Just want Chocolate

For the past few baking posts I've shared recipes that starred peaches and blueberries, the bounty of our Farmer's market.  But, you know what is always in season?  Chocolate.  Sometimes chocolate like to be eaten straight from the wrapper, but sometimes it wants to get dressed up and be a star and this cake lets it be the star.

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Vanilla Frosting

Adapted from Hershey's Rhapsody Chocolate Cake

Ingredients for Cake:

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 

1 cup boiling water

2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup Hot Chocolate Powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt, 0%

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a standard bundt pan.

Combine in a medium sized bowl the chocolate chips and softened butter, and stir in the boiling hot water.

Blend together until the chocolate, butter and hot water make a silky chocolate soup.

In a separate bowl combine flour, hot chocolate powder, baking soda and salt and gradually blend in the chocolate soup.  

Then add the eggs, yogurt and vanilla and continue to blend, and pour into the prepared bundt pan.

I retained a little bit of the batter for 4 cupcake sized portion since we had friends over, and I wanted to taste test the new recipe, so I only baked it for around 40 minutes, even though the recipe calls for 55 to 60.  I would recommend checking at 40 minutes with the toothpick trick and then extending for five minutes and checking again.

After baking, let the cake cool in the pan for at least ten minutes, and then invert on a plate and if time allows continue to let cool.  I made my cake the night before a family party and made the glaze the morning of, but I am sure they could all be done the night before and would stay beautiful and delicious.

Ingredients for Glaze:

1/2 stick of butter

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 - 3 tablespoons of hot water

This might be the most simple, most delicious frosting.  I think  you could be creative and add food color, or other flavor extracts (almond, mint, liquor, lemon, etc), but I kept it simple.

Melt the butter and gradually stir in the powdered sugar, water and vanilla.  

 Beat by hand with a whisk until smooth, adding more water a teaspoon at a time if you're finding it too thick, or lumpy.   This makes more than enough glaze - so maybe you'll lick the whisk, or share with a friend!

Pour a generous amount all around the cake, in any free form design.  I think with a cake this classic it doesn't need to look "too perfect".   I added some plain slivered almonds for fun - and crunch.  

Cut a big slice and enjoy!  This cake is sweetened with the sugar and chocolate chips, but not too sweet with the balance of the yogurt.  I think you could tweak this recipe with nearly anything you had on hand.  It's so moist you don't need anything else, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't love it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

The Cake that Stole the Show, or Blueberry Harvest Cake

Blueberry Harvest Cake

Part of the joy of getting a pedicure is reading the magazines.  And I was extra joyful when I stumbled upon the August issue of Food & Wine Magazine.  With tributes to Tuscan Farm to Fork cooking and a feature on Greek Chef/Philosopher Michael Psilakis I was hooked.  

On Sunday, a few days after the pedicure, we were having Mark's family over for lunch to wish his mom a "buon viaggio" before her trip to Italy.  This was our first time entertaining in our new house, and we toiled on the menu, prepared on Saturday, shopped our Farmer's Market Sunday morning and cooked and cleaned just until showtime.  On a hot day, and a full menu the big debate was dessert, and then I remembered the magazine.

The Cake that Stole the Show, or Blueberry Harvest Cake 

adapted from Food & Wine Magazine, August 2010

All the ingredients ready to be delicious

Ingredients:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of salt

3/4 teaspoon of baking powder

2 large eggs

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup of milk

1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 - 1.5 cups of blueberries, fresh

Confectioners Sugar for dusting

Use a 9" springform pan

Oven at 350 degrees

Whisk the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl whisk, by hand, the eggs with granulated sugar until fully combined and a smooth yellow color.  

Then pour in the vanilla, milk, and olive oil and continue whisking by hand.  Slowly and while whisking continuously, pour in the melted butter.  It's a good idea to let the melted butter cool for a few moments as this cake would not taste good with scrambled olive oil eggs.

Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture, again by hand, it will be a beautiful golden yellow color.  Try to resist "taste-testing", I usually cannot, but I know that I should.

Pick your favorite fruit.  The Food & Wine recipe calls for seedless red grapes, but since I live in DC and not Napa, and since blueberries are delicious right now, I adapted.

Fold the blueberries into the batter with a whisk and a gentle hand, being careful to not crush them along the way.

Pour into springform pan and bake for 15 minutes.  At fifteen minutes remove the cake from the oven and pop on a few more blueberries on the surface, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.  Check to ensure it is fully baked with a toothpick - clean toothpick means it's done!

After the cake has cooled sprinkled on some confectioner's sugar and you could serve it with more fresh berries, like I did, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, a blueberry sauce or just plain, because it is just that moist and delicious!

Oh, so why the name?  Why the "Cake that Stole the Show"? because after a delicious Caprese salad, Aged Cheddar and Bacon Macaroni, perfectly seasoned baked chicken breast and a salad that would make any farmer proud - this cake was devoured.  And Mark very proudly boasted, this was the best cake ever, it "stole the show".