Chocolate Chocolate Everywhere!

Just working on my contribution to the annual awards dinner at the obedience club where I train with Hudson.

Recently voted in after couple of years volunteering to demonstrate my worthiness I want to make a good impression. What better way than with the universal currency of chocolate?

And who better to go to for a recipe than Martha!

(I know, I know, lots of you hate her but if you're used to working with her recipes like I am her recipes have no equal that I've been able to find.)

The cake is laced with sour cream then filled and iced with mint chocolate ganache topped with chocolate mint leaves made by painting melted chocolate onto real leaves then peeling off and applying to the cake.

To be clear the ganache is made with 2 pounds of semi sweet chocolate melted into a litre of boiling whipping cream enhanced with a bit of salt, peppermint extract and corn syrup (for gloss!)

Yesterday I made the two layer cakes and the ganache

Today I am in assembly mode.

As experienced as I am with "Martha" I made two huge errors yesterday both of which yielded a quantity of chocolate on floor, cabinets and counters.

Nothing, however, compared to today. It is on everything...back splash is indeed splashed, coffee maker got hit, its on my clothes, all over the counter, the taps, tea towels, oven mitts, countless spatulas, knives, whisks and sheets and sheets of parchment and waxed paper. Hudson was spared but only just...I found spots on the floor right in front of the dog bed where he's been sleeping.

Aaaand of course I had to "taste" the trimmings I took off the tops to level them out before icing and as I iced the ganache ended up all over my hands - not just my fingers - all over my hands - I've had more than the odd "lick" of ganache so I also feel quite sick with the sweetness.

BUT IT IS GOING TO BE SO WORTH IT!

Darling Daughter has taken my camera with her on a trip we won (Swiss Chalet Dip 'n Win!) So I won't be able to really document it but I'll try to get at least one snap somehow for the record book and to share.

In knitting news I'm continuing to slog along on the thank you mitts. There has been ripping and much un-twining of twined yarns. It is not fun. I can only hope that like the cake it will ultimately also be worth the effort. Unlike the cake I am going on my "recipe" rather than an one developed by a team of experts so the a positive outcome seems much less certain.

Nonetheless...Onward!

Thanks for dropping by!