Chris Kimball - Stovetop Chocolate Cake - Milk Street

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I have made this cake for the second time and it couldn't be simpler nor more delicious......there is a video of him on You Tube making the cake here is the recipe

katu.com

Christopher Kimball's Milk Street: Stovetop Chocolate Cake

It’s a cake you don’t bake! Rosemary Gill, director of education at Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, joined us to share a decadent recipe from “The Milk Street Cookbook: 5th Anniversary Edition”. Stovetop Chocolate Cake. Start to finish: 35 minutes (10 minutes active), plus cooling. Servings...
katu.com katu.com
 
I picked up this icing at the discount rack and your cake seems like a good option to try it out on the library staff.

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Re canned icing: I especially liked the fact there are no "impossible to pronounce" ingredients...always a good thing. I also believe it's vegan (per their website frosting notes), but it does not say that anywhere on the can.

Cake recipe Nit Pick: Slight annoyance at the decision to NOT INCLUDE water in ingredient list. I'm seeing this more and more. Sometimes I just look at the list of ingredients and work from that, knowing how most recipes are processed. Had I not watched the video FIRST, I might have missed the required 1/2 C of water. I also thought it odd they didn't dissolve the coffee crystals first.

Oh well, nit picks aside, I'll still be trying this cake this week.
 
Good one. Thanks. From the finished product samples..... is that enough espresso that he put in??

I've never tried roasting and grinding espresso, but am about to do so. My espresso is reasonably intense but I do want to know that it is there.
 
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marilynfl said:
I picked up this icing at the discount rack and your cake seems like a good option to try it out on the library staff.

View attachment 4045 View attachment 4046

Re canned icing: I especially liked the fact there are no "impossible to pronounce" ingredients...always a good thing. I also believe it's vegan (per their website frosting notes), but it does not say that anywhere on the can.

Cake recipe Nit Pick: Slight annoyance at the decision to NOT INCLUDE water in ingredient list. I'm seeing this more and more. Sometimes I just look at the list of ingredients and work from that, knowing how most recipes are processed. Had I not watched the video FIRST, I might have missed the required 1/2 C of water. I also thought it odd they didn't dissolve the coffee crystals first.

Oh well, nit picks aside, I'll still be trying this cake this week.
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I agree on the water issue. When I look back over the list of ingredients to make sure I have not skipped something, it isn't there.
 
Wow, I didn’t notice till you mentioned it. Yeah, that’s not the way to write a recipe. That would not pass muster with my technical writing teacher.
 
oh bugger! At 3:30 AM last night (technically, this morning as I was STILL unable to fall asleep until 5:45 AM) I realized my enameled cast iron Dutch oven is OVAL shaped! And I don't own a cake pan that is OVAL shaped. And my pasta pot doesn't seal anywhere near as well as the Dutch oven. Nor does it retain the heat as well. I'm assuming this is critical for the steaming aspect. I know I could just bake the batter in the oven, but wanted to see the textual difference with steaming it.

Bugger all. I HAD one but left my round enameled Dutch oven in FL. That's what I guess for being generous with my cooking equipment.
Has anyone made this in a regular thin stainless steel pot with a lid?
 
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marilynfl said:
oh bugger! At 3:30 AM last night (technically, this morning as I was STILL unable to fall asleep until 5:45 AM) I realized my enameled cast iron Dutch oven is OVAL shaped! And I don't own a cake pan that is OVAL shaped. And my pasta pot doesn't seal anywhere near as well as the Dutch oven. Nor does it retain the heat as well. I'm assuming this is critical for the steaming aspect. I know I could just bake the batter in the oven, but wanted to see the textual difference with steaming it.

Bugger all. I HAD one but left my round enameled Dutch oven in FL. That's what I guess for being generous with my cooking equipment.
Has anyone made this in a regular thin stainless steel pot with a lid?
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I have not but looked it up and you may find this useful:
www.chefsresource.com

How to Bake a Cake on the Stove? - Chef's Resource

How to Bake a Cake on the Stove: A Surprisingly Simple Guide Baking a cake without an oven might seem ... Read moreHow to Bake a Cake on the Stove?
www.chefsresource.com www.chefsresource.com
 
well...they just detailed exactly what I feared:
  • A heavy-bottomed pot or pan: This is crucial for even heat distribution and preventing scorching. A Dutch oven works exceptionally well.
  • A tight-fitting lid: This traps the steam and allows the cake to cook properly.
 
marilynfl said:
well...they just detailed exactly what I feared:
  • A heavy-bottomed pot or pan: This is crucial for even heat distribution and preventing scorching. A Dutch oven works exceptionally well.
  • A tight-fitting lid: This traps the steam and allows the cake to cook properly.
Click to expand...
Just thinking out loud....can you borrow a Dutch Oven from a neighbor????
 
Gay, my neighbors have "my grannie's grannie used this skillet on the pot belly stove" level of kitchen equipment. They are still in awe when I roast cauliflower.

Maria, the weird oblong shape prohibits anything wider than 6" at the highest point in the oven. With the aluminum ring spacer, I could make that work.

However...fortune smiled on me when I stopped at a thrift shop and saw a 10.5" by 4" high heavy pot that I thought could work. It's a mess, but I'll use the Maria Cleans A Pot method, because...

IMG_1296.jpeg IMG_1298.jpeg

...look at the name on the handle...

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...and it was $3!

No lid, but for $3, I will work around it.
 
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Can someone supply the Milk Street American Whipped Cream cake, I think he called it? He was completely trashing French genoise and said this one was far superior. It was one of those short video reels, so I have no clue of the recipe. He baked it, so it's not the chocolate version. It is NOT the one with the hole in the middle and I don't think he used hot milk. I'll try to see if I can find the reel again.

This is what happens when you can't sleep at 4:15 AM.

ha! Found it:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1604707794141654
 
marilynfl said:
Gay, my neighbors have "my grannie's grannie used this skillet on the pot belly stove" level of kitchen equipment. They are still in awe when I roast cauliflower.

Maria, the weird oblong shape prohibits nothing wider than 6" at the highest point in the oven. With the aluminum ring spacer, I could make that work.

However...fortune smiled on me when I stopped at a thrift shop and saw a 10.5" by 4" high heavy pot that I thought could work. It's a mess, but I'll use the Maria Cleans A Pot method, because...

View attachment 4049 View attachment 4050

...look at the name on the handle...

View attachment 4051

...and it was $3!

No lid, but for $3, I will work around it.
Click to expand...
Wow, Marilyn what a bargain......
 
First, what a SCORE!! and isn’t it satisfying using barkeepers friend and getting that kind of results? It’s practically intoxicating!

Yeah, probably any number of lids will fit on that. Such a great find!!! W00t!
 
Congratulations! You are indeed a restorative person. It would be such a shame to have tossed that in the garbage. What a beauty.

I was at an upscale leather bag/handbag sale one time. I saw a very handy (I was doing so much travel then) LVuitton carryon marked down to next to nothing because it had lost a tiny screw for the handle. I figured I could work something out cuz this was a HUGE score. Bought it, took it home, looked inside...............and guess what was in there.

I am at the stage of eliminating things, but if not, you all have taught me enough that I would be checking out those stores.
 
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