Amazing Fluffy Chocolate Cake
Look how flurrrrfffffyyyyy this chocolate cake is! And it has strawberries and whipped cream too, cuz it's almost forced gift-giving day. It's almost Valentine's Day!
This fluffy chocolate cake is a family favorite. No, not just a favorite. A treasure. A family treasure.
All the credit goes to my amazing aunt who whips up this cake at her dear niece's or nephew's request whenever said niece or nephew's birthday rolls around. Consequently, this chocolate cake has become known as "the birthday cake" in my house.
And we wait for it. Boy, do we wait for it. All. Year. Round. Because it's amazing. I mean, I called it "Amazing Fluffy Chocolate Cake," didn't I?
This cake isn't your usual deep, rich, intense Hershey's-style chocolate cake (because, let's be honest, almost all chocolate cakes are a spin off of Hershey's). No, this cake is a lot lighter. As evidenced in the photos. But not just in color. In texture too.
And it's soooooooo fluffy. Like I may have just mentioned a sentence ago.
The fluffiness comes as a result of whipping up egg whites till stiff and then folding them into the batter (don't run away, you can "gently mix" the whipped egg whites in instead of "folding" them in, if the word "folding" terrifies you like it terrified me just a year ago).
And the taste. Gosh. It's addictive. No seriously, this chocolate cake has an addictive aftertaste. It's crack, basically.
And the frosting. I do not like frostings or creams or custards. Generally speaking. But I can eat this frosting by the spoonful. Because it's not really frosting. It's cake batter! For reals.
Before you add the flour and baking powder and salt to the cake batter, you take off 1/2 a cup of it and reserve it for the frosting. Yeah, I know, it's almost too good to be true.
Not only does this save you the time, effort, and ingredients of making a separate frosting to go along with the cake, but you actually get to eat raw cake batter along with every mouthful of baked cake. And it'll be completely socially acceptable! The day has arrived, my friends. It has finally come.
Now, I know some people get nervous at the thought of eating raw batter or cookie dough. Because raw eggs! Salmonella! But, I saw a quote once that I try my very best to live by and would like to now share with you all:
"Has anybody actually ever gotten Salmonella from eating raw cookie dough, or are people just trying to stop me from living my life?"
Amen.
Now, here's the big disclaimer: I don't claim to be any sort of health expert, and if I were you, I definitely would not take my advice on this raw egg issue. Rather, I suggest you do your own research on this matter and decide for yourself whether this fluffy chocolate cake with raw egg batter frosting is worth consuming because of the risk.
All I know is that my brothers eat (or is it drink?) raw eggs every morning. And they're still alive.
But, it might reassure you to know that the eggs are mixed with a boiled hot water and cocoa mixture, which may result in the eggs getting cooked, or at least their leaving the raw-salmonella-inducing stage. It may. Or it may not. I don't claim to know.
This amazing fluffy chocolate cake requires just a little more effort to whip up than your average chocolate cake does. Because, like I mentioned, first you have to separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until they're stiff.
Then you continue on with creaming your butter with the remaining egg yolks just like any other cake. You also have to boil some cocoa, coffee, sugar, and water over a flame before adding them to your butter and egg yolk mixture. At this point, you take off some of the batter for the frosting (my favorite part <3). And then you add in the dry ingredients. And finally, you gently mix (see, I didn't say fold) in your whipped egg whites.
So, there's the extra whipping-egg-whites step and boiling-cocoa-mixture step. But they're both pretty simple. And it's all so, so worth it. For one bite of this fluffy chocolate cake. With raw-eggs-cake-batter-frosting. And whipped cream. And strawberries.
I waited a while to share this chocolate cake recipe with you all, because I was looking for the right time to post it. And now is the right time. Because this is the perfect cake for Valentine's Day.
Because it's chocolate cake. And Valentine's Day and chocolate go hand in hand. And then there's the strawberry and whipped cream garnish. Which is super romantic.
On a regular day, you can simply skip the garnishes and stick with the cake on its own (with a generous layer of the controversial frosting, of course.) If you plan on making this cake for a birthday or other such celebration, feel free to pepper the cake with sprinkles and decorate with candles.
Whatever the occasion, this cake will be a hit. Right out of the park. I'm 87% sure.
AMAZING FLUFFY CHOCOLATE CAKE
Yield: 9-inch round/square pan
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line and grease a 9-inch round or square pan.
In a machine fitted with a whip attachment, beat the 4 egg whites until frothy. Gradually add in the 1/2 cup sugar and beat egg whites until stiff. Transfer whipped egg whites to a bowl, and switch from whip to a flat beater.
Cream the butter, 4 egg yolks, and vanilla extract till smooth and fluffy. Meanwhile, place the cocoa, coffee, 1 cup sugar, and water in a small pot. Stir together and bring to a boil over a small flame, stirring occasionally.
With the machine running on low speed, add the boiled cocoa mixture to your machine in a steady stream. Increase speed and beat mixture till smooth. Remove 1/2 cup of the batter and set aside as your frosting.
Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the machine and mix till just incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the whipped egg whites slowly and gently (a little less gently than folding them in).
Pour batter into prepared baking pan, smooth top, and bake for 25-32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Let cake cool in pan for 10-20 minutes before inverting onto a cake rack. Peel off parchment paper and flip back over. Let cool completely before spreading reserved frosting over cake. Garnish with strawberries and whipped cream if desired.
*Note: you can double the recipe and bake it in a 10x16 inch pan. Just take off 1 cup of the batter for frosting instead of 1/2 cup and bake for about double the amount of time.
On a completely unrelated note, yep:
photo from dump a day dot com
