Black Chocolate Party Cake

It really is a party. We received a stoneware fluted pan for our wedding from my Alaska family and it was time to put it to use. We need to throw a party so I can make this cake again soon. Ian and I had a long celebratory weekend and rang in our sixth anniversary on Thursday - Valentine's Day. On Sunday night, I wanted the celebrations to continue, so I made this Black Chocolate Party Cake from Rose's Heavenly Cakes. A party it was. 

This cake is so dark and chocolatey it is difficult to eat more than one slice. A little alkalized cocoa powder goes a long way and this recipe calls for three-quarters of a cup. Wowza.  For milk drinkers, this is the dream. A slice of this cake with a cup of milk would be the ultimate; ice cream also will suffice.

For this recipe, you grind walnuts to help bring out the rich chocolate flavor. This isn't something I have seen before, but I am a believer. The full recipe is below.

Black Chocolate Party Cake 
Cake:
1 cup sour cream
¾ cup (67g) unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder
3 large eggs - room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup walnuts - ground
 2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cup (250g) turbinado sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

Cocoa syrup:
¼ cup (22g) unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder
1/3 cup (67g) superfine sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 10-cup capacity flute pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sour cream, cocoa, eggs and vanilla – then wisk slightly, the mixture will be lumpy. Set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the ground walnuts (toasted and ground in a food processor), all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt on low speed for about 30 seconds. Add butter and mix until moistened.

Add one-third of the cocoa mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Scrape the side of the bowl. Add half of the remaining cocoa mixture and beat for 30 seconds. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 ½ minutes. Scrape the side of the bowl then beat for another 30 seconds. Add the last of the cocoa mixture and mix for 30 seconds. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the surface.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Make the cocoa syrup shortly before the cake is finished baking: in a small saucepan, whisk together the cocoa and sugar. Add a small amount of the boiling water, whisking until all of the mixture is moistened. Add the remaining water, whisk, and then bring the mixture to a boil over low heat, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool for 5 minutes before using it in the cake.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke it all over with a wooden skewer then pour 1/3 of the cocoa syrup over the cake. Let the cake cool in the pan over a wire rack for 10-15 minutes. Carefully invert the cake onto a plate and brush with the remaining cocoa syrup. Cool completely.

Lightning Bolt

It was my cousin's birthday and naturally he asked for a cake in the shape of a lightning bolt. It turned out pretty well. We added some cupcakes as clouds, and cut a sheet cake in pieces to form the lightning bolt. My grandmother made the sheet cake and I made the cupcakes.

This may be the best yellow cake recipe I have made so far. Shocker, it was from Rose's Heavenly Cakes. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Recipe:

Mix in a separate bowl:
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons sour cream (from the 2/3 cup sour cream)

In the bowl of a mixer:
2 cup cake flour
1 cup sugar
Baking soda
Baking powder
Salt
2/3 cup sour cream

Birthday Cake

Last week was my Mother's birthday, so I made her a cake. After three failed attempts at a Genoise cake from The Modern Baker, I decided to stick with what I know. I really couldn't tell you what happened. It was like a frisbee you could fling across the room (I think at one point I did). I followed the directions to a T with zero results. I will not give up on this book though. It can't get the best of me.

This is a classic yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. The buttercream turned out well, but it had a pound of butter in it with chocolate so it is hard to taste bad. The cake on the other hand was in need of some major moisture. I am looking into some cake strips that Rose Levy Beranbaum (all hail the cake goddess) talks about in her books, but for now I need to work on bake time, and more experience.

I have yet to find a yellow cake recipe that I truly, truly love, but when I do I will be sure to write about it.

Cheesecake

There is nothing like chilled homemade cheesecake with fresh strawberries when the weather gets warmer (fingers crossed). Ian's mom asked me to make something for her Shabbat group, so I made two cheesecakes for fear one would go terribly, terribly wrong. She said it went over well, and that was something I was very happy about. Cheesecake is surprisingly simple. I have to say, they both came out pretty well. I have never heard much about cheesecake except that it should never crack on top, so I think baking it in a water bath helps with that problem. Neither of them had cracks. Also, I used a dark coated springform pan and an aluminum springform pan, and shocker, Ian's mom's aluminum pan is the reigning champion.

The crust is simple:
1 package (three in a box) graham cracker crust
1/2 stick of room temperature butter
sugar, baking soda and some recipes call for flour

Cheesecake (pulled from Rose's Heavenly Cakes):
2 boxes Philadelphia Cream Cheese (I think works the best)
Sugar
3 eggs
3 cups sour cream
Lemon juice, vanilla

There are many ways to make cheesecake, but first I wanted to start with basics.

Cake

I was pleasantly surprised this weekend with a book strictly on cake (thanks Ian). Most of my baking books have been lacking in the cake section, but this book is filled to the brim with delicious recipes. I thought there was no better way to start this blog than with my new book.

Disclaimer: cakes that look nothing like this are soon to come.