A Very Simple Chocolate Cake

We are hitting the point in our New York tenure when it feels like everyone is starting to migrate to greener pastures, literally. They are leaving for new jobs, and new cities, because their visas ran out before new ones could be processed, for a change of pace, or more space to raise their babies alongside backyard summer tomatoes and chickens. We went to two going away parties last weekend, and I’m sure there will be more to come as more babies are born and circumstances change. While I am not quite ready to write my own “why I’m leaving NY” thinkpiece (which has become it’s own subgenre of internet writing) I read them often and nod in agreement. This city is too competitive, too expensive, too dirty, there is not enough space, and on and on…Sometimes it feels like everything is just a little bit, or a lot harder than it needs to be to live here. I understand when people decide to call it quits. 

I made this cake a couple of weeks ago for some friends who were packing up to head out of town for good, and packing up an old life to start a new one is an occasion that requires at least a little chocolate cake. I am always on the hunt for treats that can easily survive a trip on the subway, and this cake is perfect for just that because you can frost it in the pan, shower the top with enough sprinkles to make it look festive, slap a plastic wrap or aluminum foil lid on, and you are ready to go. Better yet, bake it in a cute pan and it would make a perfect housewarming gift for some friends settling in to a new place.

A Very Simple Chocolate Cake

adapted very slightly from Smitten Kitchen’s The ‘I Want Chocolate Cake’

This is a simple cake, a weeknight cake. Something that you could throw together in a fit of chocolate desire after dinner. 

Cake

6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup (145 grams) firmly packed dark or light brown sugar

2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 tablespoons strong coffee (or 2 tablespoons water mixed with 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup (170g) sour cream

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (40 grams) cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting

2 ounces (55 grams) unsweetened (or bittersweet) chocolate, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar

1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoons milk, plus more if necessary

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

fat pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. Butter and flour the paper and exposed pan.

Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugars together until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and coffee then add in the sour cream.

Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined, then use a spatula to spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake until puffy and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.

Set the cake on a rack to cool.  While the cake is cooling, make the frosting.

Add all of the frosting ingredients to a large bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy, add a bit more milk if necessary. Alternately, Deb makes the frosting in a food processor.

Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cake and decorate with a shit-ton of sprinkles. Enjoy immediately! This cake keeps for a couple of days, covered at room temperature.

Walnut Cake with Beet Tinted Glaze

It has been a weird winter in NYC with mild weather, punctuated by a "weather event" every now and then - like a few days of historically cold temperatures or a few feet (!) of snow that was gone in a matter of days. Call me crazy, but I love bundling up and crunching around snowy streets (I even like shoveling the sidewalk!) and I have been pretty bummed that we are getting all of the barren trees and grayness of this season without the blanket of fresh white snow every couple of weeks. 

I have decided that the cure for all of this boring gray is a heavy dose of Technicolor in the form of fun and colorful baking projects . Last week, I posted some seriously gorgeous matcha glazed chocolate bundts and for this cake I returned to my old friend - the humble red beet. Just a spoonful of beet puree will tint a whole batch of glaze the loveliest pink hue, without much effect on the flavor. The walnut cake is the dense, poundcake sort that is still great after a couple of days on the counter, and is perfect with a cup of coffee.

Walnut Cake with Beet Tinted Glaze

makes one 4x10-inch or 9x5-inch loaf cake

Walnut Cake

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (280g)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (100g) toasted walnuts, very finely chopped

18 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350ºF and butter and flour a loaf pan.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and walnuts together in a small bowl.

In the bowl of a standing mixer beat the butter and the sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time mixing for 30 seconds in between each egg.

Combine the vanilla extract and milk, then alternately add the flour mixture and the milk in 3 additions. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure that the batter is evenly mixed.

Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake the cake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean 45-60 minutes. Cool the cake on a rack for 20 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a rack to cool completely. Glaze.

Beet Tinted Glaze

You can, of course, add more beet puree for a more saturated glaze. You may need to add a bit more confectioner's sugar to get the right consistency.

2 cups (200g) confectioner’s sugar

1 tablespoon beet puree

2 teaspoons lemon juice

seeds from one vanilla bean

2-4 tablespoons milk

Whisk the confectioners sugar, beet puree, lemon juice, and vanilla bean seeds together. Whisk in the milk, a couple of teaspoons at a time until a thick, but pourable glaze forms. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and let it set for about 30 minutes before slicing.