The big question of a simple chocolate cake.
Before any mention of chocolate cake, I must first confess that I haven’t felt like baking much recently. (Is this it? Am I cured?) The boy is currently overseas for work reasons and prior to his departure, he had been sick for two weeks with a severe loss of appetite, though managed a miraculous recovery not long after touching down in Hong Kong. (Is this it? Is he cured?)
So, big absence of boy and very little baking happening. But rare is a situation which cannot be improved by the presence of a simple chocolate cake. On the first day this cake was made, I thought it was delicious. On the second day, I actually said Wow, out loud to myself. And because home economics for the single dweller often suffers from a lack of self-editing, I treated myself to a piece of this cake every evening thereafter. The one that got away : a piece not dissimilar in size to the one pictured above that was dispatched in foil to a friend who lives across the street and is currently suffering from relationship woes.
(Incidentally, did you also know that the leftover fudge frosting is phenomenal stirred into hot chocolate?)
Anyway, we are now down to the final slab, which brings us to the big question.. Save the last piece for his return, or eat it quickly and he’ll never know it ever existed in the first place?
Make this and tell me the answer is as plain and clear cut as a piece of simple chocolate cake.
Tags: brown sugar, cake, chocolate, Dan Lepard
Rosa said,
February 4, 2012 @ 11:54 pm
A lovely cake! Simplicity at its best.
Cheers,
Rosa
Caitlin said,
February 5, 2012 @ 8:32 am
Eat it and hide all evidence. B will never know 😉
cakebrain said,
February 5, 2012 @ 12:56 pm
delicious looking cake. very thoughtful of you to make it and share it. chocolate cures a lot
Hannah said,
February 5, 2012 @ 2:28 pm
And here I was thinking that leftover fudge and frosting is only edible when taken by the spoonful, Mary Poppins-style? 😉
Love the use of muscovado and condensed milk! Scrumptiousness for sure!
Reemski said,
February 5, 2012 @ 3:12 pm
On my self imposed weight watching regimen the thought of chocolate cake has me groaning with envy. What’s the glycerin for?
Lee Tran Lam said,
February 5, 2012 @ 5:31 pm
That cake sounds gorgeous – which only makes bargaining about the last slab a trickier dilemma! A halfway bet seems a safe (but not entirely sweet-tooth-rewarding?) option …
David Whitehouse, Editor, Short & Sweet said,
February 5, 2012 @ 9:22 pm
Hi there,
Glad you like “Short & Sweet”, but we do ask bloggers not to post the recipes on their websites. We’re very happy if you want to talk about the recipe and how you made it, and encourage bloggers to post their own photos, but please remember that the book is copyright, and we ask people to respect that fact. So would you remove the ingredients list and method from this page ?
Thanks
David Whitehouse, Editor, Short &Sweet
Y said,
February 5, 2012 @ 9:32 pm
Hi David,
My apologies. I’ve removed the recipe from the post.
InTolerantChef said,
February 6, 2012 @ 11:12 am
Maybe you should just make your boy a whole new one for his homecoming 🙂
Angela Taormina said,
February 7, 2012 @ 6:30 am
I understand and respect the copyright issues, and would like to know more about the book “Short & Sweet”. A search finds a book by Gale Gand and one by Melanie Barnard. Please let me know which book this yummy-looking recipe came from! Thanks…
Emma said,
February 9, 2012 @ 12:18 am
Lame copyright. I wonder if the editor above is a sad bespectacled chap, sorely in need of a slice of chocolate cake. Or a reality check.
Love that you used Taza here:)
delphcotecuisine said,
February 11, 2012 @ 1:43 am
simply yummy and gorgeous
Delphine
Warwick Foster said,
February 18, 2012 @ 7:10 pm
Well, bah humbug to cranky-chops editor, who gets to not sell me a book. Generosity of spirit leads to generosity of returns, and vice versa. However, now I want chocolate cake …
nice job with the blog
W
Cori said,
February 27, 2012 @ 1:23 am
Too bad about the recipe! It looks great though, mmmm
Momo said,
February 28, 2012 @ 9:00 am
I was so looking forward to the recipe, as I have been searching for ‘the’ chocolate cake recipe… Shame
David Whitehouse, www.danlepard.com said,
March 28, 2012 @ 4:26 am
Something a bit childish and nasty about Emma (above) using the word “bespectacled” as a way of insulting anyone, for two reasons: firstly, that it brings in schoolyard-style bullying and picking on someone for their actual or imagined attributes; and secondly, because she is herself a spectacle wearer. Not sure what that says about her self-image, but it’s not a very adult remark. And I’m sure Emma wouldn’t want her work taken and used without her permission – in fact, her own blog says “Please ask before using original text and/or photography”. Doesn’t seem to me that we’re asking any more than that, where Dan Lepard’s recipes are concerned.
Carol said,
May 7, 2012 @ 5:30 pm
Hi, Not sure if you can answer this but I just received my copy of Short and Sweet and now look forward to making the Brown Sugar Chocolate Cake. It calls for 2 tsp of Glycerine – what is this for? Is the cake going to flop if I leave it out? Can I substitute? If the answer to all my questions is NO – can you possibly tell me where can I buy Glycerine?
Look forward to your reply and to eating the cake.
Cheers, Carol