Dick's Pick of the Week: Best Ever Chocolate Cake

Ok, first and foremost, now that we all know who Dick is, I want to relay the results about the Coconut Cream Pie: He loved it! I was surprised to hear that because he ate it about 5 days after I made it. I was sure it was going to be awful. He said the merengue was spot on not only because it was delicious but because after 5 days it was still as firm as day 1. So, there you have it. CCP was a success! If any of you all try out the recipe report back with your comments or questions!

Now, onto the Chocolate Cake experience:
When I decided to make this cake, I thought I had all of the ingredients...turns out I had only the basics: flour, sugar, oil...I needed most of the cocoa ingredients, which of course are the most expensive. A trip to the store and $16 dollars later I was ready to begin the baking. I will say, it was worth every penny, however I was almost pissed that I had to fork out so much dough to make something that could have been the most disgusting cake ever, but my desire to meet Gordon reminded me that I needed to do this as it would bring me one step closer to meeting the man I dream of...no literally, I dream of him. Pregnancy dreams are weird too, I mean when I first met him we weren't even doing any cooking. We were like skipping bottle caps off the banks of the Mississippi. Anyway, back to the blog. Man, I am feeling so distracted today.

Alright, alright. So I got all my ingredients out, including the ones that broke the bank, and started cooking! Oh wait! Before I could do anything, I had to put on an apron...turns out the only apron I had was a Christmas themed one my mom made me take from her. No, it wasn't some family passed down apron that had any special meaning or anything. My mom is not a cook remember!? Instead it was one she had to buy for a play last year...a Christmas play. She was suzy-homemaker in the play though and she put on a stellar performance! Bravo Mom, Bravo! As far as the apron goes, I didn't care what was on it, I actually needed it for its true functional purpose, to protect the pretty dress I was wearing! However, on this particular June day, it served two purposes because I tell you what, putting that apron on brought out the Gordon Ramsay in me for real, British accent and all. In fact, it gave me such a confidence boost that for the first time ever, I actually trusted my memory as I added ingredients rather than being my usual frantic self that checks the recipe every time before adding any new ingredient. Seriously, it's like I become OCD when I cook, but the apron acted as my xanax and helped me stay cool as a cucumber. Thanks mom for the hokey Christmas apron! Now back to the good stuff...

I made the frosting first, it wasn't too difficult, but I was pretty sure I did something wrong because it was so runny. I thought "how on Earth is this going to frost a cake...maybe they should have called it a glaze!" But despite my qualms I carried on, and started the cake. It seemed like quite a few ingredients but putting it all together was fairly simple. I didn't have to separate eggs or sift flour, I was able to just put the ingredients in as they came. The final ingredient, however, was boiling water, which I knew would make the batter extra soupy...but the recipe forewarned me that this would be the case, so I did not freak out as I normally would have if the recipe hadn't told me that. I divided it into two pans, put it in the oven and walked away feeling confident this cake was going to turn out.

30 minutes later, I returned to the oven to two beautifully cooked cakes:

 Aren't they pretty!? I let them cool 5 minutes in the pan then turned them out onto a cooling rack...well I actually put them on towels until my husband looked at me like I was from Mars. I didn't see the big deal, but he was insistent that they would not cool properly so he got out a cooling rack and moved them. He is lucky he didn't damage them because his head would have ended up in the oven! Pregnant, remember? I am not rational.




So I waited for what seemed like a million years for these cakes to cool. I kept checking them like a kid on Christmas shaking his presents to figure out what was in em. About 35 minutes later they were ready! Yay!! Excitement filled my entire body, until I realized my frosting was still quite thin. I threw it in the freezer for about 10 minutes which definitely helped it thicken a bit quicker. If I were to do this recipe again, I would definitely put the frosting in the fridge to cool even though the recipe doesn't say to do that. Save yourself the trouble if you make this and put it in the fridge, unless of course you have all day to wait. Here is what it looked like immediately after making it:

I will say it was quite delicious and I have evidence to prove it! See Ms Molly's face below.



After I finally got the frosting to the consistency I was looking for, I used the tips in the recipe to frost the cake and it turned out far better than I could have imagined. The recipe suggested warming the knife in water before and during frosting to get that shiny finish, and much to my surprise it did that and made frosting the cake a breeze! So that little gem of information will stay with me forever. The end product was a beautiful, 2-layer chocolate cake. Now, pretty only counts for so much, the taste? Well, if I had written this blog the day I made it, I would have told you it was bitter and rich and just ok, but I am writing this two days later....so I will boast it's delicious flavor and melt in your mouth moistness...truly the best chocolate cake ever! The second day the cake took on an entirely different flavor, and I ate 3 pieces. Hey lay off, I am pregnant remember!? Even Dick enjoyed it sending me a text message last night that said "you're on a roll, the choc cake was great!" And it was, if I do say so myself!


The moral of this story is "if you make it today, serve it tomorrow!" Here's the link kiddos http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Best-Ever-Chocolate-Cake