Another attempt at chocolate cake...

"O, chocolate cake! Why art thou such an elusive prize? Where, oh, where shall I find thy perfect recipe?"

Yes, I am still on this journey to find the perfect chocolate cake recipe. My previous chocolate cake fiasco will not deter me. I am resolute in this quest.

This time I tried a version of the Texas Sheet Cake, combined it with a butterscotch filling recipe from Joy of Baking, and used a loose version of the Texas cake icing to frost it. It was good, at least better than the aforementioned attempt, but it was still not what I was looking for. At least it looks good, right? Plus, I didn't set anything on fire :-)


Chocolate Cake with Butterscotch Filling


CAKE
PART A: In a mixing bowl, sift together
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

PART B: In a saucepan
1. Melt 2 sticks of butter.
2. Add 5 heaping tbsp. cocoa and 1 tsp. instant coffee granules. Mix well.
3. Add 1 cup boiling water. Turn off heat and mix together until smooth.
4. Pour Part B mixture into Part A mixture.

PART C: Mix together
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Add Part C Mixture into Part A/B mixture. Pour into 2 9-inch cake pans and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool the cakes before frosting them.


BUTTERSCOTCH FILLING
1. Melt 1/2 stick unsalted butter, 1/8 cup water and 1 tbsp. corn syrup in a saucepan.
2. Add 1/2 cup sugar and mix gently until sugar is dissolved.
3. Cook over low-medium heat until caramel in color.
4. Turn off heat and add 1/4 cup heavy cream.
5. Whisk together until smooth.
6. Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla and a pinch of salt.
7. Cool in fridge until thick and spreadable.


FROSTING
1. Melt 1 1/2 sticks butter in a saucepan.
2. Add 4 heaping tbsp. cocoa and mix until smooth.
3. Turn off heat.
4. Add 6 tbsp. milk and 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix.
5. Add about 400g powdered sugar until you get the right consistency.

TO ASSEMBLE
1. Slice off the top of one of the cakes to make it flat.
2. Spread about 3/4 of the butterscotch filling and place second cake on top.
3. Frost with chocolate frosting (you will have left-overs here).
4. Put the rest of the butterscotch sauce in a pastry bag with a round tip, or in my case, a small ziplock bag with a corner snipped off. Drizzle the cake with the butterscotch.

Toffee bars

This has got to be the easiest toffee bar recipe ever. Prep time is maybe ten minutes max. And the results...excellent. Chewy and sticky, with just the right crunch from the nuts. Yum!

Toffee Bars
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can condensed milk
1/2 cup toffee chips (I used Nestle Skor chips)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped almonds (or whatever nut you like)

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In a bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs and butter until well blended.
3. Press firmly into a lined 9x9 pan (I used parchment to line it).
4. Bake for 10 minutes.
5. Pour condensed milk on top of crumb mixture.
6. Sprinkle toffee chips, chocolate chips and nuts evenly .
7. Press down with spatula (or the back of a large spoon) until the "solids" have "embedded" into the condensed milk.
8. Bake for 40 minutes.
9. Cool completely.
10. Put in fridge for 30 minutes, remove from pan and cut into desired slices.

The Chocolate Cake of My Childhood

Looking at my finished product, one could never tell that this baking adventure was pretty much a disaster. The batter overflowed, spilled on the oven floor, caught fire and almost tripped my fire alarm!

I started out fine. The batter tasted really good and I was in high spirits as I put the cake pan in the oven. But 15 minutes into the baking, I saw that the batter was rising higher than I expected and so I hurriedly slipped cookie sheets underneath the cake pan to catch the batter drippings. I thought I had averted the disaster but it wasn't enough. The batter dripped out of the the cookie sheets too! The batter spilled onto on the oven floor and caught fire. So I had to find a way to wipe it off. I decided to use wet paper towels and used my BBQ tongs to reach in. Of course, as soon as the paper towels touched the heating elements, they ignited and I had to run to the sink to douse them with water! So there I was, trying my best not to keep the oven door open too long so my cake could bake properly but at the same time trying to get all of the spilled batter cleaned up and prevent things from catching fire. Whew! The lengths we go to for chocolate cake, eh?

In the end, despite everything, the cake turned out fine. More than fine, actually. The edges were a tad bit over cooked but the center was chocolatey and tender. I really liked the frosting, even though I wasn't expecting much from the recipe. This recipe will see a repeat performance, but I'm going to use a bigger cake pan. And I will have a fire extinguisher nearby.


Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp. white vinegar
3/4 cup boiling water

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk mayo, milk, water and vinegar together.
4. Add the dry ingredients alternating with wet ingredients to the butter, starting and ending with the dry. I did 3 batches of dry and 2 batches of wet.
5. Add boiling water last and mix batter until smooth.
6. Bake in a 13x9 pan (that's what the original recipe called for, but keep my (mis)adventure in mind) in a 350 oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Cool in pan and invert onto a serving tray.
8. Frost with chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup milk
1 tbsp. butter

1. In a saucepan, whisk ingredients together until there are not lumps.
2. Heat over low-medium fire until mixture begins to thicken.
3. Remove from heat and add butter.
4. Whisk occasionally until mixture cools.

I'm going to try this next time with a caramel layer in the middle of the cake. Just like the "Cookie Monster" chocolate cake of my childhood.

Hershey's and Maldon

Hershey's Caramel Pecan Filled Milk Chocolate Truffle sprinkled with Maldon Sea Salt...don't knock it 'til you try it.

I was craving a sweet morsel to end my spicy Thai inspired meal. I opened the cupboard and scanned my stash. An epicurious recipe came to mind. So I though...why not?

It was fabulous. The high note from the salt and the sweetness of the caramel and chocolate intermingled and struck the perfect balance. The Maldon added a fleeting crunch as the creamy milk chocolate and caramel melted in my mouth.

One more...just one more...I promise...