Fallen Chocolate Cake

This is a Fallen Chocolate Cake.  It's not a fallen chocolate cake as in maybe it fell from grace, or oops! it fell off the table. It is fallen, as in the center of the cake freely gave itself to gravity after it came out of the oven. While it was cooling the center just sunk down and made this beautiful crater in which to house mounds of whipped cream and berries.  Truly, this cake is no fall from grace; it's going to be the saving grace for my Fourth of July cookout.  See, I'm not very good at grilled burgers, but since this will finish the meal who will even remember the meat? 

Fallen Chocolate Cake
Serves 8-12
from Bon Appetit

Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, plus more for pan
1/4 cup plus 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided, plus more for pan
10 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt or scant 1/2 teaspoon table salt

Topping
Assorted fresh berries
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, 1 two 2 cups, optional

Equipment
A 9-inch-diameter springform pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter bottom and sides of springform pan and dust with sugar, tapping out excess.

Combine chocolate, oil, and 1/2 cup butter in a large heatproof bowl.  Set over a saucepan of barely simmering water and heat until melted, stirring often.  Remove bowl and set aside.

Separate 4 eggs, placing whites and yolks in separate bowls.  Make sure to not get any yolk into the whites.  To the bowl containing the 4 yolks, add remaining 2 eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, and 1/4 cup sugar.  Whisk briskly until smooth, especially if there are lumps in the cocoa powder, which there probably are. Gradually whisk yolk mixture into chocolate mixture, blending until incorporated and smooth.

Using an electric mixer with very clean beaters, beat egg whites until frothy.  With mixer running, gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar; continue to beat until firm peaks form.

In 2 additions, gently fold egg whites into the chocolate mixture, folding just until incorporated and no streaks of white remain. Scrape batter into prepared springform pan; smooth and sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over top.

Bake until top is puffed and starting to crack and cake is just starting to pull away from edge of pan, about 30 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cake cool completely in pan.  Cake can be made 1 day head. Cover in pan and store airtight at room temperature. When ready to serve remove from pan and top with whipped cream and berries.  Serve immediately.

(Not Just) Another Chocolate Cake

Nope – this one I’m calling Chocolate Breakfast Bundt Cake, because the other day I took it to work and figured the best way to convince a group of nurses starting the morning shift that it’s okay to eat chocolate cake at 6:45 a.m. would be to include “breakfast” in the title. They didn’t complain.

I’ve been searching for a chocolate bundt cake recipe like this for a long time – really dark, practically devil's food dark, moist (of course), and simple. A cake that’s comfortable in its skin and doesn’t feel the need to get all dolled up with frosting. However, this cake wouldn’t complain if you did dress it up in a chocolate glaze or ganache and renamed it Chocolate Dessert Bundt Cake.

Adapted from cdkitchen.com

Chocolate Breakfast Bundt Cake

½ cup high quality Dutch process cocoa powder*
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
¾ cup water
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (9 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup finely chopped semisweet chocolate

Glaze:
½ cup powdered sugar
a little bit of milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10-cup Bundt pan with “Pam with Flour” or grease and flour the pan.

Combine flour, soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until incorporated and set aside.

Gently melt butter in a large saucepan. Add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Add water and remove from heat. Stir in sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs. Whisk until smooth.


Pour chocolate mixture over flour mixture and whisk until well blended and no lumps remain. Pour mixture into prepared Bundt pan. Gently sprinkle chopped chocolate over the surface of the batter.

 (Don’t stir it in because the batter is thin and the chocolate will migrate downward on its own.)

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake is just firm to the touch and is starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. While cake is cooling prepare the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar with enough milk to make a thin glaze. Carefully invert the warm cake onto a large plate or cake stand. Using a pastry brush liberally brush surface of cake with glaze several times. Cool completely before serving. It might even be better the second day.

Notes on the recipe:

I use Dutch process cocoa powder from Penzy’s spice company. I can’t vouch for natural cocoa powder like Hershey’s or Nestle because I haven’t tried them in this recipe. Penzy’s chocolate is noticeably darker and has a higher fat content. I noticed Hershey’s is selling a hybrid cocoa powder called “Hershey’s Special.” It’s supposed to be darker than the original. Let me know if you try it.

I always spray my Bundt pan with “Pam with Flour” and my cakes always release perfectly. I used to grease and flour but that never worked very well – little pieces of the cake would stick and tear away when I inverted the cake. Also, the flour would inevitably leave a white haze over portions of the cake.