Does your family enjoy chocolate? In our family, two of us have unconditional love for chocolate and seek it out, in its many forms on a regular basis. Of the remaining two family members, excluding our dog of course, one will only eat chocolate as a chip, in a freshly baked cookie and preferably with a glass of cold milk. The last family member does not seek out chocolate, but will gladly partake if it’s offered and will choose Milk Duds at the movie theater.
Can you guess which camp I am in? I am definitely one of the chocolate lovers. At holiday time, be it Easter, Christmas or the upcoming Valentine’s Day, I always visit Priscilla’s Candy Shop to stock up on milk and dark chocolate bunnies, eggs, Santa’s, bells, balls and hearts to share with family, friends and of course me! My birthday cake of choice is chocolate with creamy chocolate frosting and when I make brownies, it’s either Ina Garten’s outrageous brownie recipe, or a recipe I found online called OMG brownies which I will share in a future post.
If you fall into the camp of chocolate lover, or have someone special in your life who does, then you really need to make this recipe for Glazed Chocolate Cake! It is quite heavenly and really very easy to put together, especially if you make it in a springform pan, rather than a traditional pan as the recipe suggests. A smooth and creamy mixture of chocolate and heavy cream is poured over the cake so no special frosting skills are required. The finished cake is dense, full of chocolate flavor and is sure to win over you or your special someone. Happy Valentine’s Day!
From Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast
Ingredients
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar, plus 2 Tablespoons for whipped cream (optional)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream
- Chocolate Ganache Glaze (recipe below)
- 1 cup heavy cream (optional)
- Chocolate shavings for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch round pan; line bottom with a round of waxed or parchment paper. Butter paper; dust bottom and sides of pan with cocoa, tapping out excess.
- Sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream and beginning and ending with the flour.
- Spread batter in prepared pan. Tap pan firmly on countertop once to eliminate large air bubbles. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely (bottom side up). Set rack with cake over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour glaze over cake, letting it run over sides; spread gently with an offset spatula or table knife to coat. Let set, about 30 minutes.
- If desired, whip cream and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Serve cake with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
Tips from The Kitchen Scout
I used an 8-inch springform pan for this recipe which made removing the cake a snap. Also, I like to spray my rack lightly with non-stick spray to prevent this super moist cake from sticking. Why lose any chocolate morsels?!!!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Let cool until thick yet pourable, 2 to 3 minutes.
[…] I thought to myself this was such an easy recipe to execute! I could make chocolate cake appear in a little over an hour at any time! You know me and my love of chocolate, but if not you can read about it here. […]