Chocolate Cake

Last evening I tried an experiment. I’d heard a friend mention 5 minute microwave cake, they raved over how good it was. I was curious, I researched it a bit and found that this kind of thing gets a very mixed reviews. So I had to try it.

Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it: (serves two)
(But before you scamper off to get out your mug and reach for an egg... please FIRST read the rest of the post!)   =)

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5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
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As an aside, my first business was one I started in college making wedding cakes for my friends. I am familiar with chocolate cake, and I may be a *tad* bit biased about what constitutes good cake. But I followed the recipe, and popped that thang in the mic. I used two mugs instead of one because I wasn’t going to eat the whole thing anyway. I watched it turning, and I started to catch the aroma of cooking cake. Hmmm… maybe this won’t be so bad, it smells good. I pulled it out, I wasn’t sure what to think of the appearance, so I popped it out on a plate and cut it open. It was done, no question about that. So how did it taste? It tasted exactly like you’d expect chocolate cake to taste that had been made in the microwave… it was… uh… rubbery. I figured I could get past the texture if the flavor was good, was it? Nope. Never again. Dang, how cool would it have been if it HAD been good?! Who doesn’t like the idea of a nice warm chocolate cake in 5 minutes and only dirtying a spoon and a mug?

I had a good friend over to Studio B today. We finished up a lovely lunch and I assessed the situation. Was that complete? Or did we need something yet? I looked at her and asked if she’d be interested in having molten chocolate cake?  We could make it together. She thought for a moment, I could see the wheels turning. And then she answered with a resounding “Yes!” I laughed with delight, some people are so afraid of good food that they won’t even try something if they think it’s loaded with calories. (Sometimes things that taste rich and decadent don't actually aren't all that loaded, it's just that everything is in balance - that's a mark of a great recipe in my opinion!)

And so we made chocolate molten cake. It didn’t take long to make, it took twelve minutes to bake. We added a little bit of peppermint ice cream…. and it was good! Well… I should say… it was excellent. There could not be more difference between the two chocolate cake experiences. It’s very different kind of cake than I would make for a wedding or special occasion cake, but it’s really really good.

So I ask you, why would anyone ever eat a cake that took five minutes to bake, when you could have this chocolate molten cake that took only seven additional minutes to bake? Because I’ll tell ya, they aren’t even in the same ballpark when it comes to flavor! Believe me, it is worth the wait!  (Can seven minutes reasonably be considered "a wait"?!)

And so... (Drum rollllllllllll)

I'm very pleased to present

The Emeril Lagasse Molten Chocolate Cake Recipe

(serves four)

And I made it with this baking chocolate... the stuff is HIGH TEST.

 

Seriously, there is a reason why dark chocolate is a super food

I try not to knock it.

And please allow me to point out that cake for cake... 

the molten chocolate recipe will have less calories.  

~ Think of it as health food. ~ 

Wishing you warm chocolaty goodness,

-Carmen Rose

PS WHY DIDN'T I TAKE PHOTOS?!

(Because for just a second there, living was more important than documenting.)

39 (million) simple steps to making a great wedding cake! (Part One)

Last week I made a wedding cake for my parent’s 50th anniversary celebration. I thought I’d share some of the steps along the way. It’s really not that difficult to do, but messing it up isn’t that hard either. So here are some things I’ve learned over the years making wedding and special occasion cakes. Everyone has seen the beautiful cake that is a disappointment to taste, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Some people think cakes made from scratch are best, but I don’t agree. I start with a cake mix and add all the stuff it says on the box, just in a slightly different formulation.
It’s pretty simple really, two cake mixes, (I have always used Duncan Hines) six jumbo eggs, 1 cup canola oil (for chocolate I sometimes use a good olive oil) and 1 cup water. It makes a thick heavy batter that requires spreading in the pan. And I always add 1 cup applesauce to chocolate cake, you never really taste it (unless the apple sauce is too strong) but it does wonders for the texture and moisture content of a cake.
Spray the pans with baker’s joy and divide the batter between pans. In this photo I’m baking a 14 and a 6 inch round, so the two mixes work out perfectly.
Most people over bake cakes, they want a toothpick to turn out dry but that also means the cake will be dry. The better test is to keep a timer and watch a few key elements: first, if you open the oven door and the whole cake jiggles, it’s is not ready to be touched, very carefully get that oven door closed! If you lightly touch the cake and it leaves a dip, the cake is almost done but not quite. It should spring back when you touch it.
The cake will start to shrink from the sides of the pan and that is your second indicator. Use an oven thermometer and do your best to keep the temperature at an even 350 degrees. My oven is an old one and bakes a bit unevenly so that is one thing to keep in mind, sometimes one layer will be finished and the other one will not be.
If you want two layers inside your cake, then bake two layers for each tier. Some people use deeper pans and bake a large layer and then cut it. I know it’s more work and more baking time but I think the cake is better if baked in the 2 inch pans as opposed to the really deep pans.
When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately cover it with waxed paper and flip it on to a board.
Get the cake pan off as soon as you can and wrap the cake in plastic wrap, sealing it as much as possible. It is important that you don’t leave the cake out on a wire rack or allow it to dry out while cooling, this just makes a dry cake with a hard crust. Yuck!

As soon as it has mostly cooled the cake should be moved to the freezer. This will help to preserve the moisture content of the cake and make it possible to do things like bake a cake on a Tuesday and then serve it on a Saturday like I did.

More info and photos coming. Stay tuned.