holders to hold a nice topping of ganache.

Chef Carol, our instructor, also demonstrated making a Chocolate Decadence Cake or Flourless Chocolate Cake with a mound of chocolate ganache. The white lines are a combo of powdered sugar and heavy cream. You need heavy cream so you made the texture of the ganache...if you used milk, it would harden.

The next day, I practiced by making the cupcakes again and frosted them with some cream cheese frosting (just for you @justjennrecipes!) The little balls? Those are delicious Valrhona Crunchy 55% Chocolate Pearls (available at Surfas)

Recaps of the New School of Cooking, Pro Baking 1 course:
Baking Therapy: Going back to school
Class 1: Quick Breads
Class 2: Custards
Class 3: Soufflés & Pate a Choux
Class 4: Tarts, Pie, Crisps and Cobblers