Chocolate Rosewater Cake

 

With a few simple pantry staples one can create this luscious chocolate cake and although it has no egg, no milk and no butter you can't tell otherwise. Every time I make this cake there isn't a crumb left on the plate. So simple and hardly an effort; truly making this cake a labour of love. 

Chocolate Rosewater Cake

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1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup white sugar 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup of water

5 tablespoons light olive oil

1 to 2 teaspoons rosewater extract

1 teaspoon white vinegar

Chocolate Icing:

1 cup butter, softened

3 to 4 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl beat the butter until fluffy. Add 3 cups of icing sugar, cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of milk and the vanilla extract. Beat until fluffy. 

*Adjust with more milk; depending on what consistency you are looking for.

 

Preheat oven to 350ºF and butter and flour a round cake tin and line the bottom with a piece of baking parchment paper. 

In a large bowl blend together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Create a well in the centre of the mixture and add the water, oil, rosewater and vinegar. Stir and mix well.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake baking tin and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.

Once cooled carefully remove cake form the tin and place on a serving plate. Make the chocolate icing and you want the cake to be completely cold before adding any icing. Icing and decorate with crushed edible rose petals. 

Notes: You may make the icing while the cake is baking just cover the bowl and pop it in the refrigerator until ready to use. You will have to let the icing sit for about 20 minutes, when taken from the refrigerator, to reach a spreadable consistency and beat briefly to help this along, making sure it's spreadably smooth.    

Stay warm, safe and have a lovely weekend everyone! - JD 

Triple Chocolate Cake

This weekend was an eventful one. It was my son's birthday and he wanted a chocolate... chocolate cake. So I made this three layer triple chocolate cake over the coarse of 3 days, that is really ironic. First, I made the chocolate sponge cake, then I made the two chocolate cake layers and the first batch of chocolate icing. 

I assembled the cake as follows: I placed one of the chocolate cake layers on a large plate and then covered the top with icing. I then placed the chocolate sponge on top of the iced layer, then I covered the top of the sponge with icing, then I placed the second chocolate cake layer on top of that and iced the top. With the remaining icing I sealed the sides of the cake. The cake was covered and placed into the refrigerator until I could finish the cake the next day. The following day I made another batch of chocolate icing and poured it over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides until the cake was smothered with chocolate icing. Sliced almonds were placed on top and the cake went back into the refrigerator to let the icing set for about 2 hours. Which was perfect because by that time we were ready for cake.  

As you can see all the layers came together nicely from top to bottom. The light chocolate layer is the chocolate sponge cake. This cake was rich however not too dense and had the perfect amount of chocolate.  

The icing was very simple to make and I found it had a bit of a fudge consistency. Which was surprising considering it was only two ingredients. Chocolate and whipping cream. This icing is truly a chocolate lovers treat! 

Quick Chocolate Icing

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8 ounces of good quality chocolate

1 cup whipping cream

Melt the 8 ounces of chocolate. 

In a saucepan bring the 1 cup of whipping cream to a boil.

Pour the cream into the chocolate and whisk it until smooth, then refrigerate until set... about 4 to 6 hours. 

Notes: I used a bain-marie to melt the chocolate. When using this icing to icing between layers I let it sit on the counter for a bit so that it was a bit pliable and easy to spread. Also, I made two batches of this icing to completely cover the 3 layer chocolate cake I made. The second batch of icing did not set in the refrigerator instead was cooled for a few moments and then poured over the cake. Which then I let set for 2 hours in the refrigerator. 

Hope everyone had a good weekend! - JD