Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Moist chocolate cake

Moist chocolate cake

Before the cake, some info: many of you have been asking me about my vacation – thanks, guys!
I went to Paris, Berlin, Rome and London and it was fantastic. Although Rome was incredibly beautiful, the city I liked the most was Berlin. The people are warm, the food was delicious. I would certainly come back one day!

If you are interested in taking a look at my “adventures in Europe”, some of the photos are now on my Flickr.

This is another recipe I prepared before my trip – and this time I had a very special sous chef.

I’m not an animated film fan, but so many of my favorite foodies were talking about Ratatouille with such enthusiasm that I decided to give it a go. And that special “mission” called for special company – so I took Jessica with me.

She loved the movie and I have to admit I loved it too! Remy is so adorable and cute I kept forgetting he was a mouse… :)

After the movie, my sister came home with me and we decided to bake something. She was in charge of choosing the recipe – and of course she didn’t disappoint me. This cake is so delicious!

You can see some of the almond meal through the cake – I told Jessica to carefully mix the ingredients and she did follow the instructions! :)

Moist chocolate cake

Moist chocolate cake
from Modern Classics 2

- metric measures found in the book

300g (10oz) dark chocolate, chopped
250g (8oz) butter, room temperature
5 eggs
½ cup (115g) sugar
1 ¼ cups (170g) all purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup (85g) almond meal

Icing:
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF. Line the base of a 23cm* (9in) round cake pan with non-stick baking paper – I used waxed paper sprayed with cooking spray.
Place the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth. Set aside.
Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes, or until pale and thick. Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture and gently fold through with the almond meal and chocolate mixture.
Line the base of a 23cm* (9in) round cake pan with non-stick baking paper. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
Cool in the pan.
Prepare the icing: mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it boils.
Remove from heat and pour it over the cake while still hot; spread with a palette knife or the back of a spoon if necessary.

* I used a 25cm round cake pan.

Serves 10

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!!! m m m
My favorite kind of cakes.
And by the way...I heart Remy :))
To answer your question, no, Demel was neever the Milano and I am also not very familiar with that...
History pt. 2 is coming up! ;)

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Those brownies and then this cake! What ARE you trying to do to us?
Saw your pics of holiday, obviously Beatles fans? V.Cool!
We're going to see Ratatouille next week as it's half term holiday, can't wait. Great to have you back Patricia!

pam said...

This cake looks so moist! Your vacation pictures are great, you saw some beautiful sites.

pam said...

This cake looks so moist! Your vacation pictures are great, you saw some beautiful sites.

Gloria Baker said...

So nice recipe, I like it, and the pictures wonderful!!! Gloria

Anonymous said...

I like the picture were the cake left a 'trail' ;) It looks delicious, I love Donna Hay recipes!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

I've been thinking chocolate. This is not helping. Almond meal is so nice in cakes!
Brownies and now cake . . . think I need some chocolate.

Deborah said...

This cake looks amazing. I still have not seen that movie - I really need to get with it!!

Andreea said...

oh the cake looks amazing. i still have to see this movie
your trip looks amazing a lot of the places we saw in the summer as well :)
guess where we are going for december holiday? brazil :)

Susan said...

Remy was more than a mouse, Patricia - he was a RAT! Even so, I'm sure he would approve of your chocolate cake. : ) Great photos. Glad you had a great time, too.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

So glad you had a wonderful vacation! Love your photos of the chocolate cake -- so clever!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE this photo! It's such a nice abstract demonstration and work of art. The cake looks fabulous that I just might start baking because of it.

Anonymous said...

What fun pictures! It's interesting to see what this simple movie has inspired throughout the blogosphere... :)

Anh said...

Lovely photos! And the cake looks absolutely DELICIOUS!

Maggie said...

I love the photographs. That really is a Chocolate Cake! I can see that you are in chocolate heaven at the moment.

Hilda said...

Oh Patricia! I wish you'd told me you were coming to Paris, I would have taken you on a foodie tour! Anyway, I'm glad you had such a great time, and I love Remy too.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Patricia!!! :) Nice to see you here again and happy to hear you had a wonderful holiday! I saw the photos and they are amazing!

That cake sounds so good and just up my alley...rich, moist, and chocolate-y!

Jerry said...

My boyfriend loves anything chocolate, so this is a must!

Abby said...

Beautiful cake and lovely presentation! I have yet to see that movie - I'll have to rent it when it comes out! And I liked Rome, but I wasn't crazy about it. (Florence is my fave Italian city so far!)

We're going to Normandy, Paris and London in Feb/Mar - can't wait! I've been to London - but Paris is one place I've ALWAYS wanted to go!

Stella said...

I had a look at your trip & your hubby seems to have had the time of his life! Well both of you, without any doubt! What a beautiful escape Pat:)

All the best!!:)

Mansi said...

Hi,

got here from cris's blog! this cake looks so delicious, and very true to its name!! gald to have found you:)

I'm hosting AFAM-Peach this month, and would be happy if you could send in an entry for the event! details are on my blog...

Mallow said...

Oooo, that looks good. Everything I have tried out of that book has been a keeper.

Anonymous said...

Delicious sounding, Patricia! And what a witty, gorgeous presentation. I'll have to, um, "borrow" that technique sometime.

Cheryl said...

There is nothing better than a really moist chocolate cake when hanging with your sister.

Anonymous said...

A moist and sticky chocolate cake is the most popular cake in Sweden - definately a dessert success, and not nessecarily served with cream.

I looked at the pictures. You two make such a beautiful couple. I´m a bit surprised, you found the food in Berlin delicious. Berlin is famous for a lot of things, but fine cuisine isn't one of them.
Hugs from Karin

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Jeff and I have been wanting to visit Berlin for years. It's on our must-see list of cities, and it may get bump[ed up a couple of spots now. :)

Anonymous said...

i've looked at your Flickr..apparently you too had so much fun in Europe! you look cute, Patricia, now that I see your face, i don't have to imagine how you look like :D
2 posts about chocolate...hmmm...what mood are you in right now? ;P

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

Patricia - it sounds like you had a wonderful trip, and that cake looks incredibly elegant - I love the presentation!

Anne said...

This cake looks awefully good! Glad to know you had a wonderful time during your vacation. I miss reading your posts and I'm really happy your back (",)

Helene said...

Glad to have you back! Sounds like you had an awesome time! The cake looks incredible...like rolling on the floor good!

eatme_delicious said...

Such a cute presentation of the cake! :) And how fun to bake with your sister. Happy to have you back, I've missed your posts.

Pat said...

Lovely looking cake!!! And lovely photos!!!!!!! Maybe next time we could meet up in London and do lunch! Looks like you had a really lovely time!!! I find Paris very exciting!!!

KJ said...

Your holiday sounds terrific. And so does this cake. So lovely and chocolatey.

I really enjoyed Ratatouille too. Such a fun, feel good movie.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your warm comment Patricia. I'm writing an article on my trip to Brazil at the moment so I must say, what a coincidence! (And I agree with you, we have different desires on food and never know which one comes next)

Patricia Scarpin said...

Tea, tks, sweetie!

Amanda, I'm on a strict diet now, have to lose all the pounds I gained on my trip! These are pure temptation, I know, dear!

Pam, I did - thank you!

Gloria, tks for visiting!


Linda, I love her recipes, too!

Tanna, it's not helping me too, sweetie - I need to get in my jeans again! :)

Deb, the movie is so adorable!

Andreea, I do hope you like it here!

Susan, he (it?) surely knew how to prepare some really good food! :)

Lydia, tks, sweetie!

Hillary, you should definite bake something. :)

Hannah, true!

Anh, tks!

Margaret, I was - unfortunately now, only grilled fish and salad for me. :(

Hilda, that's a shame! Next time I will definite ask for your help, sweetie! Tks!

Joey, very chocolate-y! And tks for the warm words, sweetie!

Jerry, bake it for him! :)

Abby, you will like the movie, I'm sure!
I found the people in Rome very rude, like the people in Paris. :(

Valentina, he had loads of fun and he loves having his photo taken (something I don't like). lol
Tks for being around, my sweet friend!

Mansi, Cris told me to be a part of the event and I want to! Tks for stopping by, it means a lot!

Mallow, you've said it all, dear.

Terry, be my guest. ;)

Cheryl, you are so right.

Karin, maybe we got lucky? I had wonderful salads, delicious bread... And Joao ate loads of beef and he said it was delicious!
I showed him your comment and he blushed a little. :)
Thank you, my dear friend, for your kind words.

Susan, I'm sure you are gonna love it - and the people are just amazing!

Eliza, tks, sweetie! I wasn't gonna post photos of ourselves (I don't like having my photo taken) but Joao insisted.

T.W., thank you, my friend!

Anne, I missed you too, dear!

Helen, Jessica had 2 huge slices, one right after the other. :)

Hey, sweetie, I'm glad you liked it! I missed your posts, too!

Pat, definitely! I want to go back to London and would love to meet you in person, my sweet friend!

KJ, the movie is very cute!

Tijen, I can't wait to read your article - and tks for stopping by, what a nice surprise!

Curt McAdams said...

Patricia, I love the negative space view on the plate... very cool presentation!

Sneige said...

ajj, the serving/decoration idea is awesome!

Cynthia said...

I see that the hubby had a blast at the Wax museum :) Will take my time looking through the album.

I've still not seen ratatouille yet. Guess I'll wait for the DVD.

Anonymous said...

So glad you had a wonderful vacation. It sounds terrific! I really like your cake presentation.

Toni said...

Your trip looks great - and Joao is such a clown! Love it!

The cake sounds delicious, but I must confess that I'm obviously retarded. I've gone to your flikr site and looked under the "sweet" photos, but don't know that I'm seeing this particular cake. I see the brownies, and there are several other photos of chocolate cakes. Which one is this one?

Sorry I'm so lame!
Beijos, sweetie!

Anonymous said...

The chocolate cake looks delish! And you look like you had a great vacation. You and your hubby look so sweet together :)

Amy said...

I adore chocolate cake! I loved your vacation pics, looks like you had a fabulous time! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh... you really, really went on a vacation! What a dream of a trip. I'm so glad you had a wonderful time. Heading over to Flickr to check out the photos!

Baking Fiend said...

you're quite a chocoholic yeah? LOL... thanks for sharing the recipe.

you've been tagged! come visit my blog and find out more. :)

Christina Kim said...

Oooo....so lucky to on a Europe vacation!!:D

Patricia Scarpin said...

Curt, thank you for stopping by!

Alita, thank you for the visit!

Cynthia, he did! lol
And you should definitely watch the movie, dear. It's so cute!

Lynn, thank you, sweetie!

Toni, he is!! He makes me laugh so hard sometimes I get tears in my eyes. :)
You are NOT retarded, sweetie - I am! I had wrongly posted the photos in the end of the album. It's changed now, and tks for letting me know!
Beijos, querida!

Hey, dear! Thank you, I'll tell him that. :)

Amy, me too! Chocolate cake is such a nice snack.

Kristen, it was a wonderful and unforgettable vacation, my friend.

Baking Fiend, I'll check it out! Tks!

Christy, tks for stopping by!

Abitofafoodie said...

What a divine looking cake! Can you tell me, is almond meal the same thing as 'ground almonds'? I am guessing it must be. I have not heard the term almond meal before.

Glad you had such a good time over here in Europe.

Paola Westbeek said...

Hi Patricia,

Oh I LOVE that picture! It just screams artistic genious to me! We loved Ratatouille btw. It was really a movie for three of us to enjoy.

paola
ps: loved seeing your Europe piccies as well!!

Anonymous said...

Patricia - Amazing presentation!! I am definitely stealing this idea!

Cris said...

Love the way you had it on the plate!

TBC said...

Patricia,
The brownies and the chocolate cake look delicious. I love the presentation in the first pic! :-)

Everything4sweets said...

Yumm, looks so moist and delicious :)

Belinda said...

Oh, how pretty! I love the way you did these photos as well...very creative, and fun! :-)

Andrea said...

Wow, that looks so good!

Coffee and Vanilla said...

Patricia,

I love this cake, it looks absolutely delicious.

Margot

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