I taught you the other day how to have a successful girls night. One of the key components is to have something sinfully rich, chocolatey and amazing for dessert. Here is the perfect solution. I originally saw this recipe over on Recipe Girl. It was love at first sight! My salivary glands became activated immediately upon seeing that title and first photo. As I read more about this chocolate wonder and skimmed the recipe I knew I just had to make it mine!
To have a successful girls night start with the four most fabulous women you know! Add a little wine. Paint each other’s nails, gossip, and laugh until you cry!
We celebrated my mom’s 35th birthday this weekend (she has turned 35 a few times). Since I get my chocolate-loving gene from her, it was only fitting to make her a chocolate birthday cake. One of the best kitchen mistakes I have made was when I baked chocolate lava cakes for too long. What came out of the oven were super moist individual chocolate cakes. Don’t get me wrong, I do know the importance of perfectly cooked chocolate lava cake. I love that warm, gooey, chocolatey center.
So I thought, “Maybe I can use my chocolate lava cake recipe for a full cake and end up with a super moist birthday cake”. Well, what I actually ended up with was an extremely delicate, very rich, and very dark, birthday cake. My family said it tasted more like brownies than cake. It still tasted good, it just wasn’t what I was going for.
Keeping with the theme of experimenting, I topped my mom’s cake with fresh, purple flowers. Last week, I was reading all about edible flowers and felt inspired to try using them as a garnish. I went shopping for edible flowers, and came home with several bouquets of edible and non-edible varieties. Flowers are just too pretty to pass up! I kept the orange roses for myself and took the rest to my mom.
When using flowers on food, it is very important to ensure they are food-safe and edible. Some flowers (like lilies, whoda thunk?!) are poisonous to eat. When I post about my candied flowers experiment I will provide a whole list of edible and non-edible flowers. The other thing is to make sure you know how they were grown (i.e. not using pesticides or fungicides).
The recipe below is for chocolate lava cakes. Really, it comes out better when made into individual portions and baked just long enough to preserve the gooey center. The frosting on the above cake is a simple whipped cream with cocoa powder mixed in.
Chocolate Lava Cakes
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter
5 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch of kosher salt
-Preheat oven to 400°F.
-Stir chocolate and butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat, cool 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-Using electric mixer, beat eggs, yolks, sugar, vanilla, espresso powder and salt in medium bowl, on high, until very thick ribbons fall when beaters are lifted. (This can take up to fifteen minutes).
-Sift flour over batter; fold in flour. Fold in chocolate mixture.
-Butter and flour small ramekins. Divide batter among dishes, filling completely.
-Bake cakes until tops are puffed and dry and tester inserted into center comes out with moist batter still attached, about 15 minutes. Cool cakes 5 minutes. (The cakes will not stay puffed, the tops will sink slightly.)
-Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Serve warm.
Dessert is my favorite meal of the day. Winter, the “holiday season” specifically, is my favorite time of the year because everyone is making and requesting sweets. The only thing that puzzles me about this season is that, with all the holiday delicacy just waiting to be enjoyed, people get hung up on cookies for some reason. I love cookies, but this cake is a lovely alternative to all that “holiday cookie” baking going on these days.
It is filled with the scents and flavors of fall and winter: cinnamon (my favorite spice), nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and apples.
I found this recipe on Gourmet.com in October 2009. I followed the recipe exactly the first time I made it and have since altered it to my liking. I add nutmeg and I leave the cream cheese frosting plain, I think it is a nice balance to the full flavor of the cake.
I make this cake year-round because I love the flavor, and the applesauce makes for an extremely moist cake. I have already made it twice this season and will definitely be making it several more times before winter is finished. It is best served at room temperature or slightly cooled.
Applesauce Spice Cake
Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 ½ cups unsweetened applesauce
½ cup toasted, chopped walnuts (optional) OR
½ cup raisins (optional)
Frosting
Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature; cold cream cheese does not mix well and ends up with little lumps.
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup confectioners sugar (more or less to taste)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in middle position.
Grease 8-inch square cake pan
Cake
-Whisk dry ingredients together
-In a separate bowl beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy
-Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in applesauce
-Add flour mixture and mix until just combined
-Stir in walnuts or raisins, if using. (Save a few to top the frosting).
-Spread batter evenly in pan and bake until golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 45-55 minutes.
-Cool in pan 15 minutes then move to a wire rack to cool completely
Frosting
-Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy
-Beat in confectioners sugar (adding more if you like sweeter frosting) until smooth
-Spread frosting over cooled cake.
-If using walnuts or raisins, sprinkle a few on top of the frosting for a little decoration.
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