Chocolate Coffee Cake

I baked these this afternoon. It was the easiest coffee cake I’ve ever made. But then again, I rarely whipped up a coffee cake

Coffee cake is not a coffee flavored cake, mind you. It is a simple cake intended to be served in afternoon coffee time, or in my case, tea time. Therefore, it boasts some specific characters:

• a single layer cake – short, looks more like a bar
• doesn’t necessarily have coffee in it
• quick and easy to prepare, you know, to catch up the afternoon sky before it gets dark

Now, this one might not boast the best texture in the world or a mind blowing chocolate flavor. It is dense like a fruitcake and it was a regular chocolatey burst. But hell, it’s the easiest chocolate nibble to make in half an hour, about 35 minutes in the oven, and.. voila! You got yourself a nice companion, beside your tea, to color your afternoon happy.

O yeah, you don’t have to take out your electric mixer. All the tools you need are a bowl, a whisk or spatula, and measuring cups. You don’t even have to sift anything.

Chocolate.. seriously

 
I watched this episode of Jamie Oliver making this flourless chocolate cake and I couldn’t let go. After trying it, I lost words. I don’t know how to explain the feel, the taste, the experience. It was just.. different.
 
Then I found a review made by a woman named Elaine, and she spoke all the words I need.
 

“It has been years since I ate chocolate cake, and I must admit I approached this chocolate torte with much trepidation. Would it taste as good as the chocolate cakes I remember?
 
The answer is No.
 
Its much better than any chocolate cake I have ever eaten before!
 
The first impression that I got was chocolate. Not the sweet pappy chocolate flavour that you get when you buy “ordinary” chocolate cake, but a rich, dark bitter-sweet chocolate. A really Serious chocolate. Chocolate for Adults only, with an 18 certificate. Then the more subtle flavour and texture of nuts creeps into your awareness. Not strong, but subtle, and they gave the cake that bit more “bite” than pure chocolate could.
 
This isn’t a cake for eating when the munchies strike. It’s for eating when the curtains are closed, the candles are lit, the music is soft, and the mood is just right. It positively cries out for lashings of double cream – not whipped cream, but poured extravagantly over the top of a warmed portion, and allowed to soak in. It is almost too much cake for anyone to bear, and I defy anyone to tell it from a sugar and carb laden version, except, perhaps, that it’s better. “
 
–Elaine–

 
Elaine, I couldn’t agree more.
 

One Tower Coming Up!

 

“Something whose form is reminiscent of a ring-shaped cake.”
(Definition by Answers.com)

Well, that will do.

So my brownie can be a donut, too, as long it is ring-shaped. Yay.

PennyLane’s Brownies
(Published in the book of “18 Cakes & Cookies” by NCC)

Ingredients:
4 eggs
400 g castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla
60 g cocoa powder
210 g plain flour
225 g vegetable oil
85 g chocolate chips
120 g any roasted nuts to your liking