Fallen Chocolate Cake

I made this cake months and months ago (before I was pregnant, actually), but it's too good to not share. This is such a great recipe because it's one dessert that you actually want to fall. I made this for company, so I could make the cake earlier in the day and let it cool and fall all afternoon while I finished up dinner. I always try to have a combination of make-ahead and last minute recipes for when we have company, and this one is a winner!

Fallen Chocolate Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1" pieces, plus more for pan
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar, divided, plus more for pan
10 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (61-72%), coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
6 eggs
2 Tbsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt

for the topping:
1 cup chilled heavy cream
3 Tbsp powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter 9" springform pan and dust with sugar, tapping out any excess.

Combine chocolate, oil, and 1/2 cup butter in a large heatproof bowl. Set over a saucepan of simmering water and heat, stirring often, until melted. Remove bowl from saucepan.

Separate 4 eggs, placing whites and yolks in separate medium bowls. Add cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and remaining 2 eggs to bowl with yolks and whisk until until mixture is smooth. Gradually whisk yolk mixture into chocolate mixture, blending well.

Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites until frothy. With mixer running, gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar; beat until firm peaks firm.

Gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture in 2 additions, folding just until incorporated between additions. Scrape batter into prepared pan; smooth top and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp sugar.

Bake until top is puffed and starting to crack and cake is pulling away from edge of pan, 35-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cake cool completely in pan (cake will collapse in the center and crack further as it cools).

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream and powdered sugar in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Remove sides of springform pan from cake. Mound whipped cream in center of cake and serve. Serves 8-10.

source: barely adapted from Bon Appétit, March 2013

Triple-Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake

Having company for dinner is a good excuse for me to try new recipes. Caleb has never understood why I would want to try out a new recipe on dinner guests, but I think that's half the fun. I try to stick to just one or two new recipes per meal, since I'd like to think at least half the meal will turn out as expected. We had company for dinner this past weekend, and I made this chocolate cake for dessert. It was the cover recipe on this month's Southern Living, and as soon as I got my copy in the mail I knew I had to try it. For as many ingredients as it calls for, it was a relatively simple cake to make. I let the cake cool for most of the afternoon, and whipped up the glazes right before our company arrived. For chocolate lovers like myself, this cake is definitely a winner.

Triple-Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake
for the cake:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups butter, softened at room temperature
3 cups sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 tsp instant espresso
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate morsels

for the chocolate glaze:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
3 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

for the buttermilk glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp buttermilk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Beat 1 1/2 cups butter in a medium bowl at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yolk disappears. Combine 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, instant espresso, and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture to egg mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed after each addition. Fold in bittersweet chocolate morsels. Pour batter into a well-greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan. Sharply tap pan on counter to remove air bubbles.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 20 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on rack.

Prepare chocolate glaze: combine semisweet chocolate morsels, butter, and corn syrup in a microwave-safe glass bowl. Microwave at medium (50% power) 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until morsels begin to melt, stirring after 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla.

Prepare buttermilk glaze: whisk together powdered sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle glazes over cooled cake. Serves 10-12.

source: Southern Living, February 2015

Tunnel of Fudge Chocolate Cake

For the past couple of months I have been craving chocolate cake - like a rich, thick chocolate cake with chocolate icing. I saw the recipe for this cake a couple of weeks ago and knew it was the one. We had friends over this past weekend for dinner, so I used that as an excuse to make this cake. And let me just tell you it was one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever had. The recipe does this crazy thing where the very inside of the cake is like molten chocolate cake, hence the "tunnel of fudge". The rest of the cake is a perfect blend between moist chocolate cake and fudgey brownies, and then it's topped off with a ganache - hello delicious!  

Tunnel of Fudge Chocolate Cake
to prep the pan:
1 Tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

for the cake:
1/2 cup boiling water
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups flour
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp salt
5 eggs, at room temperature
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 sticks (20 Tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature

for the glaze:
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and melted butter. Use a pastry brush to evenly coat the inside of a 12-cup bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, pour the boiling water over the 2 oz of chopped chocolate. Let stand for a minute, then whisk until smooth. In another medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, and salt. Combine the eggs and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup and beat lightly.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add in the egg mixture just until combined. Add the chocolate mixture and mix until incorporated. Blend in the dry ingredients until just combined. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the edges of the cake begin to pull away from the pan.

Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for 1 1/2 hours before inverting onto a cake platter. Allow to cool completely, about 2 more hours.

To make the glaze, combine the cream, corn syrup, and chocolate in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until smooth. Blend in the vanilla. Set aside for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and let set for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

source: recipe from annie's eats, originally from Cook's Illustrated Entertaining Holiday 2010