If you start this instant, you can have this cake made before the season premiere of Game of Thrones. If not… well bookmark this recipe for the finale. This cake has been a work in progress for years, starting with Jack’s scientist birthday party, when I filled the center of the bundt cake with dry ice.
I started adding the chocolate shards after seeing this recipe. And the dry ice was a one time thing, but it would be cool to do the shards and the dry ice!
I volunteered to bring a cake to my friend’s birthday party a couple years ago, and her husband named it the Game of Thrones cake, and the rest is history. The best part is that it doesn’t matter how terrible the chocolate shards look, because it’s still fancy and delicious.
This version is especially impressive, because the bed frame in the background of the pictures indicates that this was shortly after the flood of 2013. Any cake baked during that time of our lives was a major accomplishment!
I’ve done a few versions of this cake over the years, but I have finally found the perfect recipe. I mean… how often does a cake come out of the bundt pan looking like this? With this recipe – every time.
OK – Now that I have this mostly typed up I am realizing you don’t have time to make it before Game of Thrones starts, especially if you have to go to the grocery store first. But, just remember, that sometimes the HBO app is super slow during the season premiere, so turn off all social media, make the cake and then watch the episode later tonight when the internet isn’t overloaded, and you can have your Game of Thrones cake and watch the show too!
Make the ganache while the cake is cooling, and let the ganache cool.
Share with all your friends because it’s really rich and it makes a big cake.
This calls for 300 grams of dutch process cocoa. I buy the generic brand from King Soopers, and it comes in a container that holds 226 grams. So I use 226 grams of cocoa. And I know the common baking wisdom is to use the best ingredients, but I’ve never heard less than a rave about this cake, so I think it’s ok.
I bake this cake in a bundt pan at 350 for 50 minutes and then start testing for doneness. I stick a wooden skewer in and if it comes out clean, it’s done. Otherwise I had 5 minutes or so at a time until it’s done.
After the cake is in the oven, you can make the chocolate shards.
Put the chips in a glass measuring cup and put them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Then stir, and put them back in for 10 seconds at a time, then stir. Repeat until the chips are melted. Tear a 16 inch sheet of waxed paper and lay it flat on your counter. Pour the melted chocolate out and spread it evenly across the paper. Put another layer of waxed paper on top and roll it up and put it in the refrigerator, seem side down for 30 minutes. Don’t add the shards until the cake and icing are cool, because they will melt. When you are ready, unroll the wax paper and the chocolate will break into shards. Use the tallest ones to go around the cake, and put the smaller pieces on top. Try to work with cold hands too, because even the heat of your hands will melt the chocolate.
8 ounces of chocolate chips.
Heat the heavy whipping cream in a pot on the stove over low heat until bubble just start to form on the sides of the pan. Before it comes to a simmer, remove from heat and add the chips, stirring until the chips are melted and you have a even, chocolatey consistency.
The ganache needs to cool a bit until it’s spreadable, and not too runny. It can cool on the counter, in the fridge, or over a bowl of ice water depending on your hurry. Just be sure to stir occasionally as it cools.
And don’t get mad at me about how hot your kitchen is now… remember, winter is coming.
This entry was posted in cake, food, Uncategorized and tagged cake, game of thrones on July 16, 2017 by metamegan.
I am a cooking a Fancy Breakfast as I type this, so I think we are past the heat of summer where our breakfasts are less than fancy. Jack played five games in six days last week and part of his pregame ritual was to eat a bowl of frosted shredded wheats. (King Soopers Brand.) Look, I’m not here to mess with any baseball related superstitious rituals. And its been way too hot to cook. But we did eat a few non-cereal meals last week, and they were delicious and did not involve the oven, so I’ll share those recipes.
I made a giant vat of this barbecue sauce from Smitten Kitchen/Ina Garten. Dave grilled some chicken legs to go with the sauce.
Last night I made the tater tot waffle recipe from Food and Wine and topped them with either smoked salmon and crème fraîche or a fried egg. (The recipe is just “buy tater tots and smash them together in a waffle maker”.) That was fun and decadent and did not involve the oven, although I did slave over a hot waffle maker.
Next week.. The Return of Fancy Breakfast Friday!
This entry was posted in baseball, food, Uncategorized and tagged bbq, summer on July 14, 2017 by metamegan.
We were on a crazy road trip to Hot Springs last week so I did not make a fancy breakfast. I can recommend Nelson’s Buffeteria in Tulsa and Phil’s Family Restaurant in Hot Springs.
And speaking of Hot Springs we spent a lot of time laughing last week about that time I accidentally paid someone to give me a bath and then wrote about it. In lieu of a Fancy Breakfast Friday story, please enjoy this trip down memory lane.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on June 30, 2017 by metamegan.
Before I even started to make breakfast this morning, I had so many obstacles to overcome.
3.) Going back to bed and being loudly woken by Dave hearing the recycling truck 2 houses away and realizing he was going to have to get dressed, move two bikes out of the way and drag the recycling down the driveway in 20 seconds. Reader, he did it.
So once I was up a second time, I dragged my headache into the kitchen and started breakfast. I encountered another series of obstacles and self imposed problems so there is no point in sharing the recipe, except to share the story.
I decided to make waffles that had 5 eggs, the exact amount in my fridge. It also called for a cup of sour cream. I had about half a cup, plus a tablespoon of yogurt, and I subbed milk for the rest. The batter was… thin. The recipe also called for half a stick of butter, melted and cooled. All my butter was in the freezer, because I like to buy a dumb amount of butter at Costco, and freeze it. When I put frozen butter in the microwave for a minute, I ended up with half the butter melted over the entire inside of the microwave, and the other half still frozen. The cleanup time may have caused the eggs and sugar to get slightly over-whipped.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged food on June 16, 2017 by metamegan.
Last Friday kind of snuck up on me. It had been a big week. I made a giant birthday cake. I sent Luke to school with donuts on a Tuesday and I was home from my second trip to the grocery store at 6:15 that morning because I had screwed up the gluten free option. I bought a cookie that was right in the middle of all the gluten free options after reading, “no eggs, no soy, no dairy, no GMO, vegan”. But Luke read the actual ingredients to me and sure enough, wheat was the first thing on there. Long story short, I never came up with an idea for FBF.
So Friday morning I just had to dig through the freezer to see what was in there and what did I find?!?! Home grown, organic, garden strawberries from last summer. They looked a little worse for the wear, but nothing a smoothie couldn’t solve. It was about a cup of strawberries, and I also found about 4 frozen cherries in a bag as well from… sometime.
So I made a smoothie out of strawberries, cherries, a banana, about 1/4 cup of yogurt and a packet for vanilla Skoop protein powder. Then I added enough milk to smooth it out. Actually probably significantly less milk than I needed because it was very grainy from the fruit and the protein powder. Jack loved it, but Luke’s more refined palate wasn’t thrilled. He drank it anyway. I also made them a side dish – oatmeal for Jack and an egg for Luke.
I saved a tiny glass for myself and this photo op.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on March 10, 2017 by metamegan.
Last week Jack had a surprise 4-day weekend, so one day he helped me make some muffins and the next day we all took off for a getaway weekend to Crested Butte. You know that old wisdom that if kids help you cook then they will be more invested in eating the food, etc etc? Not so with healthy-ish muffins. Jack ate some, but then said they were too healthy for him. I thought they were very good, but I may even cut back on the sugar next time. With Jack’s help, they were pretty easy to make, and they made 24, which I loved.
Normal people may go out to breakfast when on a getaway weekend, but it’s hard to stay up till 10 pm drinking tequila, and then get up at 7:00 and help your teen get ready and out they door so he can try to get on the first chairlift. I need my beauty sleep. And I don’t recommend facing teen angst on an empty stomach.
The things I changed from the linked recipe are: I used craisins instead of raisins. Used 1/4 cup of oil instead of apple sauce. I just used 4 normal sized carrots instead of measuring the carrots. The apples and the carrots just got sent into the food processor on “shred”.
I took my fancy camera to Crested Butte but there was too much precipitation for art photography. And unlike last time, the view from our window was not great. This is from my iPhone.
Did you ever imagine someone could take such tiny bites from a sandwich? From what I could tell, aside from those “bites”, Jack had just milk and two pistachios for lunch the other day.
One of my favorite things about making muffins is saying, “I haven’t had my muffin yet, MATT” Try it, it’s fun.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged healthy, muffins, snowboarding on February 17, 2017 by metamegan.