4.21.2009

Treat you well

I think I'm ready. Though for some people an overdose like last Sunday's might take weeks to recover from, well what can I say? It only took me eight days. Turn on your ovens, people. Here comes heirloom chocolate cake.


This cake is one of the richest, fudgiest things I have ever tasted. I never turn down chocolate, not even when it would be a very good idea if I did. In fact, as I type, I'm sitting at my desk drinking hot chocolate milk. I am a devout chocolate sampler, and right now, this cake is at the top of my list.

The secret to its success is so simple I'm not entirely sure I should even tell you, because it will make the cake seem much, much less magical, but here it is: It has 2 sticks of butter, a half a pound of dark chocolate, 5 eggs, and a cup of sugar in it. It would be extremely difficult not to be fudgy with a cast of characters like that. In fact, if anyone manages to make this cake dry, they deserve some sort of Kitchen Disastress medal. I really don't think it's possible.

That said, there is something I should warn you about. This cake does NOT need frosting. I generally don't believe in un-frosted cakes, but please, take my word on this. The first time I made it, a friend and I slathered buttercream on top and were forced to drink an entire bottle of rioja and watch the Twilight DVD as a recovery operation. It wasn't pretty, not then, or the next morning. For the record, rioja headaches and sugar headaches do not cancel each other out. Don't say I didn't tell you so.

But if you don't abuse it, this cake will treat you well. It will treat you especially well after a dinner of fresh spring greens with balsamic dressing and goat cheese and pickles and smoked salmon paté on brittle, homemade crackers, with your friends sitting all around. And then, the next day, it will treat you even better as a snack. It will even treat you well as a birthday present, as my friend Chelsea can attest.

HEIRLOOM CHOCOLATE CAKE

adapted from the Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri

2 sticks butter
8 ounces dark chocolate, cut into small pieces (I used Ghiradelli's 60% cacao chips)
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
1/2 cup flour
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter and the chocolate together. Once they're smooth, whisk in the sugar, and then the eggs, one by one. Sift in the dry ingredients, mix until just combined, and pour the batter into a prepared 9-inch cake pan. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the edges begin to pull away from the pan. The center should remain fudgy.

2 comments :

A said...

this looks amazing

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