sandi-in-hawaii
Well-known member
Interesting cake. It was a kinda sturdy cake, more like a quickbread than a cake, which makes sense, since it uses olive oil instead of butter.
The taste was not very chocolate-y, but that could be because I used Penzey's Dutch Process cocoa instead of my usual Pernigotti (not that impressed with it).
For the amount of bowls that it took (boil water, mix water with cocoa, sift dry ingredients in one bowl, beat eggs and sugar in another, etc.) and lack of chocolate flavor, I'd much prefer any of the other chocolate quickbread recipes.
It's not that this is a bad recipe - it's just that there are better ones for the effort. The best thing about it is that I'd always have the ingredients on hand smileys/smile.gif
Dark Chocolate Cake by Leslie Revsin From Fine Cooking 43, January 16, 2008
Full of rich, deeply chocolate flavor, you'd never guess it's the olive oil that gives this cake such moistness and character. You can use a stencil design to dust the cake with confectioners' sugar, or if you have a favorite chocolate frosting, feel free to use it here. Be sure your 8-inch cake pan is at least 2 inches high; the batter almost fills it. The cake keeps at room temperature for up to four days, but it will disappear much sooner than that.
Serves eight to ten.
Olive oil and flour for the pan
1 1/4 oz. (1/2 cup) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
4 1/2 oz. (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2/3 cup olive oil
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting
Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Heat the oven to 325°F. Generously oil an 8x2-inch round cake pan (or an 8-1/2-inch springform pan) with olive oil and line the bottom of the pan with parchment or waxed paper. Oil the paper and dust it lightly with flour.
In a small saucepan, boil about 1/2 cup of water. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder through a strainer over a small bowl. Stir 6 Tbs. of the boiling water into the cocoa until it's smooth and glossy (if the mixture is very thick, you can add as much as 2 Tbs. more boiling water; when I tried this cake with Hershey's cocoa, I needed to do this). Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside to cool slightly. In another small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs and yolk, olive oil, and sugar. Using the whisk attachment, beat on medium-high speed until thick, lemon colored, and creamy, 2 to 3 min., scraping down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the warm (not hot) cocoa mixture until it's well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it but with no wet batter, 55 to 60 min. Put the pan on a rack and carefully run a paring knife around the inside edge to release the cake. Let cool for 10 min. Using a second rack to sandwich the cake pan, flip the pan over. Carefully lift the pan from the cake, gently peel off and discard the paper liner, and let the cake cool completely.
Before serving, dust the top of the cake with confectioners' sugar.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/dark_chocolate_cake.aspx?collection=64284
The taste was not very chocolate-y, but that could be because I used Penzey's Dutch Process cocoa instead of my usual Pernigotti (not that impressed with it).
For the amount of bowls that it took (boil water, mix water with cocoa, sift dry ingredients in one bowl, beat eggs and sugar in another, etc.) and lack of chocolate flavor, I'd much prefer any of the other chocolate quickbread recipes.
It's not that this is a bad recipe - it's just that there are better ones for the effort. The best thing about it is that I'd always have the ingredients on hand smileys/smile.gif
Dark Chocolate Cake by Leslie Revsin From Fine Cooking 43, January 16, 2008
Full of rich, deeply chocolate flavor, you'd never guess it's the olive oil that gives this cake such moistness and character. You can use a stencil design to dust the cake with confectioners' sugar, or if you have a favorite chocolate frosting, feel free to use it here. Be sure your 8-inch cake pan is at least 2 inches high; the batter almost fills it. The cake keeps at room temperature for up to four days, but it will disappear much sooner than that.
Serves eight to ten.
Olive oil and flour for the pan
1 1/4 oz. (1/2 cup) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
4 1/2 oz. (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2/3 cup olive oil
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting
Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Heat the oven to 325°F. Generously oil an 8x2-inch round cake pan (or an 8-1/2-inch springform pan) with olive oil and line the bottom of the pan with parchment or waxed paper. Oil the paper and dust it lightly with flour.
In a small saucepan, boil about 1/2 cup of water. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder through a strainer over a small bowl. Stir 6 Tbs. of the boiling water into the cocoa until it's smooth and glossy (if the mixture is very thick, you can add as much as 2 Tbs. more boiling water; when I tried this cake with Hershey's cocoa, I needed to do this). Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside to cool slightly. In another small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs and yolk, olive oil, and sugar. Using the whisk attachment, beat on medium-high speed until thick, lemon colored, and creamy, 2 to 3 min., scraping down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the warm (not hot) cocoa mixture until it's well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it but with no wet batter, 55 to 60 min. Put the pan on a rack and carefully run a paring knife around the inside edge to release the cake. Let cool for 10 min. Using a second rack to sandwich the cake pan, flip the pan over. Carefully lift the pan from the cake, gently peel off and discard the paper liner, and let the cake cool completely.
Before serving, dust the top of the cake with confectioners' sugar.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/dark_chocolate_cake.aspx?collection=64284