March 15th
2005
What a fantastic wake up call! Well, apart from the fact that my alarm said “5am” and barely any hand-eye coordination was in place, I thought I heard a chirping sound…Wait a minute, I haven’t heard them in the early morning for quite some time now…really not since the end of last fall!
We had a real winter – that’s for sure. I haven’t seen such masses of snow in Munich ever before. In the past years everyone was moaning about way too less white stuff, this year almost everybody complained about too much! Talking about real happiness. Anway, I’m not the winter kind of person, so the snow kept bothering me for over 2 months now without any interruption. Flight delays, chaotic traffic jams in the city and foremost wet boots… uuugh! (Don’t get me wrong, I don’t complain about snow in the countryside…)
So the only conclusion to the singing of the birds can be… SPRING IS BACK! At least we are getting closer each day. Can’t wait to spot the first blossoms this year ;)
In lack of a smart connecting passage, here is the recipe of my all-time favorite chocolate cake I made yesterday:
Grease the sides of a spring mould (mine has a size of 26 cm) with butter and line the bottom with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to a 190 degrees Celsius.
Break the dark chocolate in smaller pieces (I used 70 % dark chocolate from Lindt this time, but if you have the chance try it with Valrhona…) and heat it slowly with the butter in a bain-marie. When everything has melted, add the sugar, stir and let it cool down for about 5 minutes.
Now add four eggs, one by one and stir well with a wooden spoon or a whisk after each. Finally add two tablespoons of flour and blend well.
Pour the mixture in the spring mould and put it in the oven for about 25 minutes. The original recipe in my book has a literal mistake in it, the first part of the text demands 22 minutes baking time, in the detailed description it says 35 minutes. That’s quite a difference! I prefer chocolate cakes, that are smooth, moist and fudgy – just melt in your mouth, so I went with the shorter baking time. Since I made this cake at least four times now, I adapted the perfect baking time for my spring mould and oven, which is 25 minutes.
Take the cake out of the oven and out of the spring mould. The original recipe tells you, that the cake tastes best on its second day – this is where I disagree. Still slightly warm, this cake just melts in your mouth when you eat it – heavenly. Add some whipped cream, vanilla sauce or vanilla ice cream, everything will melt over the cake… simply irresistible :) Reminds me of my favorite dessert at our favorite French restaurant – mi-cuit au chocolat – more details on both, restaurant and mi-cuit are soon to come…
Chocolate Cake
Recipe source: based on "Schokoladenfondantkuchen Nathalie" from the book “Verrückt nach Schokolade” by Trish Deseine (page 14), adapted
Required time: about 40 minutes
.
Ingredients:
200 g butter
200 g high quality dark chocolate (70 % cacao)
250 g sugar
4 eggs
2-3 tablespoons of flour
Hi Sam! Thanks for stopping by and your encouraging words. I really don't know many people who even know Dolfin chocolate... they definitely missed out on a wonderful experience! Kind regards to the lovely Bay Area ;)
oh my goodness that looks incredible! i just came across your blog and i have to say its really lovely. and the photos are making me hungry! welcome to the food blogging world :-)
Hi Nicky,
It is my favorite chocolate cake, the one in Trish Deseine's book. I haven't made this for a while, maybe it is about time to have it come back.
FIY, the book in English version calls for 22 minutes, period. So you have been in the right direction!
I like Dolfin chocolates, too :)
Hey Nicky, I stumbled upon your blog because you commented at A La Cuisine! I must say, your blog is very pretty!
Hi Tanvi, Hi Jessica, since my blog just entered the food blog community, it's really great to receive positive feedback. Glad you like it :)
Hi Chika, seems we have a quite similar taste, when it comes to chocolate! Thanks for the baking time information, do you have any other favorites from Trish Deseine's book?
Nicky, love the photos. Are you also a photographer? What kind of camera do you use for your food shots? Good looking site!
Wunderschönes Blog! Der Kuchen klingt auch fein. Falls du mal ein Rezept ohne Mehl versuchen möchtest, dann kann ich dir dieses http://kochtopf.twoday.net/stories/334912/wärmstens empfehlen.
Made the chocolate cake the other day - it was SUPER! Thanks for sharing Nicky!
Sorry for what will be a very stupid question: but if I half the recipe, by how much should I decrease the baking time?
Dear Zarah Maria,
I'm glad you liked it ;)
Hi Zoe,
hm, tricky question! I'm curious myself to see how the recipe would turn out, if I'd e.g. use a muffin try, but I haven't been brave enough to try it yet ;) If you want to halve the recipe I don't think, that you should also halve the baking time... It definitely depends on the size of your baking form, too. Seriously, I could not provide a reliable answer, I'm sorry ;(
If your still up for the experiment, I'd love to hear from your results!
spät aber doch habe ich dieses rezept ausprobiert - like in heaven, really :)
Thank you O for your recommendations on the sacher torte I will definitely try it when I have more time. But for my dinner party tonight, I made your chocolate heaven as you recommened! It was a huge succes. Everybody had second servings! I served them with fresh strawberries. The dark chocolate and the juicy refreshing strawberries were a perfect match!
[...] ein Thema, sondern auch bei anderen nahestehenden SchreiberInnen wie Vorspeisenplattes Kaltmamsell, deliciocus:days’ Nicky & Oliver oder Food Vagabond Hande. Und schon vor einem Jahr kam in diesen virtuellen Gesprächen der Gedanke [...]
[...] Inspiriert durch Fool for Food und - immer wieder gern - delicious days. [...]
[...] an edible-glitter extraveganza I discovered in a local restaurant, we today tested this recipe from Delicious Days. Full details are available [...]
I just found your blog while looking for some different and great recipes...search no more! I loved it, the pictures, the recipes and the way you write! I have a blog too, in Portuguese (I am from Brazil) and always want to try new tastes and ways to prepare food! Will be coming again!
This recipe will be baked soon in my kitchen! Can I post it in my blog with your credits?
baked it tonight.. looks delish! http://flickr.com/photos/linda1980/2880151412/ :) tomorro I'll bring it at my office, I'm sure it will be appreciated!
biggest cake success in the office.. and my bf asked for one too, so yesterday night I baked another one :)
tastes magnificent by the way :)
I made this cake this weekend for my birthday and everybody just loved it - especially my little nephew. He ate half the cake and smudged everything - himself, the floor, the white couch and me - with chocolate, so it was really Chocolate heaven
Oh my gosh... So easy and so delicious! That one's goin to my little black book :)
(yeah...like "easy" might be the wrong word in my case anyway...^^ kinda overheated the chocolate, gladly managed to rescue it by a good old grandmothers-trick (add some spoons of boiling water if the cocolate geht too hot... yeah, don't ask, just do it... ^^) and burned my belly with boiling water while melting the chocolate. now who said baking ain't life-threatening?
anyway... you shouldn't ne baking at night without an shirt, should you?)
[...] entstanden die Brownies im Hemd. Eigentlich ein Rezept für einen himmlischen Schokoladenkuchen von delicious:days, wollte ich die Idee aus dem gleichnamigen Kochbuch aufgreifen, um Mini-Muffins aus selbigen Teig [...]
Wunderbare Seite - leider erst gestern entdeckt (überhaupt die erste blog-Seite meines Lebens und gleich dieser Volltreffer)! Selber leidenschaftliche Köchin bin ich total fasziniert von der Leichtigkeit der Rezepte und gleichzeitig dem Spaß, den man bei Lesen (und bestimmt auch beim späteren Nachkochen) hat. Kannst Du mir (bitte, bitte) aber noch verraten, bei wie viel Grad der Kuchen ins Rohr soll? Liebe Grüsse aus Graz und - DANKE nochmals für die vergnügliche Zeit mit Dir
EDIT Nicky: Auf 190°C vorheizen... kann man schon mal überlesen ;) Und noch viel Spaß beim Lesen und Nachkochen/-backen!
Mein absoluter Favorit. Auch als Mini-Muffins mit weißer Schokolade überzogen und mit Pistazien bestreut, wie im Buch beschrieben, ein Hit. Schhmecken wie kleine Pralinen!!! Schön bei Buffets als Fingerfood. Kuchen oder Muffins sind in jeder Form auf jeden FAll eine Sünde wert.
After my first time baking this cake it has been an oft requested favorite. So delicious and rich. Thanks for sharing it.
I found this recipe by accident two years ago living in a dorm my second year of college and made it at least three times in four weeks (I think it was actually five times in four weeks, to be honest). I've been hoping to find it again but I couldn't remember anything other than that you were located in Germany! I found it again just now by a stroke of lucky Googling and I bookmarked it immediately. I used to have it memorized and I'm sure I will again soon. Thank you so much for showing me even an utter beginner in the kitchen can create something delicious!!
What a pretty new blog. I can't tell you how crazy I am about that Dolfin Earl Grey chocolate. so I think it's a good move that you used it as your Header picture!