Chocolate Heart-Shaped Cake with Chocolate Glaze Recipe – Scharffen Berger Chocolate Review & Giveaway

I am very excited! This week, I cooked my very first cake from scratch! Behold my first cake!

Doesn’t that look delicious? Let me tell you, if you love dark chocolate, this is the recipe for you! It uses two types of chocolate, courtesy of Scharffen Berger – 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate and 62% Cacao Semisweet Chocolate.

As part of my first time baking experience, I got to melt down the chocolate by putting it in a bowl over simmering water. This process is absolute torture because the aroma of the Scharffen Berger chocolate wafts up to your nose while it is melting and you keep wanting to dip your finger into the chocolate just to have a taste. Sure, one little bit won’t hurt, but when I started doing my third, fourth, fifth “taste” I knew I had to step away from the stove. Here’s what the Scharffen Berger 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate looked like after it was melted.

After about 50 minutes in the oven and another 20 minutes of waiting for the glaze to cool before I spread it onto the cake, I finally got to taste the cake. I was amazed at the rich flavor of the dark chocolate that permeated each and every bite, yet the cake wasn’t too heavy and the flavor wasn’t overwhelming. I think I slightly over-baked it by a couple of minutes and I don’t think I waited long enough before putting the glaze on the cake, but it was still wonderful! It’s only been three days and there is only a corner of the heart left. Since I’m snowed in today, I fully expect the cake to be gone by the end of the day. Enough typing…here’s the recipe for you to create your very own Scharffen Berger Chocolate Heart Cake. You can win all of the tools you need to bake this cake by entering the WCatDD Scharffen Berger Heart Cake Giveaway! (Giveaway info is after the recipe.)

Chocolate Heart-Shaped Cake with Chocolate Glaze
Ingredients:
9.7 ounces SCHARFFEN BERGER 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate
18 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 eggs, separated
1 – 2 tablespoons brandy
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt

Glaze Ingredients:
6 ounces SCHARFFEN BERGER 62% Cacao Semisweet Chocolate
7 fluid ounces cream

Directions:
1. Grease and line a heart-shaped cake pan or 8-inch round pan with parchment paper.
2. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
3. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt, with butter, in a bowl over simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted. Remove from the heat to cool slightly.
4. Whip the egg yolks, brandy and sugar in an electric mixer until thickened and creamy. Fold in the cooled chocolate mixture. Sift the flour and baking soda over the top of egg yolk mixture until all the flour is combined.
5. In a clean bowl with a clean beater, whisk the egg whites and salt until they form soft peaks. Gently fold into the chocolate mixture until completely combined, being careful to blend until incorporated and no white streaks remain, but not long enough to deflate.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Bake until the cake is just firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the baking pan.
7. To make the glaze, melt the chocolate with the heavy cream in the top of a double boiler over simmering heat. Stir until smooth and melted. Let it cool to room temperature and a soft, spreadable consistency.
8. Turn the cake out of the pan. Cut the heart shape. Lightly spread the glaze over the cake

Recipe courtesy of the Scharrfen Berger – www.scharffenberger.com.

What’s Cooking at DD Scharffen Berger Chocolate Heart Cake Giveaway!

The Prize:

Three winners will receive the Scharffen Berger 9.7oz 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate baking bar, 6oz. 62% Cacao Semisweet Chocolate, and a heart shaped baking tin.

To Enter:

Make sure you follow the directions carefully. All giveaway entries should use the ENTRY FORM. You only need to fill out the ENTRY FORM once, unless you decide to additional earn extra entries at a later time. You can earn up to 14 entries into the WCatDD Scharffen Berger Chocolate Heart Cake Giveaway by doing one, some or all of the following:

Ways to Earn Entries:

Make sure you use this ENTRY FORM for your extra entries to count!

1. THIS ENTRY IS REQUIRED FOR ALL OTHER ENTRIES TO BE VALID (+1): Visit www.scharffenberger.com and tell me one thing you learned about their chocolate.
2. Post this giveaway on your blog (+3)
3. Tweet about this giveaway using the “retweet” link at the top of this post or by tweeting “Baking a delicious chocolate heart cake from the heart with the @WCatDD Scharffen Berger Heart Cake Giveaway! http://bit.ly/bLxjez” (+1)
4. Subscribe to WCatDD (+1)
5. Follow WCatDD on Twitter (+1)
6. Fan our WCatDD Facebook Page (+1)
7. Follow us on Google Friend Connect (+1)
8. Follow us using Network Blogs (+1)
9. Add the WCatDD button to Your Site (+2)
10. ONE TIME BONUS: Vote for us for the Web’s Top Giveaway Blogs (+2). After voting, don’t forget to comment on this post as well for your chance to win $100 if we win!

The Rules:

Three winners will be selected at random for this prize.

Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST, February 5, 2010.

Visit our Giveaway Rules page for general giveaway rules that also apply to this giveaway.

Disclaimer: This post consists of my (and/or fellow tester) opinions only. Your experiences may be different. No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. I did receive free Scharffen Berger Chocolate and a baking tin from the manufacturer or their representing PR agency to use and test for the purposes of this review. This did not affect the outcome of this review.

Filed under: closed giveaway, dessert recipe, Food & Drink, giveaway, recipe, review