Chocolate dumpling It’s never too much! I arrived at this version inspired by Christina True in your technique of making a single rectangular cake and then making the layers, like I did with Bolo Formigueiro.
I called it American style, as it’s not fluffy like a sponge cake (or génoise) which has a more European feel. But it’s not super dense like a brownie. I consider it a hybrid between the two worlds, actually.
The intense cocoa flavor and bitter taste, as I used instant coffee to accentuate this particular note. Therefore, pure is not a sweet cake. The filling needs to counterbalance this, if desired, of course. Oh, you can eat it plain too! It’s great with ice cream.
I used it to make the cake covered with Glaçage Miroir, better known as Mirror Cake or Mirror Cake.
I call it basic and wildcard precisely because of that, you can use it in different ways. Either as a tray cake or in layers. And Christina Tosi’s idea of baking just one sheet of cake and then cutting it is a great idea. Not needing multiple molds makes it a lot easier, as well as speeding up the work, I think.
American Style Chocolate Cake Batter
Makes: 1 it was 22x32cm
- 180 g wheat flour
- 70 g cocoa powder (100% cocoa)
- 10 g chemical baking powder
- 03 g sodium bicarbonate
- 03 g refined salt
- 70 g butter without salt
- 300 g crystal Sugar
- 120 g vegetable oil
- 03 eggs
- 115 g unflavored yogurt
- 100 g semisweet chocolate (melted)
- 05 g instant coffee
- 15 mL vanilla extract (optional; or 2-3mL essence)
- 75 g milk chocolate (drops or chopped bar; or bitter; optional)
1 cup: 250mL | 1 tablespoon: 15mL.
- Heat the oven to 180ºC. Grease the pan with oil, line the base with baking paper (with excess on the sides) which must also be greased. Sprinkling the pan with cocoa powder is optional. The mold must be between 32x22cm (ideal) and 34x24cm. Reserve. Separate a 15cm diameter hoop.
- In a bowl mix wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- Mix melted chocolate and yogurt, set aside.
- Mix instant coffee and vanilla, set aside. If you don’t use vanilla extract, dissolve the coffee in 10mL of hot water.
- Mix butter, sugar and oil. Beat until it becomes a homogeneous cream, 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one by one. Keep hitting.
- Add the yogurt and vanilla mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients and beat to combine well.
- Add the chocolate drops, if using, mix.
- Transfer the dough into the prepared pan, spread it and smooth it out to be as level as possible.
- Bake at 180ºC for around 30-35 minutes. Do the toothpick test.
- Remove from the oven and let cool before removing from the pan.
- Once cold, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. The side edges are higher than the center, this is normal.
- The ring is for cutting the cake to obtain 3 layers. Two whole layers and one layer made of two halves.
- Cocoa powder: it is a cake that has a strong cocoa flavor, therefore less sweet. If you want, you can reduce the quantity to 40-50g, replacing the difference with wheat flour.
