Bourbon Praline Cake Food

BOURBON-CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING

Steps:

• 1. Grease bottoms of 3 (8-inch) round cake pans; line with wax paper. Grease and flour wax paper and sides of pans; set pans aside.
• 2. Cook first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, 3 to 5 minutes or until butter melts and mixture is smooth; remove from heat, and let cool.
• 3. Beat buttermilk and next 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add butter mixture to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. Combine sugar, flour, and salt; gradually add to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. (Batter will be thin.) Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
• 4. Bake at 350° for 25 to 28 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. (Cake layers will appear thin.).
• 5. Spread about 1/2 cup Chocolate Ganache between each cake layer; spread remaining Chocolate Ganache on sides of cake. (Do not frost top of cake.) Chill cake 30 minutes. Pour warm Praline Frosting slowly over top of cake, spreading to edges. (Cover and let stand up to 24 hours, if desired.).
• 6. Pierce about 25 holes in top of cake using a wooden or metal skewer. Pour warm Bourbon Glaze over cake.
• Chocolate Ganache:.
• 1. Microwave chocolate morsels and cream in a glass bowl on MEDIUM (50% power) 2 to 3 minutes or until morsels are melted, stirring after 1 1/2 minutes; whisk until smooth. Gradually add butter, whisking until smooth. Cool about 35 minutes or until spreading consistency, whisking every 10 minutes.
• Praline Frosting:.
• 1. Bake pecans on a baking sheet at 350° for 15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring once.
• 2. Bring butter, brown sugar, and cream to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, stirring often; boil, stirring often, 1 minute. Remove from heat, and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add toasted pecans; stir gently 3 minutes or until frosting begins to cool and thicken slightly.
• Bourbon Glaze:.
• 1. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium-high heat; stir in sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat, and stir in bourbon. Carefully ignite the fumes just above liquid mixture with a long match or long multipurpose lighter. Let stand until flames disappear.

BOURBON-CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING

Steps:

• Grease bottoms of 3 8-inch round cake pans; line with wax paper. Grease and flour wax paper and sides of pans; set aside.
• Cook first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, 3 to 5 minutes or until butter melts and mixture is smooth; remove from heat, and let cool.
• Beat buttermilk and next 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add butter mixture to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. Combine sugar, flour, and salt; gradually add to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. (Batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
• Bake at 350°F for 25 to 28 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. (Cakes will appear thin).
• Spread about 1/2 cup Chocolate Ganache between each cake layer; spread remaining Chocolate Ganache on sides of cake. (Do not frost top of cake). Chill cake 30 minutes. Pour warm Praline Frosting slowly over top of cake, spreading to edges. (Cover and let stand up to 24 hours, if desired).
• Pierce about 25 holes in top of cake using a wooden or metal skewer. Pour warm Bourbon Glaze over cake.

PRALINES

Steps:

• Place a large piece of parchment paper on a flat surface, preferably granite or wood.
• Put all the ingredients in a large pot and attach a candy thermometer to the side. You need to be sure the thermometer goes deep into the mixture. Turn the heat to medium high.
• Fill a bowl that's larger than the pot halfway with ice water and set it aside.
• Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. When everything has melted together, start checking the temperature. When the thermometer reaches exactly 236 degrees F, remove the pot from the heat and stick it in the bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Stir for 45 seconds while the pot is in the ice bath to evenly cool the entire mixture.
• With a large spoon, start dropping puddles of the mixture onto the parchment. Make sure you're getting some pecans in every spoonful. If you feel like it, sprinkle just a bit of salt on top. Let them cool all the way. If you're in a humid environment, they might stay sticky, but put them in front of a fan and they should get dry.
• Store them carefully in a tin, and don't stack them very high-three layers max, separated by wax paper.
• Find this recipe and more in Duff Bakes: Think and Bake Like a Pro at Home ($27.50, William Morrow).

CHOCOLATE BOURBON PECAN CAKE - PAULA DEEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325ºF.
• Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan.
• Melt the chocolate and butter in a small bowl over a double boiler.
• Remove from heat, and set pot aside leaving the bowl on top of pot.
• Whisk egg yolks and 1/2 of the sugar in a metal mixing bowl.
• Place bowl over slightly simmering water, and whisk until yolks reach 140ºF.
• Remove bowl from heat and beat egg and sugar mixture with an electric mixer to a ribbon stage.
• Add the Bourbon to the chocolate mixture, then fold the yolk and sugar mixture into the chocolate mixture.
• Mix flour with pecans and fold into chocolate mixture.
• Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and the remaining sugar to form soft peaks, then fold into chocolate mixture.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Allow cake to cool in pan and then place in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
• Once it's frozen, remove sides of springform pan.
• Invert cake onto a wire rack and remove bottom of springform pan.
• Prepare ganache by bringing heavy cream to a boil and pouring cream over chocolate chips in a bowl.
• Whisk until completely smooth.
• Set wire rack with cake on top of sheetpan.
• Pour warm lukewarm ganache over cake, coating cake completely, recoating if necessary.
• Gently jiggle wire rack to help drain excess ganache.
• Remove cake from wire rack with spatula and place on a serving plate.