Monday, December 26, 2005

Chocolate Chestnut Cake Redux

When we last left Chocolate Chestnut Cake, things were not so good. There was stress; there was angst; there were suspicions of inadequacy on the part of Nigella. There was resolve to try again, with the egg yolks the recipe so oddly left out.

I tried again. This time I used the KitchenAid (I don't know why I didn't use the KitchenAid last time; I always use the KitchenAid; the KitchenAid has revolutionized my baking; I owe almost all that I am as a baker to the KitchenAid; but last time, for some reason, I did not use the KitchenAid, I think perhaps because the recipe involved lots of bowls and much mixing, and the hand mixer seemed apropos). This time I also used the egg yolks. I scrutinized the recipe once again; I wondered What Would Nigella Do; then I did what I do: asked S what to do. After much scrutinizing of the recipe himself, he decided that I should add the egg yolks after the melted chocolate and before the superfine sugar. So I did.

People, Nigella made a mistake. This recipe needs egg yolks. It also benefits dramatically from the KitchenAid. I had batter that looked and acted like batter. I spread the batter into the pan. The cake rose. I was a happy baker.

Then I took it out of the oven, three minutes after the maximum recommended time, because it seemed a bit moist, and the cake collapsed. I was once again an anxious baker, though I reminded myself that many cakes collapse on purpose.

S dusted it with powdered sugar and we served it with whipped cream to raves from the first-night-of-Hanukkah guests.

It was pretty good: a dense kind of cake, moist, but with a light chocolate flavor, and the chestnut gives it, well, a kind of nutty sweetness, as might be expected. I wouldn't say that I adore it, but I do like it, in an "I'm not quite sure why I like this" kind of way.

Overall: thumbs up (with the egg yolks).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Becca. I realize this post is quite old but as I have the How to be a Domestic Goddess book, I wanted to check and see if the egg yolks were missing. I see them in the recipe in the first line where it says to combine the vanilla, rum and melted chocolate in with the butter and chestnut puree. Perhaps your edition was an older one with some errors? Just curious as I am going to be making the refrigerator version of this cake.