I love collecting books on food and I’m also pretty darn proud of my collection thus far. And it is something to be a little reverent about, especially for someone living in Bombay where the David Lebovitzs and Ina Gartens continue to elude the bookstore shelves. From all the books I’ve got, some have been happy accidents (my OH, from now onwards referred to as *orangefoodie*, found Garlic and Sapphires at a bookstore), some have taken months of following up (Baking From My Home To Yours) and some are now making their way to my doorstep (Bread Baker’s Apprentice), thanks to the new online resource I found that ships them all the way here. And just when I thought I had exhausted my options of finding books, orangefoodie buys me a book I’ve been dying to get my hands on, and how?! He orders it from Amazon and has it delivered to the hotel his colleague is staying at during a business trip to the USA, just to make me happy (and bake him many more cakes in the bargain)!
So which is this book that I really wanted? I’d like to continue saying all the nice things about it now, but I will come straight to the point lest you bounce off. Well, it’s Molly Wizenberg’s, A Homemade Life. After reading her dreamy stories on her blog, people saying many lovely things about her book and bloggers raving about her recipes in it, I couldn’t help adding the book to my wishlist. So when I finally got this book about two weeks ago, I was instantly engrossed. And then I stopped. Why? Because I feared it may get over too soon! I love her stories of eating pain au chocolat in Paris with her father; it makes me imagine doing the same someday with my kids. Then there’s the little story of when her father taught her to be unbiased about fruits and enjoy prunes when the rest considered it unfashionable. And another one of her memories of eating her mum’s pound cake when they’d all go for a picnic to the park. All these stories made me smile. 
Along with books, I also love a good chocolate cake. Something that has a lot of chocolate, more dense than spongy and wonderfully moist. Today I felt like making a cake to satiate my chocolate cravings. Now, I already have a no-fail chocolate cake recipe, but looking at Molly’s description of this being “a dark fudgy one with yoghurt for moisture, coffee for depth of flavour, and two types of chocolate,” I had a feeling I won’t be disappointed. There was but one catch to it; I’m no fan of coffee so there was no way I’d like my cake smelling of coffee. For this reason I substituted the coffee with hot milk. But if you are a coffee fan, by all means, try it!
Double Chocolate Fudge Cake
Adapted from: A Homemade Life
Yield: 12 cupcakes or an 8″ cake
1/3rd cup/ 50g semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup hot milk (or coffee)
1 cup /200g sugar
3/4th / 80g cup flour
1/2 / 120g cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4th tsp baking powder
1/4th tsp salt
1 large egg
1/4th / 50g cup canola oil or any flavourless, odourless oil
1/2 / 100g cup yoghurt
1/4th tsp vanilla extract
For the glaze:
1/2 cup / 75g bittersweet chocolate (more if you’d like a thicker layer of chocolate)
- In a small bowl, pour the hot milk over the semisweet chocolate and stir till the chocolate has melted.
- In another medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or mixing bowl (if mixing by hand or handheld beaters), beat the egg until pale yellow, about 1 minute.
- Add the oil, yoghurt and vanilla.
- Then add the milk and chocolate mixture and beat till thoroughly combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir briefly.
- Pour the batter in a line 8 or 9 inch cake tin or lined muffin tin. When using a muffin tin, be careful to leave enough room for rising; the batter is quite runny and there might be spillovers! If you are using silicone cups, make sure to spray it with non-stick cooking spray so that unmoulding is a breeze.
- In a preheated oven at 350F/175C, bake 20-25 minutes in muffin tin and 40-50 minutes in a cake tin, or until a thin knife comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely before glazing.
- For the glaze: Simply melt the chocolate and spoon it over the cake. Spread it evenly with a spatula.
Update 1: I made the cake for the second time this week. This time, I made an 8 inch cake with a ganache of white and dark chocolate – delicious and gratifying. You have got to try this recipe! And be sure to make it at least 2 hours before you want to eat it for the best taste.
Update 2: I’ve entered this month’s Click photography contest for the first time with the first photo of this post as the entry. The theme this time is Stacks and stack of books fit the theme perfectly! =)
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that really is a superb collection. yes, everyone is talking about molly’s book, including you. i must figure out how to get my hands on one.
right now my favourite cookbook is anjum anand’s easy indian cooking, from which i have made nearly every recipe. am waiting to buy the latest one which has sold out from most bookstores here.
yeah, yeah, i’ll be trying this choc cake…
Lovely collection of books..definitely envied…although I won three amongst them
Awww, orangefoodie is so sweet! I’m so glad you got A Homemade Life! These chocolate cakes look awesome. I’m definitely going to have to try that recipe from the book!
Cake looks Yummm .. I am going to get that book .. I want to get a couple of more books (mainly desserts, cakes etc.) from the US .. Right now I only have Baking from my home .. (dorie) .. Can you please suggest some more good books I can get ? Hows Gordon Ramsay’s Just Desserts ??
That cake was just so soft and moist!
I’ve been wanting to make Molly’s chocolate cake ever since reading her book. Glad to hear it’s great! Loved her book!!
Priya: Oh, I haven’t tried Anjum Anand recipes, except for maybe one or two I’ve scribbled down while watching her show. Will look through her book the next time I go to the bookstore.
Rachel: You won them?! WOW!
Elyse, RecipeGirl: Do try it, it’s really a keeper.
That certainly looks delicious… Thanks for the recipe.. Will try it out
try it with coffee sometime — it doesn’t make the cake taste or smell of coffee, it just adds a depth and richness to the chocolate flavor itself. I use espresso coffee powder in my brownies, and nobody knows.
Hey Trishul: I love buying dessert cookbooks just so that I can gawk at the photos! For deserts, and very very decadent ones you should get your hands on Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey. Mind you they are quite over the top. Baking from my home to yours is my current fave, and I run to it whenever I feel the need to bake anything. Baked: New Frontiers in Baking is a lovely book as well. Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme is a book I’ve got my eyes on. Gordon Ramsay’s Just Desserts focuses predominantly on fruit desserts, so if you like fruity desserts, this one has some pretty neat ideas!
Love your book stack! We have many of the same ones…
A Homemade Life is on my wish list and I can't wait to read it! Such a wonderful collection of cookbooks, I have quite a few of them myself. You will love The Bread Bakers Apprentice!
I have been waiting for Molly's book over here! Sounds lovely! You and I seem to like the same kind of chocolate cake…intensely chocolate
Oh my thats a wonderful collection of books..i need to really start investing in mine
love the chocolate cupcakes..they look cute:)
OMG look at your cups and spoons they are simply adorable!!!:D Cakes look yum will be giving it a try soon!
ok, i am officially SUPER jealous!!! esp since i have almost no books!!!
i want all those books!!!
Wow, you have a nice collection of cookbooks. Envy! I also prefer to order online but the downside is you cannot see much of the inside so when I go to UK, I will do some research in bookstore and make and note and order them when I come back to Switzerland. BTW, one book is not arrived still, ordered from Amazon
Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier : )
I really want a copy of Molly's book as well and it makes me feel very slack that I still haven't got my hands on it and it is so much easier for me to get a copy here in London than it is for you over there. I hope you enjoy it and report back on the rest of the book!
Mariana: Thanks for the tip about the coffee. I'm going to use it the next time I bake this cake.
April: I already <3 the bread bakers apprentice although i've just made 1 recipe.
Raj: If only you lived in Bombay, we could share/swap books!
Thank you all for your comments!
)
Yay! Terrific for parties! They'll look good on the front table!
you bet!
Great recipe… however, you forgot to mention what temperature to bake it at! I'm hoping it's around 350!
Hi, I really love your site, it inspires me to spend more time in the kitchen. I made 2 things from your site today, the hazelnut truffles (SO easy and really tasty!) and this cake. the only thing about the cake is that mine turned out really spongy and not dense enough ;( maybe I put too much baking powder in. I can’t wait to try more recipes soon
If your interested I recently made a lemon sour cake that was super easy and was a hit with the boys in this house, who prefer lemon cake to chocolate! I would be happy to forward the recipe.
I wonder how that would work with hot chocolate, instead of hot milk. My never-fail (European style) hot chocolate recipe involves:
- 100g Lindt milk chocolate
- 1 cup skim (or full cream) milk
- 1 cup thick cream
Melt the lindt chocolate in a double boiler or over a saucepan of boiling water in a glass bowl.
In the meantime, combine milk and cream and heat.
Once the chocolate has melted, add to milk/cream mixture stir until it comes to the boil and take it off the heat.
Voila. This makes about 3 cups, so 1 cup for the cake, and two for immediate consumption.
how did you make those small cute hearts and stars ??????
Bought those from London.
@ Roma – If you are from Delhi – these are available at Modern Bazaar in Vasant Vihaar.
Hey Shaheen – was wondering what you thought about the ‘Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook’ – The description seems very tempting. Also, my mum used to have a copy of the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook – there were quite a few interesting recipes in that one too..
Hi Bhavna, I don’t have the book, but if my experience at the Magnolia Bakery is anything to go by, then that’s a good investment.
Made the yummie double chocolate fudge cake for Father’s day tomorrow… really excited about tasting it.
But I did have one question. At one point I thought the 8″ tin wouldn’t suffice, the cake rose a lot. But then a few minutes later , the center collapsed and stayed like that. A little sad about that… do you have any tips to avoid this? I can assure you the oven wasn’t opened, nor was the temp changed.
Hi, stumbled across your blog 2 days ago, and have ben reading your archives! loove it! recently have caught the baking bug, and i m sure i ll be trying plenty of the recipes on the blog. However, for the above recipe, I dont have the cup measures, and would love to try the cake.
1. could u pls give the measurements in metric system, ie grams/kgs
2. can you substitute the canola oil with butter. (i usually bake using amul butter)
Thanks!
Just added the measures! The oil is used for moistness. If you do use Amul, do let us know how it works out for you.
hi shaheen ,
r u still in mumbai ?
i stay in mumbai and am enjoy baking at very basic level but everytime i bake my love for baking increases. If you ever want to get into the business of baking , and looking for likeminded peopl, please get in touch with me .
till then i will keep on experimenting with your reciepes, cheers.
made this cake yesterday and needless to say it was awesome . i used dark chocolate instead of semi sweet chocolate and used 100 gms of caster sugar (since i like my desserts to be little less sweet
) , the end result was a slightly bitter dark choc cake and then i coated it with white chocolate ganache to counter that bitterness and the only word was yummmmmm… thanks shaheen for sharing the reciepe .
I made this yesterday, and it was the best chocolate cupcakes recipe.! Will definitely make more of it in the future.
On one note, I did not have any yogurt on hand, so I used half a cup of whipping cream and half tbsp of vinegar as a substitute and it still turn out awesome
Thank you, Ms Purplefoodie for sharing this amazing recipe.
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