14 Jul 2010 Polly’s New “Signature” Chocolate Cake!
 |  Category: Cakes & Cupcakes  | Tags: , , ,

You know how I have been wanting to find a “signature cake”? I imagined it would be a bit intricate, a few layers, a filling, a frosting, and a fabulous taste. Well, I have found my signature cake and it’s nothing like that. It’s one layer. Rustic looking. Uneven. No frosting. No filling. One flavor. Fabulous. FAB-YOOO-LICIOUS. The outside is lightly crispy, lightly crunchy. The inside is soft, creamy, and rich. One tablespoon of flour holds the chocolate, sugar, eggs and butter together. It’s a slice of candy more than a slice of cake. And it makes everything right with the world.

The notes say this cake IMPROVES by freezing. So it’s a make-ahead cake to boot! I think I’ve found the world’s best “signature cake”!

The recipe for this cake can be found on page 312 and 313 of Molly Wizenberg‘s novel, “A Homemade Life” (her recipe was adapted from Je veux du chocolat!, by Trish Deseine). The book is good, a sweet read, with lots of recipes. It might be a good gift for the food loving, book reading cooks in your life. Think birthdays, think stocking stuffers! The given name of this cake is “The Winning Hearts and Minds Cake”. I find that a bit cumbersome. I much prefer the name I have chosen for it, “Polly’s New One Tablespoon of Flour “Signature” Chocolate Cake”!

Molly Wizenberg’s The Winning-Hearts-and-Minds Cake

7 oz of good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped (like Scharffen Berger, or Ghirardelli 60% chips also work well, VERY well)
7 oz unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour
lightly sweetened whipped cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put the chocolate and the butter in a microwaveable bowl and zap for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until mixture is smooth. Add sugar, and stir well. Set batter aside to cool for 5 minutes. While the chocolate is cooling, prepare a high sided 8-inch round cake pan (not a layer cake pan, you’ll need a pan with at least a 2.5 inch depth-cake rises and falls) for baking. Butter the pan. Line the bottom with a round piece of parchment paper cut to fit, then butter the paper, too. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the chocolate mixture, stirring well after each addition. Add the one tablespoon of flour and mix well. The batter should be dark and silky. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes. This is important: CHECK THE CAKE CAREFULLY! The top should be lightly crackled, the edges puffed, and the center JUST set. Remove the properly baked cake from oven and cool on rack, in pan, for 15 minutes. Carefully tip cake out of pan, and then tip again, so the top side faces up, onto a serving plate. Cool completely. Serve small slices with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Sigh and moan. Repeat.

NOTE: Cake can be kept at room temperature, sealed in plastic for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days. (Bring to room temperature before serving.)

TO FREEZE: The taste and texture of this cake are actually improved by freezing. Try to make the cake far enough in advance that you can freeze it for a day or more, and then allow another day for the cake to defrost and to be brought back to room temperature before serving. To freeze, wrap cake in plastic wrap and then in foil. Cake will keep, frozen, for a month. Allow to defrost, fully wrapped, for 24 hours before serving.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today (it was worth it, wasn’t it?!)

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2 Responses
  1. Abby says:

    When my mom told me this only had one tablespoon of flour in it, I considered that it was quite possibly a healthier alternative…I ate a LOT of it…but I don’t think my original thought is true…. so worth it though!

  2. Polly says:

    This cake is driving you crazy? I’ll make you one, and put it in the freezer until you get yourself up here.

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