HCB: Chocolate Layer Cake with Caramel Ganache

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It felt good to bake this weekend.  While I did cook up a storm in Vermont, it was mostly savory stuff, I did bake once and since the cabin kitchen lacked a lot of the basic equipment, I choose to do the most simply baking possible by picking this recipe.

So, when I got back, I was ready to tackle something difficult, something that would force me to use all of my bowls, KA, baking pans, and gazillion spoons and spatulas.  

Internet, I washed so many dishes over the weekend, I lost count.

But, I was happy to be back in my fully stocked kitchen.

Unfortunately, I was not very happy with this week’s Heavenly Cake choice.  Which I’m still trying to come to terms with.  I mean, come on! Chocolate and caramel? What in heaven’s name can go wrong with those two?

Around my house, apparently something.

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HCB: Chocolate Feather Bed

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I’m surprise that I had the right frame of mind to bake our HBC choice cake this past weekend.  Why? Because my mind was not fully engage in baking pans, measuring cups or stacking delicate layers of chocolate cake between light whipped ganache.

Instead my mind was thinking of a certain lakeside cabin, kayaking trips, hiking thru the woods, wardrobe combinations, airline tickets, car rentals, weather projections, balloon festivals and how my spotty French was going to get me thru a day trip in Montreal.

In 5 days, we are out of this hot hell we call Florida and flying to the north for some serious vacation-lazy time.

But, after 3 weeks of fruit dessert surplus, we were back in business with none other than a major chocolate overload choice, and I just could not pass it up.

The picture of this cake in the book is one of my favorite, if not THE favorite.  It looks rustic, rich and decadent and a bit of a show-stopper – my kind of cake.

The catch?

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HCB: Bernachon Palets D’Or Gateau

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I feel whole.

Why? Well, because after 2 weekends of skipping my baking routine (not by choice) I was LOST (no pun intended – but, did anyone see the final? – Dude was that awesome or what?) and now I’m totally “aligned” with the internal baker universe once more.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

This week’s choice with the Heavenly Bakers was the Bernachon Palets D’Or Gateau. (Boy was that a handful to say and to write, even without the accents).  Not only its one of the most impressive cakes in the book, it’s also the one used for the cover of Rose’s Heavenly Cake book.

I was looking forward to this cake.  One because it had that awesome piano lacquer glaze technique that I love and that I had already tried (and fell in love with) when we baked the Chocolate Apricot Roll and two, it’s a chocolate lover's dream – A chocolate cake, with chocolate ganache and covered in the shiny lacquer glaze made of chocolate.

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