Iron Chef: Decadence

[pixiecrinkle]

So the theme for this month's Iron Chef Family Dinner is "Decadance." In the spirit of that, I've essentially been cooking for 24 hours. I've made 2 items:

1. Chocolate Carrot Cake with Ganache Frosting (I made this 4 layers to emulate a local restaurant's "Seriously Big Chocolate Cake" which always feels naughty.) I tried to write "decadance" on the cake with a knife, but it didn't really show up, so I threw cocoa powder and powdered sugar all over it. All told, with the four layers, this cake contains over a pound of Baker's chocolate and roughly a pound of honey.

And ganache is hard to work with if it hasn't reached room temperature. At one point I was actually icing the cake with my fingers. Fun, but messy.

2. Puff pastry Bruschetta with Asparagus, Feta, Coriander Chutney and Creamy Portabella Sauce. These didn't work as I expected them to, which pretty much rules out me ever trying to use puff pastry again.


Pictures?

The layers, before construction of the cake.


The cake, as finished. [View 2]


The pina colada I enjoyed while making the cake.*


The puff pastry things.

*I have been on a big kick to clean out my cupboards and not have so many mysterious leftovers hanging out. The ganache called for cream of coconut, and I had a couple shots of rum left from a cake I made a few years ago, so out came the blender. Yummy.