Ahhh, chocolate


It seems that if you are not addicted to the stuff, then you will at least like it just a little. I have cooked dozens of chocolate cake recipes over the years; flourless ones, rich ones, light ones, even one containing only 3 ingredients; chocolate, butter and eggs. This is the one however, that I keep coming back to time and again. It is my desert island chocolate cake recipe. It is French in origin and was originally published by the doyen of British cookery writing, Elizabeth David, back in 1960. I have tweaked it a little over time, added some more of this, taken away a little of that, but the essence remains the same.

This cake contains only a small amount of flour, relying instead on the beaten egg white foam to provide structure. This means 2 things. It looks a little rustic as it sinks slightly coming out of the oven, but it is wickedly rich and moist. It needs no icing, just a dusting with icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) or unsweetened cocoa.

There is only one proviso. As with all simple recipes, you simply must use the best ingredients you can lay your hands on. I use Callebaut couverture, but just use the finest chocolate you can find. Aim for at least 50 % cocoa content and 30 % cocoa butter.

Ingredients

  • 375gm (¾ lb) high quality bittersweet couveture chocolate, chopped
  • 270gm (9 oz) unsalted butter, chopped
  • 375gm caster (superfine) sugar
  • 9 free range eggs
  • 6 Tbs plain flour

    Method

    Place the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl and set over a pot of gently simmering water. Let it melt and stir to combine. Remove from the heat.

    Separate the eggs and put the yolks into a bowl with the sugar (keep the whites) and beat until very pale and fluffy, about 8 minutes.

    Pour the yolk and sugar mixture into the chocolate and combine well, then gently fold in the flour.

    Beat the whites to stiff peaks (if you lift a fork through the (now very white) whites it will stand up in a small peak), then again very gently fold into the chocolate mixture. This will give the cake it's rise, so don't overwork at this stage.

    Line a 28cm (11 inch) round cake tin preferably spring form, with non-stick paper and pour in the cake mix. Bake in a pre-heated 180°C (355°F) oven for 40 minutes. When cooked the cake will be firm to the touch, but a skewer inserted will come out only slightly moist, not wet.

    A cake this rich needs little in the way of accompaniment, try softly whipped cream and fresh berries.

  • Chocolate Cake - Shot

    I haven't tried a wide variety of drinks at this point in time, so saying that it's the strangest drink I've ever had isn't saying a lot. It's the strangest drink I've ever had. I had this my first(and so far only) time at a bar called Casino El Camino in Austin, Texas. The friend of mine who was buying advertised it as tasting like chocolate cake but without containing any actual chocolate. I tried it and he was right. It tastes surprisingly like the food of the same name. I asked the waitress about it and got a list of the ingredients. Try one for yourself, if you can.

    Supplies Needed:

    To Make:

    • Mix the two alcohols into a shot.

    • Coat the lemon slice in sugar.

    To Enjoy:

    • Pound back the shot.
    • Suck on the lemon.

    The best Chocolate Cake Recipe ever.

    I guarantee you, the reader, that this cake will knock your socks off. It'll make you squirm in your seat with delight. You will not believe just how good, yet how simple, this chocolate cake is.

    It can be made in 20 minutes. (minus baking)

    It can be eaten in 2.

    Ready?

    Ingredients

    Method
    • Strain the lemon juice into the milk and allow it to stand.
    • Cream the butter and sugar until light in colour. (use an electric beater to save the sore arm)
    • Add the egg and beat again until fluffy.
    • Fold in the curdled milk.
    • Sift all the dry ingredients into another bowl.
    • Fold all the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture.
    By this stage you should be completely unable to stop youself from tasting the mixture every few seconds. It should be thick, fluffy, and delicious.
    • Butter a 22-centimetre cake tin.
    • Pour in the batter.
    • Bake at 175°C (347°F) for 45 minutes.
    Don't overcook! It'll get all dry and lose it's innate fudgyness.

    Enjoy! And make sure you /msg me with your success.

    "Sticky Chocolate Cake"


    I am close to hopeless in a kitchen. I can make a passable lasagna, and I can bake fairly nice bread - but that's just about it. I have yet to muster the courage to try out some of the great recipes found here on E2 because, frankly, I have the feeling the end result will be something the world would be better for not having to experience.

    BUT I have decided that I need to node this one recipe. I feel sorry for anyone who has not yet tasted this cake, and it'll be my pleasure - I hope - to present to you:

    The St... no, wait; I already did the presentation thing. Well then. Here goes:



    You'll need:

    • 200 grams nice dark chocolate
    • 200 grams butter (salted, if you should be in doubt)
    • 4 whole eggs
    • 0.2 l sugar. No superfine sugar needed. Just regular sugar. I think.
    • 0.2 l flour. Plain flour.
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder


    Right.

    Now you need to get a 28cm (11 inch) round cake tin (preferably a spring form) ready, either with non stick baking paper, or with some other means of getting the cake out in one piece. And make sure your oven will be a nice 225° C by the time you're ready to stick the cake in there.

    Lemme see... Yes, you melt the chocolate and the butter. I am sure you know how to melt chocolate and butter in a safe way, so I won't go into that. If you don't know, first look at sneff's wu at the top of this node. Okay: beat the eggs and the sugar good, and then fold that into the the melted butter-chocolate. Mix the flour and the baking powder, and sift it into the batter. Again fold it into the chocolate-butter-sugar-egg mix. Not too difficult, now was it?


    So all of this gooey goodness goes into the spring form, which is then placed in the oven, in the middle. Not for long. 12 to 15 minutes should suffice. I like it when the middle of the cake is still quite gooey, but if you don't want that, just leave it for another couple of minutes.



    Serve before it gets too cold, preferably with whipped cream. You can serve with fruit too, of course. Whatever tickles your fancy.



    Enjoy.




    Recipe kindly provided by good friend and sublime cook, Charlotte. Ta, duder.


    A song from Crowded House's 1991 album Woodface. Written by Neil and Tim Finn, and released as a single, Chocolate Cake charted reasonably well at the time, reaching #20 on the Australian charts, but is rarely heard now. This is a travesty, because apart from the obvious fact that anything written and sung by the Finn brothers is brilliant, it has a very useful refrain:

    Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?

    Well, can I?

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