Spring. Easter. Trees in bloom. Bright sunshine. Rain drops. Big sneezes. Little colds. Travels. Coming home. And chocolate.
My mom asked me the other day what was my creative process to write posts. Well, there it is. I throw words on paper. Words that go with the pictures I have taken of the recipe I have just made. I take them and elaborate with each paragraph. That’s the process. My way of remembering to hit all the key points of what I want to talk about. Sometimes events prompt me to a recipe. Sometimes I just execute for no other reason than the desire to cook, bake or simply eat (I know – how very pedestrian, right?!). Now, that’s just me. How do you go about writing a post?
Words. Pictures. Moments. They all weave together to give you a story. I like stories. For the past two weeks I have been listening to my mom tell the family’s stories. Some were old news, others not. Cousins getting married. Some having babies. Planning my grandfather’s 100th birthday party. Quarrels and accolades. It’s a big family. It bends and it snaps. It mends together and alone too. There are events or moments however that help us cross bridges and stick together, like Easter and Spring.
And chocolate. A good, simple chocolate cake. One we happily sunk our teeth into coming home from an escapade to Asheville, NC this past weekend. This was the perfect time of year to experience the duality that is early Spring in our region. Each week brings a mix of cold and hot days, sunshine and rain, thunderstorms even. Cardigans, tee shirts, pants, short, boots and sandals. All have to be at the ready for a few more days until the weather balance finally shifts completely.
Back home we say "En Avril, ne te decouvre pas d’un fil" (meaning in April you are better off not shedding all your warm layers yet). Here in the South, that advice rings true comes mid-March but in his usual fashion, my Southern boy pretty much relocated all warm layers to the back of the closet. And got a cold. One of those nasty colds with big sneezes and heavy head, sore throat and low fever. And with men’s general low tolerance of discomfort, you would think this is the end of the world of course.
One thing that reassured me that the world was not going to fall apart for Bill was that he never lost his appetite. How can you in Asheville? One of the best food oriented towns in the South East! We had some of those typical Spring days I was just mentioning above leaving us with just a small craving for something chocolate. A small but nipping feeling that could only get satisfied with a light but intense bite of chocolate cake.
In doubt. Make cake. In craving. Make chocolate cake. The world around you will instantly be comforting and lovely.
This could well turn out to be my favorite gluten free chocolate cake to date. One that holds many promises for changes and substitutions. We had it plain but I can easily foresee the addition of pecans, walnuts or pistachios in the near future. Maybe chocolate chips added to the batter for that little extra fudgy feeling when they are still warm out of the oven. A ripe mashed banana could easily find its way in there one day soon. Who knows? Can’t wait to bake it again!
Before I leave you with the recipe, I must announce the winner of the givewaway last week: congratulations to Julie from Kitchen. The cards and book will be on their way to Vancouver as soon as you send me your address via email {mytartelette AT gmail DOT com}
Simpy Good Chocolate Cake:
Serves 8
Notes: I like to use superfine gluten free flours more and more gluten free baked goods as some people always have issue with the slight change in texture and softness compared to regular all purpose flour. They are easily found online but feel free to use whatever you have on hand and if you don’t have to go gluten freee, use regular flour instead.
By choice, I’ve almost completely switched to baking with maple syrup, honey or sucanat which I used here but feel free to use regular sugar instead.
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (150gr) sucanat or regular sugar
1 cup (250ml) sour cream
6 oz (180gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 stick (115gr) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup (75gr) superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup (75gr) superfine sweet rice flour
1/2 cup (65gr) sorghum flour
1/2 cup (75gr) millet flour
OR 2 cups (250gr) all purpose flour instead of the 4 flours mentioned above
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (do not use with all purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle.
Line the inside of 8-10 muffin tins with cupcake liners, or 8 ramekins or one 8-inch round cake tin (use a piece of parchment paper at the bottom). Lightly butter or spray the inside of the tins.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the eggs and sucanat/sugar for 2-3 minutes at medium speed until light and airy. Turn the speed to low and add the sour cream, the melted chocolate and butter and continue to whip until everything looks fully blended. Slowly add the cocoa powder, all the gluten free flours (or all purpose if using), the gum, baking powder and pinch of salt. Turn the speed back up to medium and whip until the batter comes together in a uniform manner.
Divide among the prepared cake tins (or one single cake pan) and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.