silky chocolate cake Archives - LOVE-the secret ingredient

Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Valentine’s Day! – Loving France

February 14, 2014 by Mary 30 Comments

I love France. I always have. I took French in high school – 3 years – and my husband and boys ALWAYS make fun of me when I try to speak the language. But then our French interns say I have a great accent! So, for this Midwest girl with really, really, bad A’s, are they telling me the truth or just trying to butter me up?

No matter. I carry on. I love the food. I love the country. I love the cheese. The butter. The salt. The champagne.

We took the kids there when they were young. I forget why. I think we had just won a big new account and wanted to celebrate. The youngest was seven. For a two-week trip, after 3 days, he wanted to go home – to his room and his stuffed animals. He missed them.

Can you believe it??!!! I was incredulous. And we promised DisneyLand Paris and that was still 4 days away!

Lovely family in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

I remember, getting out of that Metro Station, climbing the steps and turning around and seeing the Eiffel Tower and literally screeching with joy at the sight – in true tourist fashion. No wonder my sons can’t stand me.

We carried on – he got over it – of course he doesn’t really remember a whole lot of the trip now – but we all had a great time (along with some other interesting stories for another time).

But just recently Rendez-vous des Arts Culinaires contacted me to do an interview for Valentine’s Day. Was I delighted? You bet! They found me and I am always happy to talk about LOVE and cooking. The interview is here. In fact, taking the boys to France at the ages of 11 and 7, I believe, formed the foundation of their love of wonderful food and wonderful ingredients. They knew the difference, even then, in the taste of the butter, the bread, the jambon, the crepes.

(Oh I raised monsters.)

Anywho, I’m delighted that Rendez-vous des Arts Culinaires featured us on our day – Valentine’s Day! They wanted to publish this recipe of ours: Silky Chocolate Cake.

And I have some other great recipes for your dinner tonight or this weekend in our newsletter – super easy Veal Chops with Sage and an awesome Chocolate Souffle that you shouldn’t be afraid of, because it will work, following these simple instructions. If you didn’t get the newsletter and would like it, let me know either through a comment or signing up in the upper right hand corner and I will personally make sure you get it before dinnertime tonight.

Love to all!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

And a big thank you to the great folks at Rendez-vous des Arts Culinaires!

Silky chocolate cake

February 13, 2013 by Mary Frances 28 Comments

So we have this wonderful big lovefest tomorrow – Valentine’s Day!! A terrific holiday in my book!

If you don’t have time to make this on the 14^th, no matter. Keep the holiday going and make it on the weekend.

I have been making this cake for nearly 20 years now and it is a true winner. It is orgasmic – full of rich chocolate and butter. You can just sink into it, and if you died, it wouldn’t be bad.

Every time I make this cake for a dinner party, guests always either pick at the crumbs on the serving plate or just want another piece. It is rich, rich, rich and totally yummy. And it’s easy to make. Enjoy!

SILKY CHOCOLATE CAKE
-serves 8 – 10

2 sticks plus 2 tbs. (9 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I use Scharffen Berger)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs, beaten
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Extra butter to butter the pan

Preheat the oven to 350°. Wrap the outside of an 8 or 9 -by-3-inch round springform pan in heavy-duty foil, then generously butter the inside of the pan. Set the springform in a roasting pan.

In a saucepan, combine the butter with the granulated sugar and water and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring. Remove from the heat. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth and all the chocolate is melted; let cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the eggs until blended. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Pour enough hot (not boiling, but hot) water into the roasting pan to reach one-third of the way up the side of the springform. Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the top is crusty and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let the cake cool in the springform on a rack for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and the side of the pan and let the cake cool completely. Dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream with some vanilla. A few fresh raspberries are also a nice addition.

Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Silky chocolate cake

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