On Chocolate Cake

From a non-cake lover.

Welcome to a recipe post for paid subscribers! This simple chocolate cake is devastatingly moist and decadent. Next Tuesday, all subscribers will receive a photo essay from our trip to Mexico City. As always, check out my past posts here and learn more about my day job here. Thanks for reading!

Most of the best recipes I have come from my grandmothers, as evidenced by the chocolate mousse recipe I shared a few weeks ago. With these heirloom recipes, I take one of two tracks: either I repeat them step-for-step without faltering for years on end or I tweak them until just barely recognizable. This is one of those recipes.

From the moment I first baked the raspberry pound cake from which this recipe sprang, I had some theories about what made it so delicious. In a series of delicious yet befuddling recipe tests, a realization slowly dawned on me: the raspberry ripple, which my Grandma made with fresh raspberry puree, was the key to keeping this cake as moist as can be.

Of course, being the chocolate fiend that I am, I had to try to add a cocoa base. It worked, my final hypothesis was proven right, and I ended up with a recipe for delicious chocolate cake with a jam swirl. If that’s not a win-win, I don’t know what is.

Tips

• The jam swirl is optional, of course, but I’d encourage you not to skip it. It adds a beautiful, bright, acidic hit in the middle of the deep, rich chocolate flavors.

• Don’t skimp on the coffee. When a recipe calls for strong-brewed coffee, the coffee is often playing second-fiddle to a stronger flavor. In this case, the coffee is what makes the chocolate taste so decadent, so don’t be afraid to brew a stronger-than-you’d-drink cup for this bake.

• I have successfully made this cake vegan, gluten-free, and vegan AND gluten-free. I had the most success using almond milk + a splash of white vinegar in place of buttermilk, flaxseed eggs, and coconut flour.

Chocolate Cake Any Way