Recipe: Glazed Cake with Chocolate Tiles (Birthday Cake)

the appetizer:

Learn to make extraordinary cakes with Cake Art from the Culinary Institute of America by Chefs Kate Cavotti & Alison McLoughlin, featuring recipes for Glazed Cake with Chocolate Tiles, Chocolate Flower Cupcakes, Chocolate Sponge Cake, and Hard Ganache.

I Love Desserts

Glazed Cake
with Chocolate Tiles

Serves 10 to 12

You will need oil-based food colors for this project because liquid and gel colors are water-based and will not mix with the chocolate.

Preparation Timeline

Up to 2 days in advance: Cover cake board in fondant if not using a cake plate
Up to 2 days in advance: Bake cake (See Chocolate Sponge Cake recipe)
Up to 1 day in advance: Fill cake with choice of icing
Up to 1 day in advance (up to 3 days in advance, if using
tempered chocolate): Prepare chocolate tiles (see below)
Up to 1 day in advance: Glaze cake with chocolate glaze
Up to 1 day in advance or day of event: Decorate cake

Components

One 8-inch cake, filled and glazed
(see Glazing Cake with Hard Ganache
for method)
Rectangular chocolate tiles
(see chocolate tiles, below, for method.)

Chocolate Tiles

Dark chocolate or melted coating chocolate
Cocoa butter or melted white chocolate
Double boiler
Oil-based food colors
Paper cornet or piping bag fitted with a #1 tip for the inscription, if desired
Piece of marble or sheet of acetate
Large offset palette knife
Ruler or cardboard template as a guide
Pizza wheel or knife

1. Temper the dark chocolate or melt the coating chocolate. Keep the chocolate fluid so it will be spreadable. This can be accomplished by periodically flashing the chocolate over a hot water bath.

2. Gently melt the cocoa butter or white chocolate in a double boiler. Allow it to cool slightly and color with the food coloring. Fill paper cornets with the colored cocoa butter or white chocolate and create a design over the piece of marble or acetate. If you are using acetate, tape the sheet to the work surface so the tiles do not curl as they set.

3. Pour some of the dark chocolate into the center of the acetate sheet and spread it thinly on top of the cocoa butter with an offset palette knife. Add more chocolate if necessary to obtain an even coating.

4. Once the chocolate is almost set, use a pizza wheel or knife to cut it into equal-sized tiles using a ruler or a cardboard template. Begin by cutting strips one way and then cutting in the opposite direction.

5. Allow the tiles to set completely and then lift them off the acetate.

from:
Cake Art from the Culinary Institute of America
Simplified Step-by-Step Instructions and Illustrated Techniques
for the Home Baker to Create Showstopping Cakes and Cupcakes
Designs and Techniques by Chefs Kate Cavotti & Alison McLoughlin
Lebhar-Friedman, 2008
$29.95/hardcover/Full-color photographs
ISBN: 0867309229
ISBN-13: 978-0867309225
Recipe reprinted by permission.

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