With Valentine's Day right around the corner, we're thinking about chocolate. (When aren't we thinking about chocolate, really?) This week, give us your most decadent chocolate cake -- you know, the one that has the power to seduce man, woman and child.
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Yet another recipe contemplation...
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Only organic milk in Amanda's house! This brand is quite good.
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Amanda coats the inside of a tube pan (our bundt pan was in use) with butter and an even coating of cocoa powder.
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Getting the ingredients all laid out -- they go into the mixer in quick succession.
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Amanda digs in the cupboard for something we've forgotten (not unusual).
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Adding the dry ingredients a little at a time.
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Once all of the ingredients are incorporated, you beat the cake for 4 full minutes. This gives the cake its unique, dense texture.
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While the batter mixes, we survey the dish situation. Not too bad for this late in the day!
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Pouring batter is fun!
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It looks so dark and mysterious once it's in the pan.
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And even more so when it comes out of the oven.
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Here we pause, mid-cake extraction, for Amanda to tell a shockingly funny story about her childhood. What happens at food52 stays at food52.
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Removing a cake from a tube pan can sometimes be a three-person job.
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Thanks to Amanda's excellent method, the cake slips right off the tube. Et voila!
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Merrill buttered the pan and dusted it with cocoa.
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Weighing chocolate -- we put plastic wrap down so it doesn't dirty the scale. (One of us is a Virgo.)
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Our "mess" en place.
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Merrill pours coconut flakes -- unsweetened! -- into the cream cheese and eggs. Our flakes were super big so Merrill buzzed them in the food processor to make them more the size of confetti.
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Sarah took this photo because she said it reminded her of a Jane Austin novel, the women busy together at home. (That's Kristen on the left!)
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The chocolate and shortening, melted. (We didn't show you the batch that Amanda burnt. Do this in the microwave if you can.)
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Merrill beating coffee into the chocolate mixture. Amanda whisking the dry ingredients to aerate them a bit.
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An alien with 3 eyes! No, that's just the chocolate mixture and eggs.
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Amanda is *very* excited to use the hand mixer Merrill gave her. Vrrrroooommmm!
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Maiden voyage was a success -- and fun!
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First you pour half the batter into the cocoa-dusted pan.
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Then you plop in the coconut filling.
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Then you pour in the rest of the batter and stare, puzzled, as the coconut rises to the surface.
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Low moment. Low, low moment.
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You can't outwit us, Mr. Cake! We had a photo to take -- the cake was going to look beautiful no matter what!
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Ha! Back in the pan!
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Chocolate + hot cream = ganache. (Formula for life happiness.)
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Whisking the ganache.
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