Ms Chef in Seattle

Earlier this summer while walking home from the Ballard Viking Days with some neighbors, I picked up a party cookbook at one of the pick-up/drop-off free book bins. There was a recipe for a chocolate party cake featuring three layers, lots of butter and chocolate, lots of work and plenty of time to get ingredients up to room temp.What baker isn’t up for a new cake recipe if it contains the ingredients known for a tasty outcome? I wasn’t sure about the frosting recipe because it involved a new method and an abundance of milk chocolate, which I tend to avoid, but am happy that I caved and followed the recipe, mostly.

I wanted to make this cake for an occasion. It’s big, serves 16 and, most importantly, it’s chocolate, lots of it. I planned to make it for my sister’s birthday but found out that she would be in Hawaii on the occasion and, furthermore, is currently following a dietary regimen that definitely does not include chocolate cake. Then I was invited to a housewarming/costume party in the neighborhood, thought the party cake would be a perfect baked gift, but the party was canceled. As it turned out, there was enough interest for CAKE in my local testing crew that I decided to bake and share it in my sister’s honor. I’ve frozen a piece for her in case she decides to cheat a little bit.

I made mock cake flour upon discovering that my stock had expired, or perhaps it was leftover from the prior tenant here and I thought nothing of it. Anyway, it stunk. One cup of flour minus two tablespoons, which are replaced with corn starch. Next time, no substitution, not with all that butter and chocolate. There’s chemistry and physics involved.

Then there’s vanilla ice cream, Formula 1 in Austin, UW Huskies playing football, Seahawks playing football and occasional glances at the Alabama game, too. Slice of this cake and a dab of ice cream goes well with any or all of those fun times.