Chocolate Galore!

Well, hello there readers. I am typing this sitting at my newly organized desk (another new years resolution--organize my desk). Yes, I have another obsession. Chocolate. I can not get enough of it right now. I love chocolate. When I came across this recipe (again from Orangette), I knew I had to make it. When the recipe for a chocolate cake suddenly appeared on my screen, I just knew I had to make it (Well, ok, the recipe did not just appear on my screen, I made it come up). This cake looked so good. And...not to mention ridiculously decadent. Yes, I know sounds good, right.

So, I picked up all of my ingredients from the store. And the butter. Yes, the butter. Do you remember when I cooked and blogged about a lot of French foods in a row? Well, this is another recipe that I think is French...cross my fingers. Anyways this recipe calls for French butter (one of the reasons I suspect that this is a French recipe). French butter is higher in fat which produces more air bubbles. This are good in a cake because the make the cake airy. But that being said, high fat butter is not the best for you--hence the name high fat butter, and you do not always want your cake to be airy. But for this cake you do.

Let me tell you how the cake turned out. OMG! This cake was good!  I mean deliciously, melt in your mouth, decadent, death by chocolate good!  The chocolate!  Oh! the chocolate. The top was like a brownie and the inside was nice and creamy. This was hands-down one of the best chocolate cakes I had ever tasted. And that is hard. I love my chocolate cakes from the box (aka Betty Crocker Mixes). I know you are surprised, but sometimes I go box!

Did I mention that this cake is named Winning-Hearts-And Minds Cake by Molly Wizenburg's friend Kate (Molly is the author of Orangette)? This one did truly win my heart.

Gâteau au chocolat fondant de Nathalie

7 ounces (200 grams) best-quality dark chocolate

7 ounces (200 grams) unsalted European-style butter (the high-butterfat kind, such as Lurpak or Beurre d’Isigny), cut into ½-inch cubes

1 1/3 cup (250 grams) granulated sugar

5 large eggs

1 Tbs unbleached all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and butter an 8-inch round cake pan. Line the base of the pan with parchment, and butter the parchment too.

The butter and chcocolate. As you can see
I made a double boiler with a pan over boiling
water. 

2. Finely chop the chocolate (a serrated bread knife does an outstanding job of this) and melt it gently with the butter in a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring regularly to combine. Add the sugar to the chocolate-butter mixture, stirring well, and set aside to cool for a few moments. Then add the eggs one by one, stirring well after each addition, and then add the flour. The batter should be smooth, dark, and utterly gorgeous.

This is my chocolate that I was cutting. I used Valrhona
chocolate which is a very high end chocolate and the cake tasted
delicious and had a decadent chocolate taste. 

 3. Pour batter into the buttered cake pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the center of the cake looks set and the top is shiny and a bit crackly-looking. (I usually set the timer for 20 minutes initially, and then I check the cake every two minutes thereafter until it’s done. At 20 minutes, it’s usually quite jiggly in the center. You’ll know it’s done when it jiggles only slightly, if at all.) Let the cake cool in its pan on a rack for 10 minutes; then carefully turn the cake out of the pan and revert it, so that the crackly side is facing upward. Allow to cool completely. The cake will deflate slightly as it cools.

4. Serve in wedges at room temperature with a loose dollop of ever-so-slightly sweetened whipped cream.

Tada.....The finished product