Double-Double Chocolate Cake

I’m still on a bit of a high. Last week, Monica Bhide came for lunch. With her family. On her birthday. Which just happened to be her son’s 11th birthday as well. While I was thrilled she was coming and touched she would choose to spend her birthday with me, I was a bit nervous and funneled my fears into the menu, the dessert in particular.

My fallback birthday cake is an unremarkable recipe brought to celebratory heights via copious quantities of booze painted onto its surface and a whole pint of whipped cream crammed between the layers. Not the sort of thing for children. In addition to kid-friendly, I wanted something decadent, something chocolate and something Canadian for my American visitors.

The prefect solution sat on page 179 in The Harrow Fair Cookbook. Double-Double Chocolate Cake.

Double-double for the dual birthdays. Double-double for the dark chocolate and cocoa that flavours the batter. And double-double for the classic Canadian Tim Hortons coffee that’s added to the mix.

I made the cake the day before, and then spent the next 24 hours working myself into a state. What was I thinking presenting them with an untried recipe? What if they didn’t like it? What if they didn’t like me? What if the kids got bored?

Within minutes of arriving it was like Monica had been here a hundred times. We talked while the kids explored. When I said they could pick the ripe tomatoes from the garden, you’d think they’d been given the keys to a pirate’s treasure chest. Patting the cats was akin to venturing out on a lion safari. Her husband and Andrew clicked. After lunch they were found in the living room appreciating 20-year-old tawny port and discussing baseball and cricket like old school chums. My quiet existence was bursting.

Lunch? We never got to the salad. Jai approved of the pasta since it was loaded with his favourite — garlic. The chicken fell off the bones en route to the platter, landing in a tender but inelegant heap. No one cared. It tasted good. The conversation flowed easily and then, before I knew it, the gifts were opened, the cake downed and they were on their way. I felt a void.

Before Monica arrived, I’d have described her as cookbook author, spice expert, food columnist and mentor. Today, the word “friend” works best. Read her blog post for proof. Two nervous writers worrying whether or not they’d like each other. Double-double silliness. Double-double friendship.

Now have some cake.

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Double-Double Chocolate Cake

Excerpt published with permission from The Harrow Fair Cookbook: Prize-Winning Recipes Inspired by Canada’s Favourite Country Fair by Moira Sanders and Lori Elstone with Beth Goslin Maloney. (Whitecap 2010)

Double chocolate. Double layer. And a cupful of “double-double”: Canada’s most popular preparation of Tim Hortons coffee, boasting double the cream, double the sugar. This recipe makes a fabulous cake that’s worthy of the double ribbons Moira won at the Harrow Fair.

Makes one 8-inch (20 cm) round layer cake.

• 2 oz (60 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ cups (310 mL) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (125 mL) cocoa powder
• 2 tsp (10 mL) baking soda
• 1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
• 1 tsp (5 mL) fine sea salt
• 1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk
• ½ cup (125 mL) vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp (5 mL) pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup (250 mL) double-double coffee

1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or a small saucepan set on low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°f (180°c). Butter and flour two 8-inch (20 cm) round cake pans.
3. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Mix together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with the mixer on low speed. Add the melted chocolate and the double-double coffee and mix just until combined. Pour the batter into the pans, spreading evenly.
5. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans until they are easy to handle.

Chocolate Icing

• 2 oz (60 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups (500 mL) sifted icing sugar
• ¼ cup (60 mL) whipping cream

1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or a small saucepan set on low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Whip the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the melted and cooled chocolate and mix until combined.
3. Slowly add the icing sugar to the chocolate mixture. Add the whipping cream. Continue mixing until the icing is smooth and thoroughly combined. Whisk on high for 1 minute more or until the icing is smooth and spreadable.

Assembly

Invert a cake onto a cake platter. Spread the top with chocolate icing. Place the second cake on top of the icing. Spread the remaining icing evenly over the top and sides of the cake.

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