Back by request

I made a fabulous chocolate cake for my son, Jude’s 10th birthday. One of his friends commented, “This isn’t cake, this is fudge.” It truly is dense, chocolaty, and delicious, but also truly is cake. It’s from-scratch, but truly not much more effort than a boxed cake mix. Even the non-chocolate-eaters among my friends and family are requesting this recipe (or that I make this recipe). Especially Jude’s friend, Henry, has been asking me to give the recipe to his mother, so here it is: It’s from a book called Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes. The recipes aren’t revolting, per se, but they often have revolting connotations from Roald Dahl’s books: Stink Bugs’ Eggs, Mosquitoes’ Toes and Wampfish Roes Most Delicately Fried, Crispy Wasp Stings on a Piece of Buttered Toast, and Fresh Mudburgers, for example. Bruce Bogtrotter’s Cake (from Matilda) got off easy, I think.

I added a teaspoon of vanilla to the original cake recipe, and I reduced the icing from 8 ounces of chocolate and cream to 6 ounces, I just found that the original recipe made just too much icing, and I ended up eating the last ¼ to ½ cup of icing by the spoon after I iced the cake, so if you want that little extra chocolate treat while you’re baking, by all means. I also find it’s easiest to do this in a springform pan. Enjoy!

Bruce Bogtrotter’s cake

8 oz good-quality semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate
12 T butter, softened
1 c plus 2 T sugar
1 t vanilla
¼ c flour
6 eggs, separated, yolks lightly beaten
6 oz good-quality semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate
6 oz heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 8½" round springform cake pan with parchment paper, and butter the paper and the sides of the pan. Using a Pyrex bowl and a saucepan as a double-boiler so that you can be sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl, melt 8 oz chocolate over simmering water. When chocolate is melted, add butter, and stir until melted. Transfer chocolate to a large bowl and add sugar, flour, and lightly beaten egg yolks.

Meanwhile, whisk egg whites until stiff. Gently fold half of whites into chocolate mixture, blending thoroughly, then fold in remaining whites until completely incorporated. Pour batter into the cake pan and bake for 35 minutes. There will be a thin crust on top of the cake, and if tested with a toothpick, the inside will appear undercooked (don’t worry, the cake will firm up as it cools). Remove cake from oven, and let cool in the pan on a wire rack.

While cake is baking and cooling, make the icing. Again using the Pyrex bowl and saucepan as a double-boiler, melt 6 oz chocolate with cream, stirring occasionally until chocolate is fully melted and blended with the cream. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

When the cake is cool enough to handle, remove it carefully from the springform pan. The cake is prone to sinking slightly in the middle, so flip it upside down before icing, if necessary. Carefully spread the chocolate icing all over the cake with a spatula.