High Altitude One Layer Walnut Chocolate Chip Cake with Ganache
A high altitude recipe for a moist, one layer walnut chocolate chip cake, with dark chocolate ganache frosting.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Ingredients
Cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup whole milk, room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup walnuts, finely chopped
- ½ cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips
Ganache
- 4 oz good quality chocolate (55% cacao), roughly chopped
- 4 oz heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp semi sweet mini chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper, or spray it with non-stick baking spray.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter until nutty, golden brown milk solids form at the bottom of the pan. This process might take about 10 minutes. First the butter will hiss and splatter as the water evaporates, then as it quiets down, a layer of foam will form on top of the butter. This means the butter is done. Immediately remove from the heat, and scrape the butter, including the brown milk solids, into a large bowl. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the cooled brown butter with the granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, milk and sour cream, until combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the flour mixture, chopped walnuts and chocolate chips to the wet ingredients, and fold everything together with a spatula until moistened and combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for about 35-38 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched, or a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Set the pan on a wire rack, covered with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely.
- This cake will have a golden brown crust around the edges, very much like a pound cake, and it's absolutely delicious. If you prefer, you can trim off the dark edge before serving.
Ganache
- Chop the chocolate and place it in a bowl.
- Pour the cream into a saucepan, and warm it over medium heat, just until hot and beginning to simmer around the edges.
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, then stir it together until it smooths out into a creamy ganache.
- Pour the ganache on top of the cake, spreading it out to the edges. Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for another 30-40 minutes until the ganache is set and firm.
- Sprinkle the top of the cake with more chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. Cut into 16 squares (for small servings) or 9 squares (for larger servings).
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