Again, working with my computer camera here but I wanted to share these delightful little cakes that I made for a going away part yesterday. I must have made about 36 of them, and they were consumed within hours by a group of about 18! The chocolate cake is a simple classic recipe, but the real magic is in the frosting. It is essentially a white chocolate ganach with whipped cream, very fluffy and light like mousse. Hands down, one of my favorite frosting recipes and it is so easy to prepare.
white-chocolate whipped cream frosting
4 cups heavy cream, chilled
9 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped (I use super high quality stuff, you can see the vanilla bean flecks in it)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Chill bowl of stand mixer and whisk attachment or large metal bowl and beaters for at least 15 minutes.
In small saucepan over moderate heat, bring 1 cup cream to simmer. Transfer white chocolate to medium heatproof bowl, pour hot cream over, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla and salt. Let cool at room temperature until thickened slightly, about 1 hour.
In chilled bowl of electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat remaining 3 cups cream at moderately high speed until whisk leaves marks but cream does not quite hold soft peaks. Turn mixer off, then add white chocolate mixture and beat just until stiff peaks begin to form. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.
