Black background with berries (according to me)

If you are a chocolate lover, here is the cake for you: chocolate in shortcrust pastry, custard and couverture ganache! To dampen the sweetness effect a little, a carpet of wild berries.

The original recipe for this cake is by the pastry chef Ernst Knam: this is my version with some minor changes.

Let's fasten the apron and let's get started!

INGREDIENTS for two 22 cm round cake pans or for a unique 26 cm round cake pan:

For the cocoa shortcrust pastry:

150 g cold butter

150 g white granulated sugar

1 medium whole egg

1 pinch of salt

8 g (half sachet) of baking powder for cakes

270 g flour 00

30 g unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the chocolate custard (if you prepare two 22cm cakes or one 26cm, remember to double the doses!):

300 g custard + 300 g chocolate ganache

For the custard:

250 g semi-skimmed milk

2 medium egg yolks

50 g white granulated sugar

30 g corn starch

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the chocolate ganache (if you prepare two 22cm cakes or one 26cm, remember to double the doses!):

100 g liquid cream for desserts (with at least 30% fat)

150 g 50% dark chocolate

For the chocolate ganache for the final cover (if you prepare two 22cm cakes or one 26cm, remember to double the doses!):

100 g liquid cream for desserts (with at least 30% fat)

150 g 50% dark chocolate

Damn, I was forgetting the berries for the final garnish!

All the ones you like, in large quantities!

PROCEEDINGS

Preparation of the cocoa shortcrust pastry

In a large mixer, pour the flour and cold butter cut into small pieces and chop at maximum speed for about a minute:

Add the sugar, salt, yeast and cocoa and chop for a few more seconds:

Transfer the sandy mixture on a pastry board, arranging it in a fountain and making a hole in the center, in which we will pour the egg and the vanilla extract:

Knead by hand until obtaining a smooth, compact and soft dough, which we will wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for a couple of hours, or better for the whole night:

Preparation of the chocolate custard

The chocolate custard that we will use for this cake is composed of a classic custard and a chocolate ganache, mixed in equal parts.

Preparation of the custard

In a saucepan, pour the milk and vanilla extract and heat over low heat (without boiling), stirring occasionally:

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together the egg yolks with the sugar, without whipping them:

Add the sifted cornstarch and mix:

As soon as the milk has heated up, pour a ladle into the bowl with the sugary mixture to dissolve it and transfer everything to the pan with the vanilla milk:

Heat over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until the cream has thickened; then transfer it to a container and cover it with transparent film in contact:

Preparation of the chocolate ganache:

In a pan, pour the cream and the chopped chocolate and heat over low heat, stirring constantly with a spoon, until a smooth cream is obtained:

Finally, here's the chocolate custard

Pour the freshly prepared ganache into the bowl with the custard and mix well with a whisk:

Carefully choose the container where to pour the custard because, if it is not large enough, then you will have to transfer the creams into a second container, as I had to do ... and then you will have not one but two bowls to wash ...

Preparation of the cake

Recover the pastry from the fridge and roll it out with a rolling pin between two sheets of parchment paper, up to a thickness of 2 - 3 millimeters:

Brush a 22 cm cake pan (or two, if you are particularly greedy, or a larger 26 cm cake pan) with the cake separator (click HERE if you don't remember how to prepare it) and lay the spread out pastry inside it:

Remove the excess of dough, taking care to keep the edge high, prick the pastry with the prongs of a fork and fill the cake with the chocolate custard:

Bake in a preheated STATIC OVEN at 175 ° C for 30 minutes, using the medium-low shelf (not the lowest) of the oven.

After 30 minutes, turn off the oven and open the door slightly, so as to let the cake cool for about ten minutes.

In the meantime, let's prepare the chocolate ganache for the final coating exactly as I described above, for the preparation of the chocolate custard.

Remove the cake from the oven and, BEFORE removing it from the cake pan, cover it with the freshly prepared ganache (do not let it cool, otherwise it will be very difficult to spread it well over the whole cake):

Let the covered cake cool in its mold, first half an hour at room temperature and then in the fridge overnight.

When the cake is cold, take it out of the cake pan, cover it with a cascade of berries and immediately enjoy a nice slice!

We can keep this personal reinterpretation of the Black background with berries for a couple of days in the fridge, tightly closed in a cake holder.

If you want to download the card of this recipe, click on the link below:

Black background with berries.pdf

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