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Triple Chocolate Cake Recipe
June 5, 2004
My friend Jen is a baking fool. Freshly baked cakes for every birthday, cookies on a whim, and warm scones on Sunday mornings (at the gym!). When we get together to assemble holiday cookie boxes for friends, Jen shows up with seven cookies to my three, AND she picks the hard ones like rugelach and amaretti. I, of course, am stuck in the rut of old stand-bys; fudge, gingerbread men, and shortbread.
Her birthday is tonight, and so the question looms -- what kind of cake do you make for the girl who always makes the cakes?
Late last night I decided the easy answer to that question -- the same cake she liked so much last year! Some of you may remember the Triple-Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Peppermint Filling. Everyone likes this cake, and like most fair-weather bakers, I always get a little nervous about trying a completely new recipe when the people you are cooking for are counting on you for their end-of-the-evening sugar rush. I also thought it was a good opportuninty to take a picture of it for you, because we ate the cake before I could shoot it last year.
Last year I used espresso instead of peppermint. This year I am going to go the espresso route again - the crowd I'm going out with tonight are all bonafide coffee junkies. I also soaked both the cake layers with a good strong dose of Kahlua.
Size. I'm in love with tiny cakes right now. So I decided to make a smaller cake this year -- not exactly tiny, but headed in that direction. The cake is so rich and dense, I don't think anyone is going to miss the extra inch or two. I think it will serve 8 nicely. I used a pan 6 inches wide and 3 inches deep, and filled it about 2/3 full. I could have gone a bit fuller, and will do-so next time. I want it a bit taller, but not enough to risk an overflow.
Icing on the cake. I may not be meticulous enough to be a good cake decorator, but I did manage to get the chocolate crumb layer down, and then flood the cake with an espresso chocolate glaze. Not as smooth as fondant, but as good as its going to get for me. Last year I sprinkled flowers on top. This time I got out my pastry bag and did a few dots (baby steps!)...I did one "flower" in the middle and decided to quit while I was ahead.
Like I said last time, this is a great sophisticated chocolate cake recipe. I highly recommend it and the recipe is available online.
I'm going to try out a couple Sri Lankan cookbook recipes next week, and hopefully share some pictures, and stories as well -- seeing as I've been back for over a month! Sorry about the delay.
In some of the early entries on this site I didn't request permission to run the recipe I was writing about from the publisher so it won't appear here. The majority of entries on 101 Cookbooks will have the recipes attached, this just happens to be one of the ones that doesn't.
From: Bon Appetit Page: 138
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Your Comments
reina said:i can attest that it tasted as good as it looks! and i definitely would prefer espresso to peppermint. i loved the small size too - you have inspired me to go out and buy some 6 inch round pans.
Erika said:You have inspired me to make this cake for my significant others' birthday. Do you have and tips that are not on the recipe?
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