♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - This week on Milk Street, it's a great week, because we're doing chocolate.

We're starting with French pastry chef Dominique Ansel's four-layer chocolate-hazelnut cream cake.

And then we take it easy and do a one-bowl simple layer cake called Swedish sticky chocolate cake.

And finally, we explore different ways to flavor whipped cream.

Please stay tuned as we refine the art of baking with chocolate.

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- You know, everyone loves the American layer cake, but the frostings, you have meringue or buttercream, right?

And then you have to frost the whole cake.

So, to get a fresh take on cakes, I spoke to a French pastry chef, Dominique Ansel.

And he just wrote a book called Everyone Can Bake.

It has sort of a mix-and-match format.

So he has a bunch of base recipes and fillings and finishes and techniques.

Any case, we're gonna do one of his cakes now, and it has two great things.

You don't have to frost the sides, which is, really makes it better.

And he has a ganache filling that's really cool and has a great texture, and is just totally different than the American style, right?

- Right, it's amazing.

This cake has several steps to it.

You know, here at Milk Street, we don't do many layer cakes, but this one really warranted our attention because of the simplicity of each of those steps.

So it might look like a lot when you first look at the recipe, but if you look at each step, as we're gonna do today, it's very simple.

Now, we're making a basic ganache, meaning it's a combination of chocolate and heavy cream.

We're using white chocolate, but we're doing a few extra little touches to this to give it an extra creaminess.

We're going to start with the heavy cream, and we heat that.

Normally, you would simply heat the cream, pour it over the chopped chocolate, and be done-- that's ganache.

But we're adding a little bit of mascarpone cheese to this.

It enriches the ganache, it makes it extremely creamy, and it adds a really nice flavor.

Okay, and we're gonna add a little bit of honey to this, as well.

You know, when you're adding heavy cream, and mascarpone, in this case, to chocolate, you're diluting the sweetness, because cream isn't sweet.

So we're just replacing some of that with a little bit of honey.

We're gonna blend these together until the mascarpone is fully melted and the cream has just come to a simmer.

So while we're making this white chocolate ganache, we're gonna do two things to it, actually.

We're gonna add a little bit of gelatin for stability and then we're gonna chill it completely, and then whip it.

And what we end up with is like a white chocolate mousse as our filling.

But it has the stability from the gelatin to hold up between the cake layers.

- Yeah, I thought that the gelatin was really that, the key step that was really fabulous, because it gets that great texture.

And unlike buttercreams that, you know, they don't hold very well and the texture isn't great, but it really makes a big difference.

- Yeah-- we're gonna take this off the heat now and we will stir in the gelatin.

This is one envelope of basic unflavored gelatin, and it's been mixed with two tablespoons of water to hydrate it.

So we'll just stir that until the gelatin fully melts.

I think that's good.

We have very finely chopped white chocolate here, about six ounces, which is two average-size bars.

And we'll pour the hot cream over the chocolate.

And as you know, let it sit a minute, which then gets the chocolate melted, and then we'll whisk it smooth.

Will you do that part, since you like whisking so much?

- Do I get to taste it if I whisk it?

- I don't know, we might not have six ounces of chocolate.

I saw you over there.

- Yeah, I took a little already.

- Now, the beautiful thing about this, and with the little bit of gelatin in it and that mascarpone cheese, once it chills thoroughly, the only thing left is then to whip it in a stand mixer until it aerates and becomes like a mousse.

So if you'll put the plastic wrap directly on the surface.

Ganache does tend to form a skin if you don't do that.

So we'll just put it on the surface, let it cool down until it's room temperature, and then we'll refrigerate it for a minimum of four hours, and even overnight.

It's actually better if you make this a day ahead, because then it's ready to go when you want to make the cake.

- Okay.

♪ ♪ - So we have our ganache made, and in the fridge cooling down, and now we'll make the cake.

The first thing we'll do is start with the cake pan.

Spray this with a little oil, line it with parchment paper.

And then normally, you dust it with a little flour to prevent sticking.

We're going to do something a little bit different.

We're gonna wipe this smooth to make sure the oil is evenly distributed.

And then we're going to use cocoa powder.

- Hmm, that's a good idea.

- Right?

It's a chocolate cake, so why not use cocoa powder?

And that way, the sides of your cake don't get that white dusty look to them.

All right, so we've got the bottom done.

To do the side, you just tilt it and roll it around.

And then we'll tap out the excess.

So now that we have... - It's very pretty.

I could tell you were asking for a compliment.

- (laughing) - So I gave her a compliment.

- Never-- never!

So we have that ready, the oven is preset for 350 degrees, and now we're gonna hand-mix the cake.

You're standing near the dry ingredients, so I guess this is your station?

- She's not gonna let me anywhere near the wet ingredients.

(laughing): I just want you to know, so, okay.

- So you're just putting in the leavening now.

So that's the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and we're adding the sugar.

- To the dry ingredients?

- To the dry ingredients.

- Well, that's a little unusual.

- Right.

And the sugar and eggs don't get mixed together.

Instead, we have the eggs right here, and we're gonna mix those with a little bit of neutral-flavored oil.

You know, canola oil, corn oil.

Any vegetable oil is good.

Okay, so to this we're also gonna add some buttermilk.

The buttermilk gives this cake incredible flavor and it also helps with the body of the crumb.

And, of course, your favorite ingredient.

- Bourbon?

- (laughing) - Whiskey?

What?

- That would be very good.

- Or vanilla.

- Vanilla, vanilla extract.

- You got me excited for a moment.

- Actually, there's a place to put the bourbon later we can talk about.

- Okay.

- All right, that looks great.

So we'll join the two together, and then instead of whisking-- we don't want to overexcite the gluten-- we're just gonna use the spatula and fold these together until they're fully blended.

It's still in your station.

- Oh, I have to do something with this?

- I have to give you that.

- It's helpful to have a spatula.

- So, you see, hand-mixed cake.

- Yeah, I do like this, yeah.

- I love a good hand-mixed cake.

- I think we're good.

- That looks good.

And you'll see it's a little bit lumpy, but that's okay.

You just want to make sure there's no dry flour, which you already did by turning it over.

Goes right to the pan.

Look how dark and chocolatey it is.

The best cocoa powder to use for this is a Dutched cocoa powder.

They tend to be very dark.

If you can find an extra-dark cocoa powder, that's even better.

So once we've done that, the last thing to do before it goes into the oven... (tapping) Give it a few taps.

This gets rid of excess bubbles.

And it is ready to go in the oven for about 45 minutes.

You use a toothpick to test it.

You want it completely clean when the toothpick comes out.

This is the rare cake that is okay to overbake it just a little bit rather than underbake it, because we want the cake to be completely dry in the middle when we slice it.

- Oh, slice it in half?

- Yes.

And we're gonna be doing a special something to it to keep it moist.

♪ ♪ Okay, so the two big parts of this recipe are done.

Our ganache is made, our cake is baked, and now we're going to make a simple syrup.

It's a sugar syrup that we're gonna use to help add flavor to the cake and to keep it moist.

We'll start with a little bit of sugar and water, the basis of every simple syrup.

We'll heat this until the sugar melts.

It can come to a boil-- it's fine.

You can also do this in the microwave for maybe 30 seconds on high and then give it a good stir, just to make sure the sugar is fully melted.

And then when this is done, we'll take it off the heat and add a little bit of espresso powder.

It's a really, really great way to keep the cake moist and add flavor at the same time.

Now, this is the place for your favorite ingredient, the bourbon you mentioned earlier.

- Oh, I finally... - Yes!

It would be very traditional to use a little bit of liqueur or alcohol in these, and it helps preserve the cake, as well.

Okay, so the coffee is blended.

We will pour this into a bowl so it can cool down.

We need it to be a good room temperature before we assemble the cake.

Now, you can make this ahead of time, as well, when you make the cake and the ganache, or you can make it right before and just let it cool down a little.

- And as you said, you could put bourbon in it, but we're not.

- We could.

- (laughing): That was the key thing.

There's no bourbon in here.

♪ ♪ So a few tips about working with chocolate.

First of all, the percentage is the percentage of cacao solids.

So the higher the percentage, the less sugar it has, the more solids.

I like using chocolate 60% to 70%.

If you get over 70%, I think it's harder to work with, I don't think it melts as well, and I think the flavor is just a little harsh.

When you're cutting up chocolate, I always keep this-- this is a humongous 12-inch knife I bought in Paris years ago.

It's kind of a mess.

But once in a while, it really comes in handy.

You know, chopping chocolate's hard if you have a small knife or a light knife.

I cut at the corners.

And you can actually cut like this so you don't need... You don't actually need to chop it.

You kind of do it right away as you're working.

So, and it only works if you have a really big, heavy knife.

Another thing that's really useful in all baking, not just baking with chocolate, is a digital scale.

It's really nice because you can tare, T-A-R-E, which means you can put a bowl on top, keep adding one ingredient, tare, it'll reset to zero, get the next one, so it's easy to measure a bunch of things.

And it's also extremely important for accuracy in baking, especially with flour and sugar.

Now, here's a tip, the kind of thing that Julia Child used to keep in the back of her mind when she was cooking.

For example, she knew what the ratios of dairy to eggs and sugar in a custard.

This is for a ganache.

A ganache is warm cream poured over chocolate, the chocolate melts, and the ratio is one to one.

So eight ounces, for example, of cream, which is a cup, and eight ounces of chocolate.

A typical chocolate bar, by the way, is four ounces.

So two chocolate bars weighs the same amount as a cup of cream.

That's all you need to know.

So you chop up the chocolate, and then you warm the cream, and you put that over the chocolate and the chocolate's gonna melt, and then you can just stir it up with a spatula.

You can use it for chocolate truffles, you could use it as a very thin frosting.

Another thing is, you know, how do you know when a chocolate cake, for example, is done, or cookies, or brownies, or whatever?

Well, when you start to smell it in the kitchen, right?

You start smelling chocolate, then you know it's about done.

Also, a recipe says put in a skewer, comes out clean is wrong.

Especially with chocolate, it should have moist crumbs on it, be moist on the inside.

Because there's cooking in the oven and then there's continued cooking outside the oven on the cooling rack.

So those are a few tips of working with chocolate, a simple formula for making ganache, and now, when you bake with chocolate, hopefully you'll be successful every time.

♪ ♪ - So here we are with our next very easy step of this cake.

Here is our beautiful single layer of chocolate cake that we're going to turn into two layers.

This cake when it came out of the oven cooled on a rack for about 20 minutes.

Then we loosened the sides with a knife, inverted it out of the pan, turned it back right side up, and then we put it in the fridge for about four hours, up to 24 hours, same as the ganache, because you want both the ganache and the cake cold when we assemble the cake, and that helps the stability of the filling.

So what we're gonna do first is, you see the top is slightly domed.

We're just gonna level that off a little bit.

Gonna rotate the cake.

Thing that's important, to keep the knife level.

Don't angle it up or down.

- Easy for you to say.

- Easy for me to say.

And easy for you to do.

I know you do it this way, as well.

So just keep rotating the cake and keep the knife going in just a little bit.

There, and we eventually get to the end.

And, oh, look... - I'll hold onto that for you.

- Look what we have left over.

- Just in case.

- Okay, and before we slice the cake in half, we're going to dab the edges with a little bit of this coffee sugar syrup we made.

- Mm.

- This cake is going to be fully exposed, meaning we're not icing the sides, and that's where the four layers come from.

You're gonna see the cake and the filling in the layers.

So we don't want the sides of the cake to dry up.

- Well, not having to frost the sides of the cake, which is where everyone gets into trouble... - Yes.

- That does make the, you know, the process easier.

- Yup.

Now, we're gonna do the same thing we did before.

I bet you'd like to do this, in half.

- Oh, wait, so, so I get to do the hard part?

(laughing): Well, okay.

- There you go, he's marking... - Marking it.

- Marking the halfway mark.

And, you know, this cake is very elegant, because it is four layers and you see the beautiful filling in there.

But it's also a very casual cake, as well.

I know you're going to be exact, but if you're not, eh, it's okay.

- Oh, you're already predicting I'm not going to do this well, so you're making excuses for me?

- I love that moment when you hit the center.

- Lift off?

- Yeah.

- I'm there.

- Okay.

This is going to be the top layer.

So we'll move this off to the side.

And would you start adding a little syrup to this?

- Isn't there some-- there was something missing right now.

Two words: nicely done.

- (laughing) - Where was that part?

- I fully expected it to be nicely done.

So half that syrup goes on that layer.

We'll transfer this bottom layer to this plate, and this will be the bottom of the cake.

And both of these get syruped in advance.

Okay, nicely done.

Look at that, you used it all up.

♪ ♪ Now we are ready to pull all those different simple steps together into one, and we'll start with the ganache that we made.

It's very, very cold.

This is the plastic that went right on the surface so we have no skin on there.

And what's cool about this is, because of the gelatin-- look at this.

Very firm.

- It's bouncy.

- Very bouncy, and... (laughing) - And it comes out of the bowl.

- Right.

Does not look like a light and airy filling, by any means, but it will become one.

Turn this up.

We want to go on medium to medium-high for about five minutes.

(mixer stops) Transformation.

- From rubbery to fluffy.

- That's right.

We are going to take this beautiful mousse-like filling and make two flavors out of it.

- Hm.

- One of them, we're going to add a chocolate-hazelnut spread to it, simply fold it in, and that'll be a chocolate- hazelnut filling, and then this one will stay as a vanilla.

We just need to soften this up a little bit with a spatula.

You need a very smooth hazelnut for this.

For people who may be intimidated by a traditional mousse, where you have to whip the cream or whip whites, and then fold them in delicately, and everything is so precious, this is a great alternative, with the gelatin in it and the mascarpone-- both of those give it body.

So we're gonna take about half of this and add it to this bowl.

And if you would exhibit your beautiful folding skills again and blend those together.

(laughs) - I thought I was done here, right?

You know... - I'm gonna put this one back on the machine and we're going to give it one final little whip before we use it at the end.

That looks great.

- That's good.

- All right, this is our first filling that goes on.

We have the bottom cake layer here that you have already syruped, and we will put this filling on top of that.

And then very gently spread it out just till it reaches the edges.

Because we're gonna put the other cake layer on top and that will kind of finish the spread.

- This is a lot of filling.

- Isn't it?

- You know, isn't it great when there's more filling than cake?

- Well, when the filling is this light and airy, yes, I agree.

We'll put our top layer on.

- Can I, can I use this now?

- You can-- that is yours.

Okay.

It's time for the top layer.

We're just going to give this about one more minute aeration.

(mixer stops) So when you put it in the middle like that and then spread it out to the edges, it really gives you the opportunity to get it level, which is nice.

Here we go.

- And it's also a cake anybody can frost, because you don't-- there's no perfection in terms of the sides and everything is even and... - So if you would like to do our final finishing touch.

These are crushed hazelnuts and then hazelnuts just cut in half.

The nuts tie in the chocolate- hazelnut filling really nicely.

They also give a little crunchy texture.

Really, it's whatever you would like to top it with, as long as it's something that goes with the flavor of the cake and that complements it.

So you can... - That looks pretty nifty.

- This does need to chill now for a couple of hours before we slice it.

Just because, if you want nice, clean slices, you need to give that whipped filling time to reset just a little bit, and then, perfection.

- Not in my house.

- (laughing) - This is... We would be eating this now.

- I need to take this, right?

- Take it away, take it away.

- I think this is a cake worthy of a pedestal.

- (laughing): I think so, too.

It's also worthy for a first bite.

- Okay, I get the point.

(laughing): This is a big slice of cake.

I realized I made a very big-- oh... - Does that look good.

- Look at that, that... - Yeah, that's pretty.

- It gets me every time.

- Now you're gonna tell me I have to let it warm up before I eat it.

- No.

(laughing) - Mm.

That's pretty good.

(laughs) I'll even go further-- it's really good.

- Mm-hmm.

- Mm.

So thanks to Dominique Ansel, who wrote Everyone Can Bake, we learned some new things about making cakes.

You don't have to frost the sides, you can make a ganache with gelatin, which really holds up nicely, and divide it in half and flavor it differently.

So it's easier to do and you can make it ahead.

So a four-layer chocolate-hazelnut cream cake.

And thanks to Dominique Ansel-- thank you.

♪ ♪ - If you know anything about me by now, it's that I'm a little bit different.

I don't like chocolate very much, I don't care for sweets, and I definitely like the easy way out.

Which is why, today, I'm going to show you the Swedish sticky chocolate cake.

It has great flavor, it's not very sweet, and best of all, it feels like cheating because it is so simple to make.

Let's get started with salted butter that I'm going to brown.

This is an important step.

It's going to add so much depth of flavor to our cake.

So I'm melting my butter on medium-high.

And now what I'm looking for is that the milk solids at the bottom of the pan start browning.

But we don't want to walk away from the stove because we don't want them to burn.

So I'm going for about one to three minutes.

And another cue is a nutty aroma.

(butter sizzling) So I'm starting to smell that lovely nutty aroma.

Off heat, I'm going to add in my cocoa powder and brown sugar.

We're using brown sugar also to add some complexity and depth to the flavor.

♪ ♪ So I'm gonna mix this up nicely and transfer it to a bowl so it can cool.

So my brown butter, cocoa, and sugar mixture has cooled until it's just warm to the touch.

I don't want it any hotter, because it will cook the eggs that I'm about to add.

I'm gonna add them one at a time and whisk them in.

♪ ♪ So one of the standout features of this cake is its texture.

It has this incredibly sticky, gooey texture that's kind of like a molten chocolate cake, except without the work and the molten bits are all over the cake-- it's delicious.

I'm gonna add some salt.

And now I'm going to add flour.

♪ ♪ And finally, I'm going to add the chocolate chips.

And that's it.

My batter is ready to go into this prepared springform pan, which I've lined with a cut piece of parchment that's sprayed with cooking spray.

I'm gonna put my batter in now.

♪ ♪ So I'm going to make sure that I pushed the batter to all parts and edges of the pan, so it's evenly distributed.

And it's very important that I bake this for exactly the right time, 325 degrees, 30 to 35 minutes.

♪ ♪ So our Swedish sticky chocolate cake does really well with a sophisticated complement.

We're going to add some whipped cream, but not any whipped cream.

We're gonna elevate our game a little bit.

I'm gonna show you how to make flavored whipped cream.

We're gonna start with some heavy cream.

And to this I'm going to add a little bit of sour cream.

This is going to add some tang.

You can also use Greek yogurt, and this is a really easy, flexible recipe.

So feel free to experiment with other flavors, like brown sugar, or you can even use orange liqueur.

And last, a little bit of sugar-- not too much.

This is, again, tangy and just slightly sweet.

And now I'm going to mix this until it's frothy, on a low speed, and then increase the speed and beat it just to soft peaks.

♪ ♪ So our cream is whipped, it's formed nice, soft peaks, and it's going to be the perfect tangy complement to our Swedish sticky chocolate cake.

♪ ♪ So my Swedish sticky chocolate cake is out of the oven, and you'll notice it isn't high like a normal cake.

It is more like a brownie.

And you can even see evidence of the sticky texture up on top.

It's been cooling for a bit.

I'm going to dust it with some cocoa powder and then we'll be ready to slice it.

This looks like a decadent dessert from a high-end pâtisserie.

(whispering): And I made it myself.

(aloud): Now I'm ready to slice my chocolate cake.

This is an important point.

It is very sticky, so what's really helpful is to have a knife that's dunked in warm water, and we're gonna make each of our slices with this knife.

I'm gonna dry it.

And make a cut.

And then we dunk it again and repeat.

And this cutting technique is going to help us get really neat, clean slices without the cake sticking to itself on the knife.

Now, my favorite part, I'm ready to serve this to myself.

♪ That looks beautiful ♪ And finally, I'm going to serve this with our flavored whipped cream.

And here it is, this decadent, delicious Swedish sticky chocolate cake.

Very simple to make, not very sweet, and perfectly complemented with that flavored whipped cream we made.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes of this season on our website, MilkStreetTV.com.

- All episodes and recipes from this season of Milk Street Television are available for free at our website, MilkStreetTV.com.

Please access our content, including our step-by-step recipe videos, from your smartphone, your tablet, or your computer.

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From Vietnamese braised lemongrass chicken and spaghetti with lemon pesto to hummus with chipotle black beans and chocolate torta, the Milk Street Cookbook offers bolder, fresher, simpler recipes.

Order your copy of the Milk Street Cookbook for just $27, 40% less than the cover price, and receive a Milk Street tote with your order at no additional charge.

Call 855-MILK-177 or order online.

- Funding for this series was provided by the following.

- That meal.

You sautéed, you seared, and you served, cooking with All-Clad, bonded cookware designed, engineered, and assembled in the U.S.A. for over 50 years.

All-Clad-- for all your kitchen adventures.

- Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to be the first to welcome you to Tel Aviv... - Welcome to Oaxaca's airport.

- Welcome to Beirut.

♪ ♪ (man speaking Hebrew) - (speaking world language) - Bonjour, je m'appelle Chris.

- We call it supa kanja.

It's the word for gumbo.

♪ ♪ - Christopher, you have to make the authentic, original cotoletta alla Bolognese for me.

♪ ♪ - So this is the Eduardo García blender.

- This is the no electricity.

♪ ♪ - Next is dessert.

- That is really good.

♪ ♪ I notice when you cook sometimes, you add a little bit of something, and then you just put the whole bowl in.

- I like to be generous with my food.

Generosity is important in cooking.

- That's true.

♪ ♪ - Can start building bridges, and food is definitely a perfect common ground.

♪ ♪ - This is a generational thing.

It's, it's something that you inherit.

♪ ♪ - Yeah, that was great.

(woman speaking Mandarin) - What was this for?

What did she say?

- You get one more chance.

- Salute.

- How is it?

He's speechless.

- I'm speechless.

That's so good.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪