From The Blog

Angela Pinkerton’s Torta Caprese With Cacao Nib Gelato And Cherry Confitura

July 9, 2019 by Karen Solomon

Pastry Chef Angela Pinkerton (Che Fico, Eleven Madison Park) is a talent, a creative force in pastry, and a friend. She has been there for us several times as a volunteer chef for our annual 12 Nights of Chocolate fundraiser for the SF/Marin Food Bank, and she recently joined us on a chef’s trip to the Dominican Republic to see how cacao is grown, fermented, and dried, and to learn how the chocolate-making process begins. While there, she visited Zorzal Cacao, and the gelato for this dessert takes inspiration from her visit to the origin. Angela tells us that steeping the nibs in cold milk and cream overnight helps extract, “the fruity perfume essence I remember from eating the raw cacao beans during the trip, and the toasty cocoa flavors we expect to enjoy.” Angela currently serves this dessert at Che Fico Alimentari as a memento to what she experienced with us in the DR.

Time: 90 minutes active time, plus overnight steeping
Serves: 10-12

Make the TORTA CAPRESE

1 ½ cups/180g walnuts
4 cups/342g 70% Camino Verde, Ecuador ground chocolate
¼ cup/55g cocoa butter
6 ounces/165g unsalted butter
6 eggs, separated
1 ¾ cup/210g powdered sugar
1 teaspoon/4g sea salt
2 Tablespoons dark rum or Maraschino (optional)

Grease a 9” round cake pan and line the pan with parchment, then grease the parchment. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Lightly toast the walnuts and let them cool. Chop the nuts until very fine.

In a medium saucepan over a hot water bath, melt the chocolate, cocoa butter, and butter together. Remove from heat and stir the mixture until cools.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and sea salt until light and fluffy.

In separate mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.

Combine the cooled chocolate mixture with the yolks until thoroughly combined, then add the walnuts.

Carefully fold in the egg whites in three batches; the batter may look broken, but it will smooth out once it’s fully incorporated. Stir in the rum or Maraschino, if using.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a crust forms on top. (Note that a cake tester will not come out totally clean, but it shouldn’t have crumbs stuck to it. It will be coated in chocolate, but not gooey).

Cool the cake completely at room temperature. It can be served immediately or wrapped and chilled overnight. To remove the cake from the pan, quickly and evenly warm the pan on top of a burner or with a torch and invert the cake onto a plate. Peel off the parchment before cutting. For best results, slice the cake with a hot, clean knife.

Make the COCOA NIB GELATO

(Makes 1 quart. Note that you will need a thermometer and an ice cream maker.)

¾ cup/100g Kokoa Kamili, Tanzania cocoa nibs
1 cup/225g heavy cream
1 ½ cups/675g whole milk
½ cup/50g dried milk powder
¾ cup/155g sugar
¼ cup/38g dextrose

Lightly toast the nibs in a 350°F oven for 5-7 minutes just until you can smell the chocolate. Combine the hot nibs with the cream and milk and let them steep overnight.

Strain the nibs from the milk and cream and heat the milk mixture to 104°F.

Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the milk powder, sugar, and dextrose.

Once the milk reaches temperature, whisk in the dry ingredients and continue to heat the milk until it reaches 185°F.

Remove from heat and cool the ice cream base in an ice bath, stirring often. You can cure the base in the refrigerator overnight. Spin the base in an ice cream machine following the manufacturer’s instructions and freeze until you’re ready to use it.

Make the CHERRY CONFITURA

4 cups cherries
¾ cup/151g sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon citric acid
1 Tablespoon dark rum or Maraschino
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Pre-freeze a metal mixing bowl.

Pit the cherries and cut them in half. In a medium saucepan, combine them with the sugar and then cook over medium-high heat until al dente, about 7 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the cherries and transfer them to a frozen bowl to stop the cooking.

Continue to cook the remaining syrup until it thickens, about another 5-7 minutes. Pour the syrup into the bowl with the cherries and stir in the citric acid. Cool the bowl in the freezer for 15-20 minutes or until chilled and thickened. Add the rum or Maraschino and the lemon juice to thin the sauce as needed. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Make the CANDIED WALNUTS

(Makes about 1 pint)

2 cups/300g walnuts
2 cups/500g water
2 cups/500g sugar
kosher salt to taste

Chop the walnuts into bite-sized pieces, then sift out the dust. Bring the water and sugar to a boil, add the nuts, then reduce the heat to simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes, until the nuts have become semi translucent and saturated with sugar.

Drain the nuts from the syrup and spread them in a single layer onto parchment-lined sheet trays. Sprinkle them lightly with the salt and bake in the oven at 300°F for 15-20min until the nuts are dry, brown, and toasted, stirring halfway through to prevent clumps. Cool completely, then store them airtight in a cool, dry place.

To assemble the dish:

Warm slices of the cake in a 425°F oven until hot to the touch, about 3-5 minutes. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the cherry confitura on one side of the cake. Sprinkle on the candied walnuts and top with a scoop of the gelato. Serve immediately.

The Story of Dandelion Chocolate Japan: The Shops, The Culture, and The Secret Ingredient to Japan’s Hot Chocolate

June 28, 2019 by Karen Solomon

Hi! It’s me, Karen S., and I’m the content manager and the editor of the blog. I’ve been in love with Hello Kitty since 1976, I lived in Japan in the late 1990’s and I’ve returned to visit a couple of times, I studied taiko drumming for several years under Seiichi Tanaka, the man who brought the martial art of giant drums to North America, and I can roll an avocado maki like a champ. In short, I am a lifelong Japanophile. Pair this with my deep love of chocolate, and you can see why I would want to learn all that I could about Dandelion Chocolate Japan.

When I started my job here, I was entirely delighted to learn about our multiple locations in Japan. But when I started poking around on our website and such, I realized it was really hard to get info about our business across the Pacific. I’ve always wanted to know more, and I was beyond delighted when Tomo, one of our partners, recently spoke in depth on our Japanese presence at a company meeting. I quickly asked Elaine for an introduction, and over green tea and dried edamame snacks, he and I spoke for over two hours, with me taking notes as quickly as possible, to get a better understanding of Dandelion Chocolate Japan.

KURAMAE

This is our first and flagship location in Japan that opened in 2016, and it contains a full factory, as well as a café, a retail shop, and the Bean to Bar Lab next door.

A lot of thought went into choosing the location for this first store. It would have been easy to plunk an American chocolate shop into the middle of a high-traffic modern touristy area, but Seiji, who brought Dandelion Chocolate to Japan, wanted the shop to feel like it belonged to the local community, and for it to be a mixture of old world and new. This area of Tokyo, south of Asakusa, is near a large temple that attracts many visitors from outside Japan. But it’s also quite close to an elementary school and a park frequented by locals. Seiji really loves this spot because of its blend of traditional culture and modern day life, and its outdoor café is very popular.

Kuramae is the only place to tour our factory in Japan. And as of March, 2019, they are making about 3,000 bars a month. They have made several single-origin bars, all sold in the shop along with about the same amount of our bars made in SF.

On these retail shelves and in others across the country, there are collaboration products that you can only find in Japan, including a mochi made with cocoa nibs, ground chocolate, and sweet red bean paste, and a chocolate tile made with pressed sugar.

This is also home to the production kitchen that bakes pastries for most of our other cafés in the country (though Kyoto and Ise also have kitchens). And, since its expansion in December, 2018, the kitchen also creates the retail products sold in the Japanese stores, including the shortbread cookies served with hot drinks, and the gâteau au chocolat.

Guests can sign up for a factory tour to learn how we make chocolate, or sign up for classes like Chocolate 101 and 201. And, guests can also find events like taste pairing sessions, interesting talks from chocolate industry leaders and scientists from all over the world, and occasionally, even local musicians.

In December, 2018, the Bean to Bar Lab opened up next door, and this is our showplace of chocolate education from all over the world. Not only is this where the classes and talks take place, but this is a second retail shop featuring a curated selection of well-made chocolate from about eight or nine other makers. Here we also teach hands-on classes such as baking with chocolate and ground chocolate taught by professional pastry chefs. Read more

The famous chalkboard: Elaine is the original artist of the beautiful chalkboards in our San Francisco shops. She helped launch the chalkboard in Kuramae in collaboration with Tomo, and Tomo went on to design the chalkboard displays in the Ise, Kamakura, and Kyoto locations, as well as some pop-up shops.

ISE

This was the next Japanese location to open in December of 2016, and it contains a retail shop and café. This cool, old building features some exposed brick in the interior—just like we have on Valencia Street—and it used to be the office of the post office and telephone company.

This area is a destination for local and global tourists alike who visit the area for the iconic Ise Jingu shrine—many of whom, as is the custom, come here to buy small gifts to take home. Seiji was immediately inspired by the building and the holy power of the shrine. Both Tomo and Seiji love to come and visit this shop because of the general feeling of the building; it feels cozy and harmonious with its lush surroundings. We have a good partnership with the building owners and some really kind and regular customers. There is a general peaceful feeling about the place. Read more

Hot chocolate in Japan: We are certainly known for our hot chocolate, and in Japan, that same beloved drink has a little twist. Each of our Japanese locations adds just a dash of a special elixir to make their hot chocolate unique. In Kyoto, we add just a bit of honey and ginger to make the flavor more complex. Our other shops add their own signature black tea to the house hot chocolate to make it less sweet and more thirst quenching. And some of our locations, like Kuramae and Kamakura, use tea from local tea houses and producers. Tomo says it’s just a splash of tea—just enough to give the drink a bit of complexity and bitterness (much like the way bitters are used in cocktails).

KAMAKURA

Tomo feels that this location is probably the one most similar to West Coast culture, with its ocean views and mellow surfers and swimmers who stop by to fuel up. Opened in February, 2017, this café and retail shop is in the oceanside Shonan area of Yokohama—a place that’s warm with a good beach for those escaping Tokyo for the weekend. Kamakura is also an old samurai town, and as a result, there are many Zen temples to visit, and it gives the region a very simple and clean vibe.

This location is our only one in Japan to have a separate breakfast menu, and the popular chocolate croissant is a hit with commuters into the capital who stop by on their way to the morning train. There are also plenty of locals who linger at the tables long into the morning. This is also the location of the Zen and Chocolate class (which helped inspire the Mindfulness Tea class at our Los Angeles pop-up). The city is working hard to present itself as the “mindfulness city”, and we are so happy to be a part of that. Kamakura is also known as a city of flowers, as evidenced by the many hydrangeas that bloom in June and July. Read more

KYOTO

The café and retail shop in Kyoto is something of a tourist attraction, as local and international tourists visit the area to take in Japanese culture, including the numerous temples. In June of 2018 this location opened its doors. And to make it feel like it’s part of its community, there’s also a Zen garden on premises.

The Cacao Bar of Kyoto

Kyoto is also home to the Cacao Bar, a sit-down space for special menu items, events, and educational opportunities, and we opened that in August, 2018. Expect more classes and workshops in the future, as Cacao Bar may soon be under renovation to make room for more types of experiences. Read more

OMOTESANDO

Welcome to Harajuku! This high-speed, high-fashion, and high-traffic area of Tokyo is known for its clothing and design industry. And since February, 2019, those in the know step down the pink staircase into the Bean to Bar Lounge basement for mochas and much more. This small shop is very popular for its café and retail items, and there’s usually quite a crowd hungry not just to eat and drink, but to learn more about the diversity and origins of cocoa. And, its location next to the stylish Hay furniture shop has more people “discovering” us every day.

Food nerds, take notice: this is the only location in Japan serving our single-origin soft serve ice cream (from Zorzal Estate). And if you’re a fan of our café’s brownie bite flights, you’ll also want to know that this is the only place to find the macaron bite flight: three small macarons with three different single-origin chocolate creams inside. Read more

Dandelion Chocolate Japan, I cannot wait to visit! And, of course, to embark upon the Nippon hot chocolate tour (not possible…yet!). Anyway, I’ve learned a lot, and I thought that some of you might want to hear about it, too. Oh, and Tomo casually mentioned putting together a Japanese tour that takes guests from one Dandelion Chocolate location to another. If you think this sounds like a good idea, please let us know in the comments below. Thanks!

Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

May 17, 2019 by Karen Solomon

OK. So I am a fiend for nuts and chocolate of any kind, and when it comes to chocolate and hazelnuts, even more so. I remember the first time I ever tasted brand name Nutella: I was on a school trip to Epcot Center in Disneyworld sometime in middle school and I bought a small packet of it in the little French village. (I know, I know…the stuff is actually Italian, but you’ll have to talk to Walt about the reorg on European food.) It was SO GOOD. Like, really good. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even eat it on bread or anything; it’s quite possible I just squeezed the entire contents of it into my mouth, then went back and tried to squeeze out some more.

Fast forward to my college years and I became a Riot Grrl and completely engrossed in the DIY aesthetic of everything. I was making my own zines, cutting and duct taping my own clothes, and starting to make my own food (beyond instant Lipton Noodles & Sauce from a pouch). I began making my own condiments like ketchup and mustard and mayonnaise, and odd as it may sound, doing so felt like a very revolutionary act. I loved not being held to the confines of Kraft and ConAgra, and I loved the control that being in the kitchen and stocking my shelves gave me.

This passion and food lust led to a career as a food writer and cookbook author, and that afforded me the luxury of being able to make more food my own way. I would find a product at the store, look at all the junk on the ingredient label, and then take pride and pleasure in recreating that recipe in my own kitchen with real food. Nutella, known in Italy as gianduja, and known in North America as chocolate hazelnut spread, was eventually checked off my list.

When Bloom, the chocolate salon inside our 16th Street Factory, was doing its friends and family meals, I tasted Lisa’s bruleed brioche with her take on a homemade “Nutella”. It’s sublimely creamy and entirely decadent. And on the sticks of crisp, sweet, enriched bread, it’s an exercise in rich. For chocolate enthusiasts and anyone with a sweet tooth, it is exceptional.

In our book, Making Chocolate From Bean to S’more, Lisa and the kitchen team stuff this cream inside cookies, which seems like a dessert lover’s dessert. Meredyth was the first to think about making the chocolate hazelnut cream in a melanger, the stone-wheeled grinder that we use to make chocolate. I’m sure this is what gets our in-house version so super creamy; more so than most of us could accomplish at home.

For those of us who don’t own our own melanger, we still have options; a food processor will also do the job. I have a version of the recipe in one of my cookbooks, but lately I’ve been making it even more simply and delicious.

I weigh the hazelnuts, toast them, and remove the skin; this is essential, as the skin is really bitter. While the nuts are still warm, I put them into the food processor with an equal weight of our Chef’s Chocolate. I blend it thoroughly, then add some salt and about ¼ cup good-quality extra virgin olive oil. Then I blend it for a long, long time—five minutes, at least—until it’s super smooth and liquidy. Once it’s scraped into a jar and refrigerated, the texture firms and it becomes quite smooth and spreadable, particularly once it hits warm toast. Try it also spread onto fruit or simply eaten from a spoon :>.

For the real deal, though, follow our kitchen’s recipe below. Enjoy!

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

from Making Chocolate: Bean to Bar to S’more

Yield: About 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup / 140 grams / 5 ounces blanched hazelnuts
3/4 cup / 212 grams / 7 1/2 ounces melted 70% chocolate (Karen’s note: Chef’s Chocolate works great here)
1/2 cup / 100 grams / 3 1/2 ounces sugar
1/2 teaspoon / 2 grams kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (176.7°C). Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely, then chop the nuts coarsely.

In a heavy-duty food processor, combine the hazelnuts, chocolate, sugar, and salt, blending them until completely smooth. The longer the mixture is processed, the smoother it will be; we recommend blending for at least 5 minutes on high speed. Enjoy on toast or waffles, or spread it on your favorite slices of fruit. The mixture can be stored in an airtight container or jar at room temperature for several weeks.

NOTE: At Dandelion, we make our version with a mini melanger. If you have one at home, simply add all the ingredients to the stone grinder, and let it grind for at least 30 minutes.

Chocolate 301: Our Trip to Belize in 2019

May 8, 2019 by The Dandelion Team

Rebecca and Renee wrote this blog post together, and they were fortunate enough to attend our annual guest trip to Belize that we offer each February (just one of the many perks in working for a chocolate company—in addition to all of the chocolate you care to eat). This trip is one of many that we’ve taken as a team: Greg visited in 2013, and Molly had a look a year later, but this is the first for Renee and Rebecca. Renee is a chocolate maker at our Valencia Street factory. Rebecca was formerly the manager of the Valencia Street café, but she just became the Director of the Chocolate Experiences team. Warning: their travelogue will make you want to pack your bags.

Hello Dandelion Friends! This February we had the opportunity to attend a Chocolate 301 cocoa trip: an interactive, hands-on, seven-day exploration into the world of cacao in the southern tip of Belize. Along with Greg, our Bean Sourcerer, and 11 chocolate aficionados from across North America, we stayed at the very scenic Chaab’il B’e Lodge in Punta Gorda. We ate amazing chocolate-infused meals and washed them down with local cacao rum and Coke prepared by lodge owners, Sheila and Rusty.

Diving right into the jungles of Belize, we spent our first day touring Eladio’s farm where we learned about the gospel of cacao, and the harmony between man and earth that helps synthesize healthy plant growth. As he led us through his farm, Eladio would stop to pick what appeared to be random plants and teach us about the benefits they have on the body, as well as how they contribute to the growth of the entire ecostructure. We ate hearts of palm, sugar cane, cacao, and corn right out of the ground! It was a wild jump into the deep end of Belize. He stopped to cut open a cacao pod and said, “now we look for faces.” As Eladio explained it, the faces that can be identified in the raw pod give us insight into all of the animals and creatures that love to eat them! I found Stitch. What faces do you see?

After our long trek through Eladio’s wild farm, we finished the day with a delicious, home-cooked Belizean meal and a lesson on making traditional Mayan drinking chocolate.

Another day, we went to Xibun Reserve, a former Hershey plantation of 1100 acres that has been revamped and is now growing cacao and citrus. It is HUGE. We spent a bumpy couple of hours riding through the orange groves and rows of cacao trees in the back of a tractor. We got to see firsthand as the farmers split the cacao pods and harvested the wet beans. It was mind-blowing to see how easily and quickly they got the pods open because they are so thick! We also hopped down from our iron chariot to walk around through the trees, enjoying the variety of colors that each pod produced. The trees were full of beautiful flowers and budding cacao pods. Seeing the difference in how the cacao trees were kept at Xibun and at Eladio’s was really interesting. Xibun had very well-kept, neat rows of trees that were in stark contrast to the wild jungle of Eladio’s farm. Even as we rode around the tractor at Xibun, one side was all cacao—and then we’d turn around and see all citrus. It was surreal.

On Valentine’s Day we went to Maya Mountain Fermentary. The name may sound familiar to some of you who may have tried our Maya Mountain, Belize chocolate bars—feel free to learn more about how Elman developed this bar’s flavor profile. Maya Mountain is an organization, not a co-op, from where we source our delicious Belizean beans. They collect wet beans from farmers around Belize and ferment the beans at their location in Punta Gorda. This experience took the term “hands on” to a whole new level! We got to actually stick our hands in the gooey fermentation boxes to see how much heat they produce! We also got to taste the beans at different stages of fermentation and drying. The flavor of the nibs changed significantly from one to four days of fermentation, as well as at different stages of drying. Truly in her element, Renee got right to work, showing the team how we sort beans and explaining what we look for in this process. We learned what their quality manager looks for when they sort before packaging and sending beans to the chocolate makers. She then showed us what she looks for when she grades beans. She could look at a cut test and see how far along fermentation had occurred. We then tasted a wide selection of chocolate made with Maya Mountain beans from other makers. As a chocolate maker, this is one of Renee’s favorite things to do. One origin can taste so vastly different depending on the maker, but there remains a consistent character from the terroir that is discernible in each bar from the same origin.

On our last day, we went to Copal Tree Lodge where we walked around their beautiful garden and made chocolate with their chocolate maker. It was amazing to learn about their process and see that one chocolate maker takes ownership of every step! He gave us beans to taste from different times in the roast. We could taste the flavors evolving. Then we got to winnow the freshly roasted beans. It was very therapeutic, like raking a zen garden. After this, the chocolate maker showed off his skills and hand-tempered a large batch of chocolate right in front of us for us to pour into molds. To remove air bubbles from the bars in our factory, we rely primarily on a vibrating table. At Copal Tree, they rely on the more rudimentary system of slamming the chocolate mold against a table to remove air bubbles—a very satisfying alternative. It was incredible to see such a large batch of chocolate hand-tempered with such ease. He didn’t even need a thermometer; he could just feel the change in viscosity and knew when it was ready!

This doesn’t even scratch the surface on what happened on the trip. There was so much more that can’t be captured with words or pictures. It was really refreshing to be around so many people who are passionate about chocolate; not just the customers, but also the farmers, fermenters, and other makers. It was so eye-opening to see how much goes into making a treat that the world enjoys. 10/10 would go back on this trip! Without question, it is worth every drop of bug repellant, sweat, and slathering of sunscreen!

To Belize with Love and Chocolate,

Renee and Rebecca

PS: Want to learn more about what life is like in Belize? Maya moved there to deepen her work in chocolate, and our friend Madeline shares her story of living there for several months.

Red Velvet Beet Cake Recipe

April 15, 2019 by Lisa Vega

from Lisa Vega, Dandelion Chocolate Executive Pastry Chef and co-author of Making Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to S’more

RECOMMENDED CHOCOLATE PROFILE: earthy, savory, funky

We developed this cake—our version of classic red velvet—to complement the earthy, funky, sometimes grassy flavor profile of our Liberian chocolate. Some of us think it tastes like caramel and cinnamon; others taste iron shavings and a freshly mowed lawn. This chocolate is a customer favorite, and it earned a Good Food Award in 2014, which seems to be how our most polarizing chocolates work. Either way, we like the way the vegetal sweetness of the roasted beets plays off the chocolate, and the striking contrast of vibrant red against the shining, jet-black ganache layers.

YIELD: one 8-inch 4-layer cake

INGREDIENTS:

Cake
672 grams / 1½ pounds medium red beets
5 large eggs at room temperature
2¾ cups / 570 grams / 20 ounces sugar
½ teaspoon / 2 grams kosher salt
2¼ cups / 226 grams / 8 ounces cake flour, sifted
5 tablespoons / 36 grams / 1¼ ounces ground chocolate, chef’s chocolate, or 70% chocolate finely ground in a spice grinder
butter for the pan

Chocolate Caramel Ganache
2¾ cups / 412 grams / 14 ounces ground chocolate, chef’s chocolate, or chopped 70% chocolate
¾ cup / 150 grams / 5½ ounces sugar
2 cups / 450 grams / 16 ounces heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:

Make the cake
Prepare the beets: Preheat the oven to 350°F (176.7°C). Wrap each beet in foil, and roast the beets for about 1 hour, until a knife pokes easily through the entire flesh. Allow the beets to cool in the foil, and then carefully peel each beet, discarding the skins. In a blender, puree the cooked beets on high speed with 3 tablespoons water until very smooth, a minute or two. Measure out 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (480 grams / 17 ounces) of the puree, and set it aside. (Reserve the remaining puree for another use.)

Spray or butter two 8-inch round cake pans, line them with parchment, and grease again. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs, sugar, and salt on high speed until the mixture becomes pale in color and falls back on itself in ribbons when the whisk is removed, 4 to 6 minutes. Fold in the beet puree until the batter is streaked with color but not completely incorporated. This will prevent the beaten eggs from deflating too much as you mix the batter.

Sift together the cake flour and finely ground chocolate, then fold them into the batter until just combined. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared cake pans.

Bake the cakes for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack, and refrigerate or freeze them before slicing the cakes in half horizontally (using a serrated knife) to make 4 cake rounds.

Make the ganache:
Place the chocolate in a large bowl and set aside. Heat the sugar over medium-low heat in a dry heavy-duty saucepan. Watch it carefully—the sugar on the bottom will begin to melt. When you see the edges begin to brown, use a heatproof spatula to drag the sugar toward the center to prevent any burning, and continue to stir occasionally until the sugar is completely melted and has turned a medium amber color.

Remove the pan from the heat and immediately start pouring the cream into the caramel in a small, steady stream, while whisking constantly. The caramel will bubble violently and may even seize up slightly, and that’s okay. Continue to whisk, and put the pan back on high heat. As you bring the caramel liquid to a boil, any seized sugar chunks that may remain should dissolve. Once the liquid reaches a rolling boil, immediately pour it over the chocolate. Let the hot cream sit undisturbed on top of the chocolate for 30 seconds. Then use a whisk to stir slowly at first and then more vigorously as the chocolate and cream combine and the mixture thickens. The ganache should appear shiny and thick, but still be liquid enough to pour. Allow the ganache to fully cool and thicken before assembling the cake.

Using a large offset spatula, spread a thin layer of ganache evenly on top of each cake layer, and layer one on top of another to create a 4-layer cake. Before cutting it, allow the cake to set in the refrigerator, uncovered, for about an hour. The cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for several days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.