Chocolate Celebration Cake

Last week, my brother (Pan Pan) and his wife (Miss Amy) visited from San Francisco.  Pan and I are very similar...we both enjoy cooking, talk in movie quotes, and laugh really loudly.  Interestingly enough, Miss Amy is very much like my husband, Major Obvious.  They both look forward to dessert, get along wonderfully with children, and love dogs.

When we are lucky enough to have someone come and visit us on their birthday, I love to bake them a cake for his or her special day.  For this reason (and the aforementioned penchant for sweets), I made Chocolate Celebration Cake for Miss Amy.  This recipe makes a very large molded concoction that can easily stand up to any frosting you slather on it, cream cheese, buttercream, or just a huge dollop of freshly whipped cream.  We ate this bad boy with Madagascar vanilla ice cream and enjoyed many subsequent evenings of leftovers with fresh raspberries while watching X Factor or How I Met Your Mother.

Chocolate Celebration Cake

Largely from “Cooking with Mr. Latte” by Amanda Hesser

1 1/2 cups sugar


5 ounces  bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate


¼  pound unsalted butter (1 stick), plus more for greasing the pan


2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda


1 teaspoon baking powder


1 teaspoon salt


1 cup milk


1 teaspoon cider vinegar


2 eggs


1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ - 1 Tablespoon instant espresso

cocoa powder for dusting the pan

Directions


1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the sugar, unsweetened chocolate, butter, and 1 cup of water in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally until all of the ingredients are melted and blended.  Remove from the heat and stir in espresso.  Let cool slightly, 15 to 20 minutes. 



2. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vinegar. Grease and cocoa powder a decorative cake pan, a bundt pan or a tube pan.

3. When the chocolate in the pan has cooled a bit, whisk in the milk mixture and eggs. In several additions and without overmixing, whisk in the dry ingredients. When the mixture is smooth, add the vanilla and whisk once or twice, to blend.  Put the batter into the pan and bake on the middle rack until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack.

4. You can also use this batter to make chocolate cupcakes or a layer cake, just adjust the baking times.