Glazed Chocolate Cake
Hey foodies! It may seem like we've been out of our groove lately (having a baby and all)...but I promise that we are still true foodies and still baking, chopping, kneading, and eating! ;)
For Lindsey’s birthday this year, I wanted to bake her a cake…but I didn’t want to make just ANY cake…I wanted it to be a cake that was complicated, time consuming, and different. Not because Lindsey wanted it that way…but because I wanted to feel like I was doing something hard…something different that I had never done before…all for her.
Last year I found a cook book
by Martha Stewart (I know cliché but I really liked the book, Everyday Food—Fresh Flavor Fast, 2010). I purchased the book not only for the recipes but because I thought the design of the book was similar to the design of Lindsey’s graphic design work. So I bought it. Anyway, there are some amazing pictures of food in this book…one in particular was calling my name. Yes, my name…not so much Lindsey’s…mine. A glazed chocolate cake.
I am a big chocolate fan. I’m pretty sure that I inherited that from my Mom. I remember when I was little my Mom and I would go the store and we would buy a chocolate candy bar and split it and eat it before we got home (being the youngest of 10…you have to be sneaky like that). The craving for chocolate is real…some would say that I am a woman’s dream…but I would say that I am normal. Those who don’t like chocolate are fooling themselves and missing out on some of life’s greatest moments. (Wow…now that I read that paragraph…it sounds like a woman talking about her affinity for chocolate…oh well, I’m not ashamed). Fortunately for me, Lindsey likes chocolate as much as I do. She really liked this cake…we even thought this cake resembled a flourless cake…but this cake is SOOO moist!
Here it is.
Glazed Chocolate Cake
Serves 10 to 12
Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for whipped cream (optional)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch-round cake pan; line bottom with a round of waxed or parchment paper. Butter paper; dust bottom and sides of pan with cocoa, tapping out excess.
Sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream and beginning and ending with the flour.
Spread batter in prepared pan. Tap pan firmly on countertop once to eliminate large air bubbles. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely (bottom-side up).
Set rack with cake over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour glaze over cake, letting it run over sides; spread gently with an offset spatula or table knife to coat. Let set, about 30 minutes.
If desired, whip cream and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Serve cake with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
Cook's Note
Dusting the pan with cocoa powder (rather than flour) keeps the cake dark on the outside. To make chocolate shavings, scrape along the edge of a bar of chocolate with a vegetable peeler.
Chocolate Ganache Glaze
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Directions
Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Let cool until thick yet pourable, 2 to 3 minutes. Makes ¾ cup.
And there you have it...chocolate heaven!
For Lindsey’s birthday this year, I wanted to bake her a cake…but I didn’t want to make just ANY cake…I wanted it to be a cake that was complicated, time consuming, and different. Not because Lindsey wanted it that way…but because I wanted to feel like I was doing something hard…something different that I had never done before…all for her.
Last year I found a cook book
by Martha Stewart (I know cliché but I really liked the book, Everyday Food—Fresh Flavor Fast, 2010). I purchased the book not only for the recipes but because I thought the design of the book was similar to the design of Lindsey’s graphic design work. So I bought it. Anyway, there are some amazing pictures of food in this book…one in particular was calling my name. Yes, my name…not so much Lindsey’s…mine. A glazed chocolate cake.I am a big chocolate fan. I’m pretty sure that I inherited that from my Mom. I remember when I was little my Mom and I would go the store and we would buy a chocolate candy bar and split it and eat it before we got home (being the youngest of 10…you have to be sneaky like that). The craving for chocolate is real…some would say that I am a woman’s dream…but I would say that I am normal. Those who don’t like chocolate are fooling themselves and missing out on some of life’s greatest moments. (Wow…now that I read that paragraph…it sounds like a woman talking about her affinity for chocolate…oh well, I’m not ashamed). Fortunately for me, Lindsey likes chocolate as much as I do. She really liked this cake…we even thought this cake resembled a flourless cake…but this cake is SOOO moist!
Here it is.
Glazed Chocolate Cake
Serves 10 to 12
Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for whipped cream (optional)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch-round cake pan; line bottom with a round of waxed or parchment paper. Butter paper; dust bottom and sides of pan with cocoa, tapping out excess.
Sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream and beginning and ending with the flour.
Spread batter in prepared pan. Tap pan firmly on countertop once to eliminate large air bubbles. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely (bottom-side up).
Set rack with cake over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour glaze over cake, letting it run over sides; spread gently with an offset spatula or table knife to coat. Let set, about 30 minutes.
If desired, whip cream and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Serve cake with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
Cook's Note
Dusting the pan with cocoa powder (rather than flour) keeps the cake dark on the outside. To make chocolate shavings, scrape along the edge of a bar of chocolate with a vegetable peeler.
Chocolate Ganache Glaze
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Directions
Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Let cool until thick yet pourable, 2 to 3 minutes. Makes ¾ cup.
And there you have it...chocolate heaven!
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