FLOATING IN DREAMS

I love to cook and bake. Whenever I tell people I’ll be trying a new cake recipe for my b-day, they’re usually already excited. I have even made cakes/ muffins/ brownies for friend’s b-days, my mom’s b-day, or just whenever I feel like it. It’s something I thoroughly enjoy and it excites me when my latest stint in the kitchen elicits a mmmmmm from people’s mouths. Below, I will describe my favorite cake recipe. It’s one I put together from my mom’s pound cake recipe, a bit of internet research and my own intuition. It’s a guaranteed success every time, so I thought: let’s share it on here! this cake is NOT for those with a weak stomach as it stuffs you right up. It is incredibly yummy though and especially when you love chocolate, like me, you’ll find yourself just a little step closer to heaven. So here is my recipe for a chocolate glazed chocolate cake.

Ingredients:

Glaze:

2 tablespoons of butter (unsalted)

2 ounces of unsweet chocolate

1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar (also: icing sugar or in Dutch: poedersuiker)

2 tablespoons of boiling water

Cake: (this makes a regular 200 gram pound cake)

200 grams unsalted butter at room temperature (Dutch: margarine)

200 grams of regular sugar

1 sachet of vanilla sugar (you can substitute this for vanilla extract or fresh vanilla)

4 eggs

200 grams of self-raising flour

150 grams of unsweet chocolate

Filling:

200 milliliters of unwhipped whipped cream

1 sachet of ‘klop-fix’ (this allows the cream to get whipped better and it flavors it at the same time)

Note: in total, I use 3 bars of unsweet chocolate of 75 grams a piece.

Preparation:

Start by making the cake:

• Grease a round cake tin (26 cm or 10″) with a bit of butter and dust the tin with breadcrumbs against sticking
• First melt 150 grams of chocolate in a bain-marie and preheat the oven at 150 degrees Celcius (302F)
• Using a mixer, stir the butter in a large bowl until it is soft
• Add the sugar & vanilla sugar and beat until the mixture until it’s of a creamy consistency
• Add the eggs to the mixture, one by one. (Tip: first open the egg in a separate cup, if it’s a bad egg it won’t mess up your batter)
• Do not egg the next egg until the previous one is completely incorporated into the mixture
• Beat the mixture until it’s light and fluffy
• Using a siff, add the self-raising flour. (Tip: if you use a spoon, it’s quicker and more effective)
• Beat until the batter is smooth
• Now pour in the melted chocolate
• Gently fold in the chocolate
• Pour the batter into the cake tin
• Bake the cake on the lower rack of the oven in 1 hour & 15 minutes
• Put on a plate & let the cake cool

Tip: I usually make the cake the day before and then finish it the next day.

Now you can start making the filling:

• Whisk cream until it is fully whipped
• Cut the baked and cooled off cake horizontally, making two halves (I use a big knife for this, but you can also use a piece of wire)
• Make sure the halves are roughly equally thick and don’t break
• Place the top part on a separate plate
• Spread the whipped cream on one half of the cake
• Place the other half of the cake on top of the whipped cream

If you are in a hurry, you can leave out the next step!

Last but not least: the glazing:

• Melt together the butter & chocolate
• Stirr in the sugar & boiling water (you can add more water & sugar to get the right consistency)
• Beat until smooth
• Pour over cake
• Spread over the top and if you’re feeling creative you can also spread it along the sides
• Grate some left over chocolate and sprinkle over the cake

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this fabulous cake, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t yummy! What is your favorite cake?