A Quest - for Perfect Chocolate Cake

I'm in search of a recipe for the perfect chocolate cake. I had the perfect chocolate cake just over a month ago at the Old Village Hall Restaurant & Pub in Lanesboro, MN. It was a mocha chocolate cake and it was rich and dense and oh so yummy. Recently, I had another chocolate cake that was close to as perfect as the first - this one a Chocolate Truffle Turtle Cake at The Roasted Pear. I asked for the recipe. I didn't get it.

I'm tempted to call the Old Village Hall and ask for their recipe but I don't mind a quest. So I'm on one - in search of a recipe for the perfect chocolate cake. The cake I want to bake is kind of like a flourless chocolate torte but more dense. The ones I've had have been topped with chocolate ganache so that's a must. I believe both had a chocolate crust but I'm not hooked on the crust idea.

Tuesday night I tried a recipe from Chocolate Cakes - 50 Great Cakes for Every Occasion. The recipe, Peppermint Patty Cake, called for 4 oz of unsweetened chocolate and 1 1/2 cups of peppermint patties and it's covered with chocolate ganache (made with cream & chocolate - yum!). I baked the cake according to directions - and it flopped. Okay, not completely but I couldn't get the cake out of the pan (despite buttering the pan - the recipe didn't call for me to flour the pan as well. I think flouring it, or using a springform pan, would have helped). In the end I had a mass of chocolate mush on my countertop and it didn't resemble a cake at all.

Owen suggested I throw it out and start over. I wanted the cake for my brother's birthday at noon on Wednesday and it was late Tuesday night so I couldn't start over. Instead, I took the gloppy mess and formed it into a cake shape with my hands. Then I covered it with ganache. And even though there were a few spots where the texture was a little off (the peppermints congealed in places) we ate it - all of it - within two days.

My brother Joel and his son Liam - and the birthday cake that didn't work but still tasted great.

I'm thinking I might take the recipe and tweak it a bit and see if I can come up with my own recipe for a perfect chocolate cake. I'm sure it will take me awhile to find the perfect recipe - but I don't mind a quest, especially one that involves chocolate!

Comments

Nina Patten said…
Cakes are so tricky. I am a big fan of buttermilk when I bake--gives richness and a great blend with chocolate. I may have a recipe to share with you.
June 17, 2011 at 10:14 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Change in Plans

Image
My kids, Rose and Ryan, started a theater day camp today called Young People's Theater Workshop (YPTW). YPTW is a program put on through the Northfield Arts Guild  during which the kids, grouped by age, write a play, rehearse it, and then perform it at the end of the three week session. Rose loves the camp and this is her fourth year. In her first year I saw a huge change in her confidence from the beginning of the session to the end. She has grown each year since and I expect she will benefit from the camp again this year. Ryan has never been in YPTW and has been somewhat reluctant to go. But, to save on gas (it's a 30 mile round trip to town), make our schedule easier and give me time to work, Owen and I decided that Ryan should give YPTW a try. Given how good the program has been for Rose, we're hoping Ryan will benefit from the program as well. I dropped the kids off this morning and right off the bat Ryan found two friends from his class at Greenvale. He found...
Read more

Making tracks

Image
I just looked out my office window and saw my snowshoe tracks in the snow. For some reason they surprised me. Seeing them I had concrete evidence that I actually have been getting out on my snowshoes every day. That I've actually been going somewhere. And, for some reason, I find this comforting. I've been fighting my 30 Days of Snowshoeing commitment and am kind of mad at myself for creating the challenge for myself. I haven't wanted to get out every day and snowshoe. It's cold outside. I don't like putting on my snowpants, my hat, scarf, gloves, jacket. Perhaps because I'm doing the challenge alone, unlike the 30 Days of Biking challenges where hundreds of other people biked every day and helped motivate each other, I don't really feel like it matters that I'm doing this. And I've lost momentum and motivation and simply want to sit inside and read a book. Or sleep. Or watch Monk and Cake Boss on Netflix. But I keep snowshoeing. Every day. Ev...
Read more

A Little Bike Schooling on the B Ride

I'll be honest with you, my two main motivations for riding my bike any distance are coffee and conversation. A good workout is also a motivator but going really fast is not. I'm more of a slow and steady - okay, really slow and not that steady - sort of bicyclist. But for months now I've wanted to join in on a group ride. From what I've heard people ride their bikes, chat away the miles and stop somewhere for a cup of coffee mid-way or at the end of the ride. Sounds like my kind of ride. Right? Maybe not. Most of the group rides I've heard about promise average speeds of 18 to 20 miles per hour or more and go 40 or more miles. Some sound brutal and talk about hill climbs and sprints. Granted, these are the "A" rides, rides geared towards competitive riders, riders who want to push their limits. "B" rides are supposed to be slower, "C" rides even more so but I've seen some C rides that sound too fast for me, some B rides with leng...
Read more