lyorn | Cats and cake (Reply)

mad_freddy and K___ were visiting today to bring me a book, look at the cats and get tricked into baking and eating chocolate cake.

The cats became enthusiastic about a bit of string and a one-metre "tail" with some feathers on a handle (they pulled it out of my hand and had me pouncing on the handle to catch it, which I hope

mad_freddy has not caught on video). In the end they had a far improved opinion of humans as a species, I think, although they were still shy of being touched.

The chocolate cake was three-layered: Start by putting 80g of shortbreak (Butterkeks) into a small plastic bag and mash them into crumbles. Boil a litre of water and put it in a bowl or pot, put a flatter thin metal bowl of bigger diametre on top and melt 50g butter in it. (This is K___'s butter-and-chocolate-melting secret. You could melt it any other way, but this one works very well and you cannot burn or mess up anything.) Mix the crumbs with the molten butter in a small bowl, then put on the bottom of a buttered 20cm springform pan. Pat the mass with a spoon so it gets a little more solid and less crumbly.

Then melt 120g of whole milk chocolate and 35g butter. While it melts, mix two large eggs and 150g brown sugar, put in 75g white flour, half a teaspoon baking soda, one teaspoon vanilla sugar, and a small pinch of salt. Chop 60g of walnuts or pecan nuts (we used pecan). Put melted chocolaty stuff in the dough, then the nuts. Do not stir more than necessary. Put the stuff in the baking form.

Finally mix 85g cream cheese, 25g butter, 50g brown sugar, one large egg, a teaspoon of vanilla sugar and a tablespoon (10g) of white flour and pour it in the baking form, too.

Use a fork to mix the upper layers a little bit.

The book said to bake it at 180°C for 25 minutes -- I put it very low in the oven and still the top was browning too much after 15 minutes. So I turned the heat down to about 160 and gave it additional 10 minutes to bake before taking it out and letting it cool. Turned out the centre was still fluid. So, maybe, 170 degress and 45 minutes? Also, the chocolate part gets solid in baking, so if a knitting needle or fork comes out with molten chocolate on it, it's not done. ETA: Further experimenting says, 170 degrees, 45 minutes, put tin foil on it after 25 minutes, and the knitting needle will come out covered with molten chocolate even if it's done./ETA.

I was not really convinced with the result -- apart from being not done (which I don't mind), it was too sweet for my taste. I might like it better after a day of hiking in the cold. K___ suggested unsweetened whipped cream. Maybe I'll try dark chocolate next time.

K___ and

mad_freddy didn't mind the sweetness.