chocolate cake number two

The second chocolate cake I made is from Nigella Lawson's Feast. I'm on the lookout not only for the perfect plain cake, but also for the ultimate fancy cake. My ultimate cake must include chocolate and coffee, and perhaps caramel or hazelnut. I haven't found it yet, although tiramisu isn't too far off. Nigella's Chocolate Espresso Cake with Caffe Latte Cream (p. 292) sounded like a candidate, so I wanted to try it before returning Feast to the library. I didn't make the Caffe Latte Cream, since this was just a test run.

Another motive for all these chocolate cakes is my friend John's upcoming birthday. I kind of want to make a cake, although I'm not sure yet if a cake will be called for by the festivities at hand, or if this is the cake. He's visiting from out of town. Sigh, it's been a long time since John and I have lived in the same place, and I no longer remember what his favorite type of cake is. I wish that I knew everyone's favorite cake, and had happy dinner parties with loved ones, the sort of dinner parties that Nigella has. Or Orangette. I love the fantasy of bonding over food. It doesn't happen often enough in my particular social circumstances. Still, I'd like to make a nice cake for John.

I do have one memory of an idyllic food get-together: Thankgiving 1997. My friend Joanna and her husband Ed lived in our neighborhood in Chicago, and they came over, along with some other friends. There was a lot of wine, beer, and hard cider involved. We thawed a frozen turkey in the bathtub, and Joanna and I made pies. One guy brought over some red bell peppers cooked in olive oil over low heat until melted down to nothing. So delicious with crusty bread. The turkey, despite great ignorance and drunken preparation, came out perfectly. I drank so much that I had to go lie in bed for a while, but then I rallied, returned to the group, and thus avoided shame.

But back to Nigella's fancy cake. It turned out good. It's an eggy cake with only a little flour, and it puffed up gorgeously while baking, then deflated as it cooled. It's a rather delicate cake, not at all dense or heavy, and would probably be a good choice to impress guests. I don't know. It was pretty and lavish, and but perhaps not my heart's desire. Clearly I'm looking for more than just cake here. But don't let that stop you.

Chocolate Espresso Cake
adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson, p. 292.

For the cake:
5 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick plus 3 T. unsalted butter
6 eggs
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
5 t. Medaglio d'Oro instant espresso, or other espresso powder
1/4 c. Frangelico or other coffee liqueur

Take all ingredients out of the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature. The most important thing is that the eggs be room temperature. If, like me, you can't be bothered to take everything out ahead of time, set the eggs in warm water for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and line a 9-inch springform pan.

Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between heatings to prevent scorching. Set aside. Beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla with hand mixer until thick, pale, and doubled or tripled in volume. Nigella does this in a standing mixer (I want one of those). It took me close to ten minutes of beating for the mixture to reach this state.

Gently fold in flour and espresso powder, and then chocolate-butter mixture, taking care not to lose volume. Pour into prepared pan and cook for 35-40 minutes. The top of the cake should be firm. Immediately pour the coffee liqueur over the top and let the cake cool completely before releasing it from the pan.

This was perfectly delicious without the Caffe Latte cream, but maybe it would be even better with. Here is another blogger's account of making this cake that includes the cream recipe. The liqueur flavor was rather pronounced. If you don't like that, you might want to leave it off. I wonder if the cake would not deflate if you nixed the liqueur. Any readers out there, let me know if you try these variations.