Sunday, December 27, 2009

Birthday Wishes and Cake for the Birthday Boy!

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December is always super busy for us--as it is I am sure for a lot of people. On top of holiday events, we celebrate two birthdays with a fun outing, a special meal and a homemade cake.  This year, I took my husband to paint a bowl with me at our local paint-your-own pottery place.  It was lots of fun.  I highly recommend it for a date. We picked up beverages and then the two of us worked on the piece he selected: a chopstick bowl.  In the afternoon, the kids took him to the movies while I made his special meal and dessert.

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The chocolate cake was really decadent and rich--definitely not for the faint of heart. It's really dense and wonderful with a dollop of freshly made whipped cream on top. Of course, you don't have to wait for a birthday to try it!

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Chocolate Overload Cake (serves 8-10)
Use the very best quality chocolate you can find in order to ensure amazing results.The cake can be made the day before--cool completely, wrap it well and refrigerate until you are ready to frost and decorate.

8 oz bittersweet chocolate
10 eggs, yolks separated from whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp espresso instant powder
1 1/2 cups almond meal


1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbsp confectioner sugar

Dark chocolate bar to make chocolate shavings (optional)

  • Preheat oven to 350F
  • Oil a 10" springform pan
  • Melt bittersweet chocolate in a double-boiler--or the microwave (in small increments to ensure the chocolate does not acquire a burnt taste)
  • Set aside to cool
  • Beat the egg whites in a mixer to medium stiff-peaks.  Set aside.
  • In a mixer, beat egg yolks with sugar for three minutes on high speed.
  • Drizzle in the melted chocolate while keeping the mixer on medium and then the espresso powder
  • Add the almond meal.  Mix well
  • Using a spatula, gently fold in the egg whites into the almond-chocolate mixture.  This will take a while--you want to work it slowly
  • Pour batter into the prepared cake pan
  • Bake cake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
  • Let cool completely
  • In a mixer, beat the whipping cream, cocoa powder and sugar together until medium-stiff peaks
  • Frost the cake and decorate as you'd like
  • To make chocolate shavings, use a vegetable peeler and slide it over the bar of chocolate.  Then use the shavings to decorate the top of the cake once it's been frosted
  • Store in the refrigerator until 15 minutes before serving
Printable Recipe



    Chocolateoverloadwholecake

    9 comments:

    citronetvanille said...

    Beautiful cake, just by looking at it, I know it must taste divine. That pottery painting is really a cool thing to do, I thought it was mainly for kids but apparently not.

    ♥peachkins♥ said...

    Fantastic looking cake! I'm sure it tastes fantastic..

    GF Gidget said...

    I want you to come bake me a cake on my birthday!

    Lauren said...

    That cake looks absolutely fantastic! I can only imagine how delicious it is =D.

    Iris said...

    Mmm...now that looks delicious! And gluten free?! Love it!

    Robin, David, Simon and Leo said...

    Beautiful cake. Remember that old dessert called "death by chocolate". I thinks your is even more decadent, and it looks delicious!

    rachel said...

    Looks divine!

    Robin said...

    Alexa the cake looks so delicious! We have 2 birthdays too, the 24th and 27th. Happy birthday to your two. The date sounded like fun too, I wonder if my hubby would paint with me?

    Nithya Praveen said...

    Awww its sinful....awesome.You hv a fantastic blog here.Cake looks delicious:)

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