I’m a fan of dessert. And I’m a fan of chocolate. I don’t think I’m over the top about chocolate the way some people are. But I definitely don’t turn my nose up at it. And I’m not the biggest fan of cake. I like it fine, but there are definitely other desserts that can sway my vote away from cake. However, there is one cake that I will eat any day of the week and twice on Tuesdays. (Tuesdays, instead of the traditional “Sundays” for that quote, because that’s the day my small group meets so that’s the day I’m most likely to get this cake since Lisa is in my small group.)
Lisa Driver loves to bake. She tells the tale of when she started baking a few years ago and decided to bake through a cake cookbook she received (The Cake Doctor, for those of you who are interested) and because of that her husband gained 50 pounds in just a couple months since she was so good at it. And she is good at it! I’ve had several of her baked goods and I can’t say I’ve had a bad one yet. However, there is pretty much only one dessert of hers that I’m completely devoted to. As in, undying devotion “devoted to”.
I love to make desserts myself. I like to be creative and see the elegant finished product. And to have people rave over it. I think I have a couple really good desserts up my sleeve that I can whip out from time to time. But Lisa’s cake takes the prize.
This “Darn Good Chocolate Cake” is a chocolate bundt cake with chocolate chips mixed in (sometimes a peanut butter chip surprise or two as well but my all-time fave is just chocolate chips). The cake is moist and delicious all by itself. And I could maybe see myself being able to recreate the cake. However, Lisa apparently took a whipped chocolate frosting recipe from the cake cookbook and tinkered with it until it reached a frothy state of perfection. I used to be able to eat just frosting as a little girl, but these days I find that a little frosting goes a long way normally. Not so with this frosting. I could eat it with a spoon. But it’s even better slathered onto this delicious cake.
A big thank you to Lisa for introducing me to this delightful dessert and for making it on request whenever we all demand it (and we do demand it pretty often)! There are few desserts I’d put in the same category as this cake. And that goes for the restaurant variety as well.
Oh,now I'm dying to have the recipe! Do you think she'd share it?
ReplyDeleteThe recipe itself is extremely easy and easy to find. I wish I could say that it was my own creation, but, alas, I am not that accomplished a baker yet. That being said, I am planning to try my first totally original dessert creation--a "chocolate lasagna"--inspired by Cari, of course. Don't worry, it won't actually have noodles in it. Anyway, the recipe for Darn Good Chocolate Cake is from the Cake Doctor cookbook. Most of the recipes can be found online--just google the name of it and you should be able to find it easily. I will also get it sent to Cari so she can post it as a guest blog. I do have a couple of tips to help yours come out like mine. Mind you, these are super secret tricks that I haven't told more that just a few people...so this is quite an emotional decision to give them away. ;)
ReplyDelete1. Mix all of your wet ingredients for the cake first. Then add the dry ones (contrary to the order listed in the recipe.)
2. Use a chocolate fudge pudding mix in it instead of just plain chocolate pudding. And add it before the cake mix and blend into the wet ingredients thoroughly before adding the cake mix.
3. Use the fluffy chocolate frosting recipe, but double the amount of vanilla extract and increase the amount of salt by 25%.
4. Blend that frosting like your life depends on it. I usually follow the recipe directions, then add about another 5 minutes of blending on high until the frosting forms very stiff peaks.
5. Once the frosting reaches fluffy perfection, pop it in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Then take it out and whip it some more on high (You may need to add a tiny bit of milk or vanilla to get it to loosen enough to whip it again, but be careful not to put in too much, or you'll need to add more powdered sugar as well.)
6. Always, always, always use real butter! Margarine or spreads will not give it the flavor and consistency that real butter does. And really, butter is better for your arteries in some ways than those substitutes. Besides, it's cake. You can't get around that fact. You can try to make it lower-fat or lower-cal, but then it wouldn't be worth the calories, even if there are fewer of them.
So there it is. I'll get the actual recipe (along with these tips) posted just in case anyone can't find the recipe on the web. But first I need to go have a moment of silence and maybe a good cry...
--Lisa, aka "The Cake Queen" (according to my husband)