Untitled Document
“Homemade layer cakes seem to have gone the way
of the spotted owl,” writes Seattle-area chef Greg Atkinson in his
book West Coast Cooking. It is an unfortunate but true statement about the
state of our dessert plate; however, given my woeful skills in cake
construction and icing art, I’ll hold off from leading the charge on
a layer-cake-revival movement. I’m more troubled by Atkinson’s other
crumby argument: “If it weren’t for birthdays and all the
contingent nostalgia, we probably wouldn’t have homemade cakes at
all.”
He’s right, y’all. The homemade cake is
at risk of disappearing from our cultural landscape, much like the
eight-track tape, and the idea of a country without a cake-from-scratch
future is downright disturbing. What is it about home-baked cake that has our
citizens running for the hills of the supermarket aisles, flush with boxes
of instant-presto cake mix? Everyone knows that the add-water-to-powder
version isn’t tastier or more elegant. Is it an aversion to electric
beaters? A fear of (cake) falling? A malaise over mixing bowls? I just don’t understand. As a card-carrying member of the single-layer-cake
club, I empathize with reluctant home bakers in search of cakey simplicity
and ease. Some of my two-layered projects of the past were unfit for human
eyes (or consumption), but instead of throwing in the batter towel I make
one layer and help keep the cake alive in America. I recently discovered the ultimate in homemade-cake
simplicity: a batter without beaters or bowls, replaced with a whisk, a
saucepan, and a half-pint of Guinness. Although far from my favorite choice at the pub, the
Guinness works magic in this stovetop batter, lending warm, spicy notes and
a right-on dampness that yields the most luscious chocolate cake to ever
grace my lips — and perhaps the answer to saving the homemade cake
from extinction.
Culinary questions? Contact Kim O’Donnel at kim.odonnel@creativeloafing.com.
Chocolate Guinness Cake From Feast, by Nigella Lawson
Cake
1 cup Guinness stout One stick unsalted butter (alternatively, equal
amounts of Earth Balance shortening), sliced 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 cups granulated sugar (superfine, if possible) 3/4 cup sour cream (alternatively, plain yogurt) Two eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Icing
8 ounces cream cheese 1 cup confectioner’s sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch
springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Pour Guinness into a large saucepan, add butter, and
heat until melted, then remove from heat. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar.
In a small bowl, beat sour cream with eggs and vanilla, then pour into
brown, buttery, beery mixture and finally whisk in flour and baking soda.
Make sure flour is integrated. Pour cake batter into greased and lined pan and bake
for 45 minutes to an hour (check at 45 minutes for doneness, poking a
skewer in the center). Leave to cool completely in the pan on a cooling
rack; it is quite a damp cake. When cake is cold, gently peel off parchment paper
and transfer to a platter or cake stand. Place cream cheese and
confectioner’s sugar into a mixing bowl and whip with an electric
beater until smooth. (Also easily done with a food processor.) Add cream and beat again until you have a spreadable
consistency. Ice top of cake, starting at the middle and fanning
out, so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint. Yields about
12 slices.
This article appears in Aug 30 – Sep 5, 2007.
