Double Happiness Chocolate Cake

(Information about my other writing can be found here.)

  

 Life can always use a rich bit of sweetness. Today I made my never-fail Italian chocolate cake, and feel as if I really must share it with the world. It's easy, simple, and never goes wrong—highly desirable qualities under any circumstance, but absolutely heavenly in this instance.

  Double Happiness Cake

The Yang of dark rich chocolate cake
Meets with the Yin of smooth delicate chocolate cream,
And both meld in a glazed caramel Nirvana.

This recipe makes a European-style large single layer cake frosted with ganache and drizzled with caramel. Measurements are American, with the assumption that your butter is 4 sticks to a pound. No mixer is required. The sequence of steps begins with the

Cake:
1 stick butter, room temperature                                    
1 ½ cups white flour
1 ¼ cup white sugar            
1 tsp. baking soda 
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs                    
½ tsp. salt
½ cup Hershey’s cocoa powder        
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup hot coffee

Cream the butter with the sugar. Add eggs one by one and beat to golden smoothness, using a whisk or a spoon.
Stir the cocoa into the hot coffee until blended, and pour into the butter mixture. Nothing will curdle. 

Add dry ingredients and whisk well. Pour the batter, which will be thin, into a greased 9-inch round baking pan lined at the bottom with parchment paper. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes and check for doneness; watch the last few minutes closely. This cake never fails unless it's baked too long and becomes dry.
 

Fast Ganache Frosting: Made from cocoa powder rather than chocolate bits, and I was unable to discern the difference. On the stovetop in a saucepan stir together 

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat it attentively and make sure it doesn't boil. Once it's cool, refrigerate until it’s thickened, then let it warm up a bit before you frost the cake with it. Once you’ve done that, move on to the finishing touch—

Caramel Drizzle:

1 cup packed cup brown sugar

1/2 cup half-and-half

4 tablespoons butter

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Confectioner's sugar (as needed)

Stir over medium heat until thickened. Remove the pan from the heat, let the mixture cool to warm, then add the vanilla and slowly sift in the confectioner’s sugar until the consistency is where you want it. Drizzle in Jackson Pollock style over the cake. 

Variation if you have the time and are feeling fancy: Split the cake in the middle and fill it with the ganache, then top with the French chocolate glaze described below, then apply the caramel drizzle.

French Chocolate Glaze: Put a half cup of cocoa powder into a glass bowl with about ½ cup of sugar, a lump of butter, and a dash of water. Microwave about 15 seconds. Take it out and stir to get everything mixed smooth. Microwave again for about 30 seconds and stir again; add a dash of vanilla. You’ll know when it looks right. It’ll thicken a bit as it cools.

Serve each slice with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and some raspberries. Accept the inevitable homage with grace and serenity.

Namaste,

CK 

Note: These instructions were updated on 4/20/2024, giving simpler, just as tasty recipes for the ganache and the drizzle.

Remembered Beauty

“From the withered tree, a flower.” ~Zen proverb

I've loved Japan since childhood, and the beauty of its culture has continued to enrich my life in countless ways. Its language is able to define the ineffable: wabi-sabi, shibui, mono no aware, mottainai. Visiting Tokyo and Kyoto in 2008 was the fulfillment of a dream for me, and now as I try to comprehend the horrifying news images from the earthquake, what I most remember is how kind everyone was, and how gracious and patient. Those memories give me hope.

Out of my wrung heart, the wish to live mindfully, spending each instant in the best possible way; to do all I can to help as much as I can. Out of the withered branch, a flower.

The following photographs were taken by me during my Japan visit, and reflect the spiritual strength I found everywhere. Click twice on them for the biggest view. (For a related post, see https://carolynkephart.blogspot.com/2008/11/deep-sweet-ineffable.html.)

A granite prayer wheel. Heavy as it looks,
the slightest touch moves it -- a lesson in stone.

A quiet shrine on a rainy day.

The Buddha of Old Fans,
its altar-table piled with offerings.

A favorite temple, serene and restful.

A Buddhist monk chanting in the street.

A shrine fountain with the inscription

"I live for the joy."

CK

Smashwords Read An E-Book Week Sale

I'm late about getting around to this announcement, but...

As part of the ongoing Read An E-Book Week celebration, all of my novels are on sale for half price at Smashwords with the coupon code RAE50, including The Ryel Saga: A Tale of Love and Magic. My short fiction, which is getting thousands of downloads, is still free (all five stories are collected in a single volume, PenTangle: Five Pointed Fables, also half price).

Mark Coker*, you rock!

CK

*Founder of Smashwords and all-around great guy

Springing Forward

I'm delighted to announce that Luna Station Quarterly has published my wryly nostalgic fairy tale Everafter Acres as its Spring issue Story of the Week. The encouraging reception of my first humorous work of fiction just at the start of my favorite season is inspiring the light-hearted side of me, and I can promise that more droll tales are in the offing. 

Click on the image to read it, with my compliments. More of my writing can be found here.

:-)

CK