one cake two cake

I decided to finally take my last step into adulthood by having real grown-ups over, for a real dinner party. Frankly, I was surprised it took me so long – I’m well into my twenties, I love to feed people, so why don’t I host stylish and well-executed dinners? Then, five days before the event itself, I realized that I still don’t own any chairs. Thus illustrating one of the many reasons why I do not fall into the category of real grown-ups.



After briefly considering and discarding cardboard boxes as a valid seating option, I turned to Craigslist to save the day. My efforts were somewhat hampered by the fact that I also don’t own a car and can’t go anywhere far away, but eventually chairs were identified and secured, setting the stage for the perfect dinner party. And then I also bought a tablecloth! I am so very classy.

The most important thing though, was of course the food. I settled on what is probably the perfect dinner party dessert: a nearly flourless chocolate cake. It’s simple and stunning, but it’s also best if made a day ahead, saving the mad dash that occurs on the day of. Now, I wasn’t exactly organized to make this ahead of time, but it is theoretically possible. As for the recipe: I’m actually not generally a fan of flourless chocolate cakes, as they’re pretty intense, but this was definitely a good one. The single tablespoon of flour makes it less overwhelmingly dense, but it’s still rich and decadent. Plus, when my friend took his first bite, he started doing a little happy dance – generally a good sign.



Nearly Flourless Chocolate Cake – from Rachel Eats

• 200g butter
• 200g very good quality dark chocolate, chopped
• 250g granulated sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8-inch round cake tin with baking parchment and butter the parchment.

In microwave, melt butter and chocolate. Let cool for a few minutes. Scrape the butter and chocolate into a larger bowl and stir in the sugar.

In separate small bowl, lightly beat one egg and then add it to the other ingredients and stir thoroughly. Again in the separate bowl beat another egg, add it to the mixture and stir in. Repeat until you have added all five eggs. Stir in the flour.

Scrape the mixture into the lined tin. Bake just until the top is dry and cracking, but the centre of the cake still wobbles slightly, about 25 minutes. Keep a close eye after 20 minutes and be careful not to overbake.

Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin, about 2 hours. Gently invert it on to a wire tray and then revert it on to the serving plate. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

The process of moving into a new apartment is my least favourite thing in the world (with the possible exception of box-mix cakes). Cleaning, painting, and complaining have consumed much of my time recently. But now that things are shaping up, we decided to have a housewarming barbecue! Which provided an excellent opportunity to bake.


Somehow I reined in my normal impulse to make wildly impractical things, and focused on recipes that were simple, delicious, and feed a crowd. I did break the rule of never cooking a new recipe for guests – but it worked out so well! Chocolate stout cake is ridiculously moist, and it’s definitely going to be one of my new standby recipes. It’s a rich but not too rich, very chocolatey bundt cake, covered in puddles of smooth ganache. It stuck horribly to the pan, so be warned. But luckily, when you cover anything in chocolate and cream, it starts to look pretty again.


My blondies also made a repeat appearance, and the other concoction was my favourite cupcakes, in miniature form for added cuteness. A while back, I carried out a search for a simple vanilla cupcake that was moist and rich without being too sweet. Eventually I stumbled across this one from Amy Sedaris, and after a couple adaptations I stopped experimenting. They’re perfect. Make them!


Oh yeah, and my roommates made healthy food… sensible folk.

Honestly, I think all three of these recipes are pretty amazing. The housewarming was great, and all baked goods had vanished by the end of the night. I maybe shouldn’t trust the judgement of dozens of tipsy scientists, but I still chose to take that as a sign that everyone else agreed with my assessment.


Chocolate Stout Cake – adapted from Epicurious via Smitten Kitchen

• 1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache – adapted from Smitten Kitchen

• 6 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a bundt pan very, very well.

Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer cake to rack; cool completely in the pan, then turn cake out onto rack for drizzling ganache.

For the ganache, gently microwave the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of cooled cake.

Note: despite avid pan-buttering, my cake still stuck horribly. Next time I might try dusting it with cocoa powder as well. But if your cake does break, it’s still delicious!

Vanilla Cupcakes – Adapted from Amy Sedaris

Yield: 18 cupcakes or 45 mini-cupcakes

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Beat butter until smooth. Pour in sugar and beat well. Add 2 eggs and vanilla and beat well. In a separate bowl, whisk together baking powder, salt, flour. Add dry ingredients and milk to egg mixture and beat until combined. Pour into individual baking cups, until they are about 2/3 full. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes for cupcakes, or around 12-15 for mini-cupcakes. Cool completely before frosting.

Note: Sometimes I burn these because I forget all my prior experience and wait for them to turn golden. Frequently these cupcakes are done before they brown, so a cake tester is the best bet.

Vanilla Buttercream

• 1 cups (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar, then cream and vanilla.