Comfort food. That is what I need right now. Food that I don’t need to plan or think about too much. Food that doesn’t require instructions or a recipe. Food that everyone in the family loves.

My favorite foods, since childhood, are breaded and fried chicken cutlets or  breaded and baked chicken drumsticks with mashed potatoes or home-made fries, and a small salad of fresh veggies. For dessert, any cake really, but lately it’s been chocolate.

You know that a lot is going on in my life right now. I’d like to thank all of you for reading my recent posts and for your thoughtful comments. In return, I’d like to give you a little something. I’d like to share with you one one my best kept secret recipes. The chocolate cake.

I got the recipe for this cake from my aunt, Etti, who got it from a friend, who has found it probably in a magazine or a newspaper, and then I made a few changes of my own.

What I like about this cake is how easy it is to make, the simple ingredients, almost all of them available at the spur of the moment (although sometimes it does require a special trip to the store to buy heavy cream), and takes about 15 minutes to make. And, of course, it is very homey and can help you feel a little better for a while.

What is your favorite comfort food?

 

*** Don’t forget the giveaway – a signed copy of the book “Not Becoming My Mother” ***

*** Details here. ***

 
Chocolate cake with chocolate ganache
For a 9 1/2 to 10-inch or 26 cm* pan

For cake:
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sweetened cocoa powder
1 cup self rising flour*
1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee powder – optional
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

For ganache:
5 oz. (150 gram) chopped milk/semi/bitter-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream

To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 360 F (180 C) degrees. Grease the pan (line with parchment paper and grease it too – optional).
Whisk the eggs with the sugar using a mixer, until light in color and fluffy.
In a bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, coffee.
On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Add the liquids and continue to beat until incorporated. Finish mixing by hand with a spatula.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. Let cool in the pan 15 minutes and then release from pan (run a knife around the edge first).
I usually invert it upside down so the smooth bottom is now the top, spongy and ready to absorb the ganache.

For the ganache:
Put chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl and heat at 20 second intervals, stopping and mixing each time, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. If it’s a bit “thick”, I pour it right away onto the cake. If it seems too runny, I let it cool a bit before pouring over the cake.

*I find that either using American or European measurements the results are pretty much the same.
* or use 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder + ½ teaspoon salt

Related Posts:

Cake Collection #3 and Chocolate Chocolate Stout Cake

Jewish Cooking For Dummies cookbook

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Categories : A cake for the weekend, Cakes, Dessert, Recipes