Daily Archives: February 17, 2011

Moist Mocha Cake — CEiMB

Posted by C

Moist Mocha Cake

Host – Chaya from Comfy Cook — Hey, that’s me.

It is unusual for the bakers and chefs of CEimB to make desserts. I decided to be a little different and select a cake. What, I did not realize was that this week, I would be baking for four different groups, two of them where I was the host. Did we ever have baked goods in this house. Dorie’s cinnamon cake was a winner for this family. I brought the Mocha cake to school and my class jumped for joy. They did not know what mocha was and it ended up they love it.

My confession: I left this for the last minute and was half a sleep, this morning, when I baked it. I kept making mistakes and then figuring out how to rescue the cake. In the end, we had a good cake, despite this.

Usually, when I pick the recipe, I follow it to the most minute point. This time, I could not do that. Since we have dietary restrictions both in our being kosher and hubby’s being gluten-free, I had not choice but to make changes. I could not make this a dairy cake. (long explanation that will have to wait) I substituted Tofutti sour cream and cream cheese. I did not use yogurt at all. I will put in bold anything I altered, in the recipe. Ellie’s recipe is here as it was written.

This is a rich mocha cake, more like a chocolate one with a creamy cream cheese topping. That sounds good and it tasted great.

Moist Mocha Cake

Prep Time: 25 min

Inactive Prep Time: –

Cook Time: 25 min

Level: Intermediate

Serves: 16 servings (1 serving equals 1 square)

Directions

For the cake:

Ingredients

Cooking spray

3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (substituted gluten-free brown rice flour mix for the whole wheat and all-purpose.)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (see above)

1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons butter, melted (margarine)

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 eggs

2 egg whites

1 1/2 cups lowfat yogurt (used Tofutti sour cream)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon espresso powder, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot water (had not expresso – used instant coffee)

2 ounces good-quality dark chocolate

For the frosting:

1 (8-ounce) bar Neufchatel cheese (reduced fat cream cheese), softened (used Tofutti cream cheese)

1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon espresso powder dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water

1 teaspoon coffee liqueur or vanilla

1 small square chocolate

Method:

Arrange rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 13-inch cake pan with cooking spray and set aside. (made in square)

Whisk together flours, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a medium bowl, then sift ingredients through a fine mesh strainer.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter and oil. Add eggs and egg whites and whisk to incorporate.

Fold in yogurt, vanilla, sugar and dissolved espresso powder.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 90 seconds or over a double boiler. Fold chocolate into batter.

Gradually add sifted dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated; do not overbeat.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until cake has risen nicely and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool completely.

While cake is cooling, make the frosting:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until soft and creamy. Spread frosting evenly over cake and cut into squares. Finely grate one small square of chocolate. Sprinkle the chocolate shavings over the cake. I made a crumbly topping by chopping up four of the Viennese Crunch bars. This makes a fantastic topping.