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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.

Birthday cakes galore

In our family, June, July, and August are lousy with birthdays and anniversaries. I think my sister, Bridget counted 24, but that doesn't include my husband's side of the family, and we've got 8, I think. Anyway, we make a lot of birthday cakes in the summer.

My sister, Eileen, is planning for her hubby's 40th birthday tomorrow. Brad eats the craziest, sweetest things you can imaging, and he is the thinnest man I've ever met. Mind you, he never stops moving, biking, running, hiking, boating; he coaches track and skiing at the high school where he teaches. Funny that he married the least outdoors-y sister, but I digress (and she's adapted quite nicely BTW) ...

Brad is famous for his breakfast of oatmeal with peanut butter and chocolate chips mixed right in. So, Eileen found a recipe for a peanut butter ice cream cake at http://www.recipes4cakes.com/icecream/peanut_recipe.htm, but she wanted to add chocolate to the recipe. I had just made a great, dense chocolate cake with chocolate icing for my son, Jude's 10th birthday, so I suggested adding that layer. I made the cake today (for Jude's 2nd birthday celebration, because really, you're not 10 if you don't have more than one birthday party, are you?), here's the recipe I ended up with after making some modifications from the original.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice-Cream Cake

2 cellophane packages of graham crackers
3/4 c salted peanuts
1 stick butter
4 t sugar
1 qt vanilla ice cream, softened (Have you noticed that "half-gallon containers" no longer contain 2 quarts of ice cream? The Hood New England Homemade Vanilla ice cream I have contains 1.75 quarts, so you'll need a little more than a half of a "half gallon.")
1/2 c peanut butter
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
8 oz heavy cream
1/2 c salted peanuts, chopped, for garnish

Preheat oven to 375°. Process crackers and peanuts in a food processor or blender. Melt butter in 8" x 11" baking dish. Combine cracker crumbs, nuts, sugar and butter into baking pan, mix and press down for crust. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool, place in refrigerator to chill.

Meanwhile, in a Pyrex bowl over simmering water, melt chocolate. When chocolate is melted, combine heavy cream, let sit to cool slightly. Combine softened ice cream with peanut butter until blended.

Spread ice cream over chilled crust. Top with chocolate, and sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Freeze 6 hours or until firm.

This will be delightful when we come in from a hot August day at the beach today to celebrate Jude's birthday and my in law's 44th wedding anniversary.

Happy birthday, Jude. Happy birthday, Brad. Happy anniversary, Nonni & Nanno.