It all began with a little harmless conversation about how much my brother likes chocolate...in cake, in doughnuts, in cookies...and this spun wildly out of control, into a diabolical plot. And thus the weekend before Labor Day I found myself, and my kitchen, covered in chocolate and filled with the scent of cake...
The first step in making our dreams reality was the cake itself. I have a new book, BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher (and published by Simon & Schuster), that is a phenomenal resource not only for recipes, but also for the ins and outs, the hows and whys of baking. Inside this tome, I found the recipe for this dream cake.
Thus began my adventure...which started with boiling water mixed with sugar and cocoa, then blended with oil and eggs, then the dry ingredients. This is NOT a cake for the faint-hearted.
This batter was enriched with buttermilk, and boy was it dark, yet light. I got it into the oven, and watched it turn into a lovely set of 9-inch cake rounds, and one little sample cake in a ramekin.
I sampled the little cake, just to ensure the cake was a success. It was light and moist, with a tender crumb and rich, chocolatey flavor. This is GOOD cake!
After the layers cooled, I wrapped them carefully (and perhaps a bit obsessively) and froze them. Freezing not only makes it easier to put a cake together in just a little time, as the baking is already done, but it also makes it easier to transport the cake for final assembly for birthday celebrations in far-off cities.
Mmm, cake...
Stay tuned for more of The Adventures of the Most Awesome Birthday Cake Ever...
Ha, I like the obsessively part. They WERE packed very, very well! Such a good looking cake.. can't wait for the rest of the adventure!
ReplyDeleteI am tuned and watching!!!!! (and however did you get such a fine S&S book ? ;)
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to come over to the US for my next bday...