Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate and Pigs?

Okay I have been meaning to post this for about two weeks now...but hey there was a little on my mind getting married last weekend and all.  Back to that later.  This cake though was the groom's cake for the wedding three weeks ago.  I honestly wasn't even going to blog about it because I forgot to take a picture of the inside.  Turns out the groom did though and was willing to share.  

I might have had the most fun I have ever had making this cake.  It was a complete surprise for the groom and I was ecstatic to get to make it for him.  I chose the inside filling because I had heard from him before that he loved this cake he had from Crumbs one time with an Oreo cream filling.  This is not for those who don't enjoy a rich cake though.  It is chocolate, chocolate, chocolate with pigs on top...of course I would not recommend eating the pigs though, unless you just enjoy chewing on fondant.  The cake was devil's food cake, with vanilla frosting filling with tones of Oreos crushed and mixed in, with chocolate ganache on top and Reece's and KitKats around the outside.  It turned out looking and tasting exactly the way I wanted it to, and definitely made me want to experiment more with fondant.   Bonus though is that is tasted great too, unlike most decorative cakes.  Enjoy!

Sunrise over Old Town...there was some early morning running (pre-wedding) before a meeting a couple of weeks ago and I just had to snap a shot.

Not much better than crushed Oreos...these would be so good on top of some ice cream right now.

Not so pretty, but definitely tasty.

 

Photo courtesy of the groom.

Chocolate Oreo "Pig" Cake:

9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup strong coffee

1/2 cup whole or low-fat milk

Oreo Cream Filling:

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

16-20 whole Oreo's crushed (in a bag or using food processor)

Ganache:

4 ounces semisweet

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/16 teaspoon coarse salt

1 pack of small Reece's (the 1" ones)

2 large packages of KitKats incase you break a few like I did.

1.  Line the bottom of three 9" round cake pans with parchment paper, and spray the sides with non-stick cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees f.

2.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

3.  Using a whisk or a hand-mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.  Then whisk in the vanilla extract.  Next, add the eggs one at a time, until well mixed.

4.  Alternately add flour mixture and coffee/milk to the butter mixture, whisk between the addition of each just until combined. (Note: Start and end with the flour mixture.) Divide the batter evenly between the three pans.  Bake them for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean in the middle, check after 20 minutes.  Let the cakes cool in the pans.  

5.  While cake is cooling, prepare the frosting.  With a hand mixer, beat softened butter until smooth.  Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined.  Then fold in the Oreo crumbs, until evenly distributed.

6.  Next start the ganache process.  Bring cream just to a boil over medium-high heat. Pour over chocolate, and add salt. Let stand for 10 minutes (don't stir -- doing so will cool the ganache too quickly, making it grainy).

7.  Stir with a whisk until smooth and shiny to break up any pieces and emulsify cream and chocolate.

8.  Chocolate will often settle on the bottom or sides of the bowl.  Scrape dish with a rubber spatula to incorporate all of it. Let cool until mostly thickened, and a consistency not to runny but easy to spoon on the cake without running everywhere.

To assemble the cake,
Once cakes have fully cooled, remove the parchment paper from bottom layer and move to cake server.  Cut off the top rounded part so the top layer will lay flat.  Carefully frost the bottom layer with half of the Oreo filling.  Repeat this step, placing the top layer of the cake on with no filling.  Place the unwrapper small Reece's around the bottom perimeter of the cake.  Next using the ganache as a "glue" dab a little bit on each 2 KitKat piece and place on the outside of the cake on top of the Reece's, until the go all the way around.  Tie the outside of the KitKats with a ribbon to keep them in place.  Then pour the ganache only on the top, and place the pigs as desired.  

To serve:
Carefully remove the ribbon, and cut the cake in desired size pieces.  I would remove the KitKat to the plate before cutting to make it easier and that way everyone got a KitKat and Reece's with their piece.  Store at room temperature and Enjoy!