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Chocolate University Online Blog

Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes

By Jeffrey Kirk on January 9, 2010 | Comments (0)

Back in 1909 Walter Baker & Co., Ltd. published a little book called Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes By Miss Parloa and Home Made Candy Recipes By Mrs. Janet McKenzie Hill.

The staff here at Chocolate University Online have created a special 100th anniversary edition of this book and released it in a PDF download format.

In addition to the original text and 138 recipes, the book contains an all new introduction by CUO staff. We also took each of the pictures and moved them to the same page as their corresponding recipes. It’s much more convenient to see the picture right there rather than looking at various photo pages to get an idea of the finished product.

Furthermore, we added a great new alphabetical index. Now if you know the name of the recipe you’ll be able to find it quickly. That makes the book much friendlier than the original which, quite uselessly, listed all recipes in page number order.

The new version is for sale and immediate download at our Chocolate Store page. Enjoy!

Categories: chocolate recipes, fun chocolate facts, shameless self promotion
Tags: chocolate cake, chocolate candy, chocolate dessert, chocolate history, hot chocolate, nostalgia

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

By Bryn Kirk on December 22, 2009 | Comments (0)

I recently took a cruise to the eastern Caribbean with Royal Caribbean International. Although I loved the sun, fun, and sea, what I really enjoyed were some of the most memorable desserts I have ever been eaten.

molten chocolate lava cake One those desserts that will forever stand out for me was the Molten Chocolate Cake.

Wow…

Yum…

Sorry for the pause. I might have lost consciousness just now thinking about it.

Molten chocolate cake is a popular and luxurious dessert. It is a combination of flourless chocolate and soufflé.

Sometimes it is called Chocolate Lava Cake (or even Molten Chocolate Lava Cake).

There is some dispute as to the inventor of the molten chocolate cake. On the one hand, a U.S chef takes credit by exclaiming that he accidentally took a chocolate sponge cake out of the oven before it was done. On the other, a French chef argues that such a dessert already existed in France.

In my opinion, it does not matter who invented it. The most important thing is that it was invented!

Butter, eggs, sugar, and chocolate are the four main ingredients of a molten chocolate cake. Typically, the eggs are whisked together with sugar to form a dense, thick paste while the butter and chocolate are melted together. There is a lighter version that separates the egg whites so they can be whipped into a foam to create more lift when baked.

Have you ever heard the saying: “A little too much chocolate is just about right?” After eating a Molten Chocolate Cake, you’ll know what that means.

I should have purchased the recipe book from Royal Caribbean so that I could make their actual version. But, alas, I did not. Here’s another version that I hope you enjoy…

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

6 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate
6 oz. Butter, sliced (at room temperature)
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Flour

Melt the chocolate over a double-boiler or slowly in a microwave oven. Stir in the butter until melted. Beat the eggs with the sugar until fully mixed and the color lightens. Stir the melted chocolate mix into the egg mix. Stir in the flour.

Preheat the over to 350°F. Pour the batter into 4 buttered ramekins. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove ramekins from ovre and tip upside down onto dessert plates. Serve while still warm.

Enjoy!

Categories: chocolate recipes
Tags: chocolate cake, chocolate dessert

Devil’s Food Cake Recipe

By Bryn Kirk on November 5, 2009 | Comments (0)

chocolate recipe below As a child, my favorite cake was Devil’s Food. I asked my mom, many times, to make this cake for my birthday.

Why is the cake called Devil’s Food?

Folk lore says that a group of Pilgrims that lived next door to a Chocolate House in Amsterdam in the late 1600’s, witnessed chocolate house patrons cavorting and making merry while they consumed chocolate. The Pilgrims were convinced that chocolate was made from the devil. They named chocolate “Devil’s Food.” Later on, when dark chocolate cake gained in popularity, it was named Devil’s Food Cake for its sinfully delicious nature.

Devil’s food cake is moist, airy, and rich. It is multi-layered and covered in lots of thick chocolate frosting. Yum!

There are different variations of Devil’s Food cake such as Red Velvet, Red Devil, Waldorf Astoria Cake, and $100 Dollar Cake.

Red velvet cake has a more pronounced red color because the high concentration of baking soda caused a reddening of the cocoa powder when baked. Today, red food coloring is sometimes used.

Feeling a craving for Devil’s Food cake? Here is a good recipe:

Devil’s Food Cake

Cake Mixture
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 pound butter, softened
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Cream sugars and butter. Add melted chocolate. Set aside. Beat egg yolks together, and then blend in water and vanilla extract. Gradually add yolk mixture to the chocolate mixture and beat until fluffy. Mix together flour, salt and baking soda. Add flour mixture and milk to the main batter. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter.

Pour into two greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake at 350°F about 30-35 minutes or until cakes spring back when touched lightly. Turn out onto cooling rack. When completely cooled, frost.

Frosting
10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup water or cream
¾ cup butter

To frost the cake, spread a good-sized layer of the frosting over the top of one layer. Top with the second cake layer. Then spread the top and sides with the remaining frosting.

By the way, there is a National Devil’s Food Cake Day! It is May 19.

If you enjoy baking cakes here’s a chocolate cake recipe book that might interest you. It is published by Frances Moore of Painless Cooking.

By the way, the Devil’s Food Cake recipe above is not from this book.

For access to Frances time-proven recipes visit the Chocolate Cakes Recipes page.

Categories: chocolate recipes, fun chocolate facts
Tags: chocolate cake, chocolate dessert, folk lore

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