Rich chocolate cake with cooked custard style cacao and wine frosting.

Sliced Chocolate Cake

Piece of Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake with Cooked Cab/Cacao Frosting

YUMMY!  I am not much of a “by the book” cook.  I am a fistful of this, pinch of that, in the mood for this or that spice today kind of cook.  When I find a recipe I like, I will try to follow the recipe the 1st time.  Then my family is subjected to altered versions to tweak to our taste for weeks after.

This cake recipe is a morph from the original Hersheys Cocoa tin back in the 40’s.  We like to keep things as raw and organic as we can so instead of Cocoa, Cacao.  To replace milk and a portion of the butter I have used butter milk or yogurt (our own culture from non pasteurized milk.)

The icing comes from many different favorites all hybridized to develop a not too sweet, clean rich frosting. I have always hated confectioners sugar.  It seems like a cheep, stretched GMO loaded cheat to me.  After doing some gourmet baking research I came across a stove top recipe with flour and regular sugar.  Simply delectable!  Then I combined it with my favorite rich moose recipe and thought, as with all things, a splash of wine can only make things better.

Now, please forgive the minimal photos and lack of quality.  My phone was “lost” months ago and I am trying to get by borrowing my hubbies phone when he is around.  Lousy lighting, no prep ready, rushed to just get it done……..

So, here is my newest creation.

Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C butter, softened
• 1 2/3 C sugar
• 3 lg eggs
• 2 C all purpose flour
• 2/3 C Cacao or Cocoa
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 C milk or buttermilk or yogurt or sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 deg.  Grease and flour a 13X9 or 2 square/round layer cake pans, or line your cupcake tins with papers.

1. Cream sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time blending well after each addition.
2. Mix the rest of your dry ingredients thoroughly.  Alternately adding portions of your dry and wet to the creamed.  Start with 1/2 to 1/3 or the dry, mixing thoroughly. Then 1/2 to 1/3 wet, thoroughly. Then more dry.  Keep going until all ingredients are fully blended, no lumps, a nice creamy batter.
3. Pour into your pans(s.) Bake for 35-40 min until knife inserted comes out clean.  Cool on rack.

Cabernet Chocolate Custard Frosting

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter softened to room temp
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/4 C cacao or cocoa
• 2 heaping tsp flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 C milk
• 1/2 C cabernet
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Blend all the dry.  Cream with your softened butter. in a medium thick bottomed sauce pan.  When thoroughly blended slowly add your beaten eggs util well mixed.  Add milk and cab beating until smooth.
2. Put over low to medium heat (temp depends on thickness of your pan, you do not want to scald the milk or curdle the egg by fast rising and uneven temps.) Constantly whisk as heating.  As it starts to steam, get hot, it will start tracing and ribbon for you.  Just before it reaches a boil it should be thick pudding consistency.
3. Pour over your cake. You have a few minutes while cooling to spread before it sets.  Do not let it sit too long before shaping and covering your cake.  You have minutes.

What’s nice is this icing sets up pretty and holds it place and shape. Plus it is rich and flavorful with out the excessive sweet pasty feel of a butter cream frosting.