How to Have Your Cake and Eat it Too (In Less Than 30 Minutes)!

I was looking for a quick chocolate fix and this is an easy recipe that you can make in no time to satisfy your chocolate craving! The book I'm using is the Red Cat Cookbook. The Red Cat is a New York City restaurant featuring American Noveau/Mediterranean cuisine. 

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

With Chocolate Sauce and Dark Chocolate Sorbet

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tbsp butter, melted plus extra for                                      1 egg
  for greasing muffin tins                                                            1 egg yolk
1/2 c flour plus extra to flour muffin tins                                     1/2 c buttermilk
3/4 c sugar                                                                               1/4 c warm brewed coffee
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder                                           1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  (preferably Valrhona)                                                              Chocolate Sauce (follows)
3/4 tsp baking soda                                                           1 pint chocolate sorbet (or ice cream of your
1/4 tsp baking powder                                                             your choice)                                                                  

Ingredients for the cakes (minus the butter which was in the microwave)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Make the cakes: Butter and flour 8 muffin cups (I used a six cup popover pan to give the cakes some extra height. I also used Pam for Baking spray instead of butter and flour to coat the cups). In a large bowl, whisk the sugar with the cocoa, flour, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolk, buttermilk, coffee, (I added an extra 1/2 tsp of instant expresso powder for more coffee flavor), melted butter and vanilla. Whisk the egg mixture into the dry ingredients.

Dry and wet ingredients

 Pour the batter into the cups and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, approximately 15 minutes. Let cool slightly, then invert the cakes onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Before

After

Cakes cooling on the rack.

To serve, place an inverted cake onto each of 8 plates (or in my case, 6), drizzle with chocolate sauce, and set a scoop of chocolate sorbet (or your choice or none at all) alongside. 

I must admit...I had some chocolate sauce I had made previously in the refrigerator that I just warmed up. I just couldn't wait to make new. However, you can also use a store bought chocolate sauce or topping if you want.  This would be great with perhaps a raspberry or caramel sauce also. Add some nuts, whipped cream, whatever. Bottom line is you can make these little gems in less than 30 minutes.  Most of you will have the ingredients for the cakes on hand. Great for when you have company drop in on you with no notice!

Chocolate Sauce
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1/3 c water
4 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (recommended: Valrhona 70% Guanaja)
1 oz bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened) coarsely chopped (recommended: Valrhona 61% extra bitter)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pour the corn syrup and the water into a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Lower the heat to low and stir in the chocolates till they are melted and the sauce is smooth. You should have about 1 cup of sauce. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool until warm but not hot. Stir in the vanilla extract.



























         

A Berry Close Call!

It's been a while since I last posted. The summer has been so busy, especially going back and forth between our  homes in Northern Virgina and our getaway in the mountains overlooking the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in the western part of Virginia.

During the month of July we had to say goodbye to a good friend who was returning back to sunny California for his job. I decided to have a small farewell dinner to wish him well.  While making a trip to my favorite grocery store, I couldn't help but notice the luscious organic strawberries and decided to make a berry tart. This almost resulted in a big disaster on my part! I didn't realize how much time it takes to make a fresh berry tart. You have to leave time for the pastry dough to chill and the sweet pastry cream also needs time to chill and set after it cooks. Once the shell is baked, it needs to sit until it's cold.  I barely had enough time to complete the tart and chill it briefly for serving. Even then, it could have used some more chilling time. From start to finish, it took me about 2 hours to complete. But my guests didn't complain, so I ended up with a  berry happy ending.

The recipe I used is called Fresh Fruit Tartlets from the cookbook "Perfect Fruit Desserts" by Anne Willian.

 
I made one large tart instead of the 8 tartlets the recipe yields. Perhaps if I made individual tartlets, the filling would have set better because they would have needed less time to chill and set. Since the recipe is very extensive I have scanned it and  I will gladly email a copy of it to anyone who wants it.  For now, I am only going to share my pictures and the final result (sorry, picture only!).

This is the flour into which you have made a well and added salt, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla for the pastry shell.

You use a rolling pin to pound the butter to soften it slightly.

   
Softened butter added to the well.                         
                                                                          

You work the ingredients in the well with your fingertips until thoroughly mixed into a ball. Then you lightly work the dough until it is very smooth, about 1 - 2 minutes and reshape into a ball. Once the dough has chilled for at least 30 minutes, it can be rolled and formed into tartlets or one large tart. Then you have to let them chill again till firm, around another 30 minutes. Then it can finally be baked and cooled before adding the pastry cream.

A vanilla bean is added to boiled milk and the liquid sits for 10 - 15 minutes for flavor. You can use vanilla extract if you prefer.

The finished pastry cream after the other ingredients (egg yolks, flour and sugar)  have been added and cooked for the appropriate time. The pastry cream needs time to cool before adding to the shell.

The cooled shell is filled halfway with the pastry cream, the berries are arranged on the top and then the berries are brushed with an red currant jelly glaze to make the fruit look nice and shiny.

Doesn't this look lovely?

Lesson learned: Don't forget to make sure you have enough time to complete a recipe before you make it and serve it.


Just a P.S. -  Don't throw those egg whites away when making this recipe! They can be used for an egg white omelet, making coconut macaroons, meringue cookies or angel food cake just to name a few options!