For some time now, I've been trying to acquire a copy of Alice Medrich's "Chocolate and The Art of Low-Fat Desserts" (a mouthful of a title, if I ever heard one!), but with no success. Renee has baked several very tempting recipes from the book and they all look incredible.
After searching fruitlessly for a cheap copy of the cookbook today, I noticed that Amazon.com had quite a large excerpt from the book online which I immediately pounced upon. The Chocolate Pound Cake seemed like the perfect cake to start with and in a happy coincidence, I'd just bought some buttermilk for another cake.
The batter was very easy to prepare; there were a few moments where I did worry a little though. The butter and sugar didn't cream together as normal due to the small amount of butter in the recipe. Instead, it looked like fine crumbs of butter/sugar. However, once all the egg had been added the mixture looked pretty normal, albeit a bit thick. The mixture did curdle quite spectacularly after the first portion of buttermilk was added but it did recover by the time I finished with the batter.
Alas, it all went awry in the baking. I think I must have set the shelf in my oven one notch too low as when I opened the door after 50 minutes baking there was a thick crust on top and squidgy liquid below. I tried out Renee's tea-towel trick for a flat top to the loaf and that did seem to work, but I can't help wondering if that also extended the cooking time needed. And then when I went to take it out of the tin (after cooking it longer, until a skewer came out almost clean; and letting it rest for 10 mins), it came out in pieces. One very large piece with all the crust, a large chunk from one end and then the rest was stuck in the middle of the tin. I haven't been this upset about a cake in a long time.... After throwing a hissy fit, I patted the two large chunks together and left them to cool down. I rather morosely ate the rest of the cake that was stuck to the pan - very yummy indeed.
The cake really was very good. The chocolate flavour was intense and we have devoured the rest of the loaf (which did stuck together again after cooling). It's especially good with whipped cream! I'd definitely try making the cake again, but perhaps divide it into muffin tins for the ultimate chocolate cupcake - just imagine some ganache swirled on top!!
Chocolate Pound Cake
from "Chocolate and The Art of Low-Fat Desserts"
Serves 10-14
WW points (UK): 5
125g plain flour
45g cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1 tbsp espresso powder or coffee granules
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g buttermilk
90g unsalted butter
270g caster sugar
8" by 4" loaf tin (5-cup capacity).
Have all ingredients at room temperature before starting prep. Position the rack in lower-third of oven and preheat to 350F. Spray tin with vegetable oil spray.
Combine and sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, powder and salt. Set aside. Whisk the whole eggs with the egg whites in a small bowl. Set aside. Dissolve the espresso powder in 1 1/2 tbsp warm water and combine with the vanilla and buttermilk in a small bowl.
Cut the butter into chunks and place in bowl of stand mixer. Beat to soften, about 1 min. Add sugar gradually, beating constantly for about 3 mins at medium speed. Gradually dribble eggs into sugar mixture, beating at med-high speed for 2-3 minutes. On medium-low speed, beat in a third of the flour mixture, scraping the bowl as necessary. On medium speed, gradually dribble in half of the buttermilk mixture, scraping the bowl as necessary. On low speed, beat in half of the remaining flour followed by the rest of the buttermilk, always scraping the bowl as necessary. Beat in remaing flour mixture until well combined. Batter may look slightly curdled; this is okay.
Scrape batter into the pan and smooth the top as necessary. Bake loaf for 45-50 mins, or until cake starts to shrink from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out barely clean. Do not overbake.
Cool cake, in the pan, on a wire rack for 10 mins. Invert and remove pan. Turn rightside up. Cool completely before storing.
Cake keeps moist and delicious for 4-5 days, well wrapped. Can freeze for up to 2 months.
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That looks simultaneously pathetic and delicious. I'm glad I'm not the only one with these problems...
1. Posted by barrett on November 20, 2007
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hi Angela,
oh dear! sorry to hear about your experience with this cake... it looks wonderfully moist, fudgy and chocolatey tho'.
this is one cake I've been eyeing for the longest time in CALFD (it is a mouthful isn't it? ; p), but have never gotten round to making it.
I wonder what could have been the reason for it breaking up like that...
what I've discovered tho', with Alice's recipes is that when she says "lower third" of oven, I would put the oven rack on the level just below the middle (which means the cake pan is not quite in the lower third of the oven), and all the recipes work fine. (even when using the "towel trick", I don't usually find I need to extend the cooking time)
the one time I did move the rack down so that the pan would physically be in the lower third of the oven, I too had to extend the cooking time.
so, I kind of concluded by "lower third" she actually meant "rack on level just below middle".
sorry, I should have posted about that in my posts on Alice's recipes... sort of forgot : (
just went to take a peek at my book to look at the recipe in the American version...
ah, ok... the one you made is for 1/2 recipe?
hmmm... not sure what 100g of buttermilk is in ml terms (I'm definitely more an American-measurement type of gal when it comes to baking ; )), but my recipe called for 3/4c, so 1/2 recipe would be about 3/8 cup or 90ml...
that shouldn't be too far off 100g I would imagine, so that's probably not the reason for the "wetter" texture...
sorry, I'm not being much of a help here.
but am glad you enjoyed the taste of the cake all the same.
hearing you describe the taste, I'm really wanting to give this recipe a go now : )
2. Posted by Renee on November 20, 2007
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Gosh Angela, that looks like my cakes of late. Here's my story:
Tuesday I make a chocolate cake,(in a 9x 13 glass pan) it baked up perfectly. But when it was time to release the cake it just wouldn't come out. I pounded and prodded, but still nothing. I basically had to pry the darn thing out in pieces. The filling (pastry cream) and icing (chocolate buttercream) came out great. I did manage to fill and ice the cake and it tasted great althought one of the ugliest cakes I've ever made.
So, the perfectionist that i am I tried again. Same recipe, however this time it didn't look quite right as it was baking. After 35 min it looked done but when i tested it with my cake tester the entire cake deflated :( I've never had a cake deflate. Oh well Maggie (my doggie) enjoyed it.
So once more I tried. Everything was perfect. I thought I learned my lessons. I lined the pan with parchment and generously greased and floured the pan. It baked up quite nice. But then disaster struck once again. Oh it came out of the pan alright but only the top half came out. Well, I was going to torte it anyway I told myself. I went about making my filling, again perfect. Then for my icing. Uh oh, why does my icing have the texture of dirt? I tried and tried to rid the icing of sugar granuals. I beat and melted and beat some more.
I've resigned myself to the fact that I need a cake baking break . :)
3. Posted by Barbara on November 20, 2007
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I've always had terrible luck with cakes - they fall, they fall apart... Years ago I came across a recipe in cookbook that made me smile (unfortunately I can't remember which book). The author had a restaurant and the recipe was for a cake. They had made the cake one evening for dessert, but it fell apart when it was taken out of the pan. In a pinch, they improvised and came up with some concoction of cake chunks and whipped cream or something (can't remember) in parfait glasses. They called it Gâteau Brisé (broken cake) and it was a hit!
4. Posted by Cathy on November 20, 2007
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Thanks Barrett! I certainly felt pretty pathetic after it flopped out of the tin in pieces. Tasted great though!
Hi Renee! It was indeed a very moist and fudgy cake - Dave ate about half of it, and he's not a huge fan of chocolate so it must have been good.... I think that what you say about the lower third of the oven may well have been the problem.
I indeed did make a half-recipe (probably should have mentioned that) as I only just had enough cocoa powder for half ;) 100g of buttermilk is 90ml btw (I weighed it after measuring it in a cup. The texture of the batter looked absolutely perfect when I put it in the oven, so I'm thinking that the shelf position in was the reason for the failure. Maybe I should also have used some parchment?
I'd still urge you to try baking it though!! It would be really spectacular with the Kahlua glaze recipe too (think it's on the next page).
Hi Barbara! So sorry to hear about your recent cake woes. Sometimes you just go through phases of troublesome cakes, I know I do! Must say though, I've never had any success baking cakes in glass pans; they always stick horribly and I end up serving them with custard! Hope your next cake comes out perfectly!!
Hi Cathy! What a wonderful story; Gâteau Brisé, I love it!!
5. Posted by Angela on November 20, 2007
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Hi Angela,
Despite your (mis)adventure with the choc cake, it looked so delicious that I decided to give it a try. I made 1 1/2 times the batter and substituted homemade unsweetened yoghurt for the buttermilk. As I didn't want it too sweet, I upped the sugar to 300g only. I baked it in an 8"x8" tin at 170"C for 45 to 50 mins. It turned out nice and moist but still holds together and cuts well. I urge you to try it again, maybe reducing the sugar a little, i.e. use just 200g instead of 270g for your quantity of batter. Too much sugar sometimes causes a cake to become too "tender" and not hold together. Also, a slightly less sweet cake can't be too bad for us, healthwise?! I'll definitely be making this cake again. Thank you for posting it and I hope you'll give it another go!
6. Posted by judy on November 20, 2007
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Hi Judy - I'm so glad that you've had success with this cake! I'll definitely be trying it again soon, and I'll bear your advice in mind. I'll definitely cut back the sugar; it was a little too sweet for us. Thanks!!
7. Posted by Angela on November 20, 2007