Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake & Outstanding Brownie Pecan Pies

I hope that everyone had a wonderful, relaxing, and restful Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend! I sure did, I was surrounded with family and loved ones and ate lots of delicious food, my favorites to eat on Thanksgiving are sweet potatoes and stuffing covered in my grandma's mushroom gravy! I also went to see Disney's Tangled, the movie, which was just too cute for words, and did a little shopping, but not on black friday. Dessert is my favorite meal of the day, everyday, and Thanksgiving is no different! We had the classics like pumpkin pie and some kind of jello dessert and I wan ted to makea dessert that wasn't so traditional so I made this deliciously rich and decadant truffle cake. It was very chocolately, smooth and creamy and melted in your mouth. It was almost like pudding, yummy! Everyone enjoyed it and liked the little change. I also made two fabulous brownie pecan pies from Bakerella, you can find the recipe on her site, I made the fudgey version, and oh boy was it ever fabulous, I was super excited when I saw this pie posted on her blog. I didn't have time to snatch any pictures, but, they were so good! All you do is take a couple frozen deep dish pie shells and whip up a simple boxed brownie mix and a quick pecan pie filling. Then you divide the prepared brownie mix and pecan pie filling between the two pie shells and bake. They turned out perfectly, a flaky pie crust, topped with fudgey brownie and gooey, sweet, and crunchy pecan pie filling! You get to eat two desserts in one! And, if you really want to make it a little richer, you can top it with whip cream and drizzle it with caramel! 

Ingredients:

-3 cups Ghiradelli semi-seet chocolate chips

-1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

-8 large eggs, chilled

-1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

-1 cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

-1 (6-ounce) container fresh raspberries, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Arrange a rack in center of oven. Butter or spray the bottom and sides of a 9 by 2-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. In the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl, over barely simmering water, melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Cool slightly.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl with an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the eggs and salt on medium speed until doubled in volume, about 5 minutes. Gently fold the whipped eggs, a third at a time, into melted chocolate. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

4. Prepare a water bath for the cake by placing the cake in a larger pan, and filling the large pan halfway up the sides of the cake pan with hot, but not boiling water.

5. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake pulls away from the edges and the center is set. Remove the pan from the water bath to a cooling rack, and cool the cake completely in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Remove the cake from the pan and invert onto a plate to unmold. 

6. To prepare ganache, bring heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over low heat. Pour the heated cream over the milk chocolate chips. Stir gently until smooth and allow to cool slightly. When the ganache is still warm to the touch, pour over the top of cake and spread evenly to cover. Garnish with fresh raspberries if desired. Chill the cake until the ganache sets, about 30 minutes.