Monday, December 13, 2010

Chocolate Glaze


I am a member of the largest women’s group in the world. Usually, I take this membership for granted. I try and sign up for volunteer opportunities sanctioned by this group, or within this group, but rarely take the opportunity to attend social functions.
Last week, I finagled my schedule, and was bailed out of a responsibility by Y, and was thus able to attend the Christmas progressive dinner. Y attended the parent meeting for my daughter's basketball team :) Many of the women contributed some form to the dinner. I had volunteered to make dessert. I decided to make a dessert that isn't so popular with my own kids nor with my husband’s extended family, thus I rarely have a platform for or excuse to make it.
I had thoroughly enjoyed the evening of delicious flavors and textures atypical of a Tuesday night. We all converged on the last home for dessert and a short program. I brought my tall layer cake to the kitchen and cut slices all the way around. It was a chilled dessert, complete with layers of fudge cake, coconut cream, and pecan filling topped with rich chocolate glaze.
"How soon 'til we eat?" I inquired.
"Right away." responded the P.I.C.
Begrudgingly I left my cake and joined the rest of the ladies in the large gathering room. I assumed there would be a short welcome and thank you to the ladies who had graciously opened their homes making the evening a delightful success. Moments later, an unexpected group of carolers came in from the porch. The tune was lovely, but I was immediately distracted by a series of phone calls and texts from Y. I was running a little late, and he needed to leave his sister (J) to make his next commitment. J is old enough to stay home alone, but is almost as afraid of what might be lurking in the dark as her mother. After several failed attempts to phone the kids, I felt I needed to leave the gala and safeguard the homestead. As I drove away, I was left wondering whether the cake I made was as good as I hoped it would be.
Someday, I'll make it again, and pass along the recipe. For now, I'll begin with a few chocolate glaze recipes that I use somewhat interchangeably with many desserts.

Chocolate Glaze

1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
12 oz. chocolate chips (I prefer semi-sweet)
1-2 T milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Heat the condensed milk, chips, and milk on low heat stirring constantly until smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
Let set until desired temperature. Transfer into a quart size gallon Ziploc and snip the corner. Pipe the glaze in desired pattern or coverage.


Chocolate Glaze

2/3 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cups chocolate chips
1 T butter

Heat the cream and chips on low heat stirring constantly until smooth. Stir in the butter until melted. Let set until desired temperature. Transfer into a quart size gallon Ziploc and snip the corner. Pipe the glaze in desired pattern or coverage.

I still think about that cake; must be because I never got closure on tasting the combination of layers :) The inspiration for making it came from a dessert I had at Cheesecake Factory. Unfortunately, there isn’t one of those restaurants in my town. Or maybe it is fortunate, since after all, my treadmill IS broken.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, this is Alicia Kester's mother posting. I am excited to make and take this cake to a party this coming Tuesday. Did you use the glaze with whipping cream for the top and the glaze with sweetened condensed for the sides? Do you end up having let over fillings?
    Thinking on another recipe of yours: am I assuming correctly that you used the sweetened condensed glaze for the drizzle on top of your Chocolate Cream Cake? Thank you for leaving this blog open!

    ReplyDelete