35/52 Basic Chocolate Cake

Basic. Simple. Straightforward. Well-proven. 

Sometimes, those things are the best, right?

My husband wished for a simple chocolate cake this week. With chocolate glazing.
Like mothers used to bake for birthday parties when we were little.

Believe it or not, it took me a while to find a suitable recipe. Most chocolate cake recipes I have on my "to bake"-list are special or fancy in some way or the other. So in the end I turned to my Basic Baking book. After all, where would I find a basic chocolate cake recipe if not in there? And I was right. So here it is.

Oh, and the funny thing is: when walking into our apartment after the cake was done, it totally smelled like it used to smell the night before my birthday. I was instantly brought back to my childhood and that excited feeling right before turning one year older. Don't you wish you still had that? (Or maybe you still do...) But that alone was worth baking this cake...

Basic Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Basic Baking

150 g (5.3 oz) dark chocolate

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

200 g (1 3/4 sticks) butter, room temperature

150 g (3/4 cup) sugar

pinch of salt

4 eggs

500 g (4 cups) flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

200 ml (7/8 cup) milk, room temperature

• Finely grate the chocolate and mix with cocoa powder.
• Mix butter with sugar and salt until creamy and light. Add eggs one at a time.
• Combine flour with chocolate and baking powder. Add to butter-mix, alternating with milk.

• Pour into prepared (loaf) baking pan. Bake in preheated oven at 180°C (355°F) for 60 minutes.
• Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes, take out and let cool completely.
• Cover with chocolate glazing if you wish.

My modifications:

I melted the chocolate for the dough instead of just grating it.

The taste:

Like a basic chocolate cake. A tiny bit old-fashioned. And a tiny bit boring. But in a good way.

What cake or smell brings back memories from your childhood?