Heléne's great chocolate cake ~ Ham Pie Sandwiches

06 November 2014

Heléne's great chocolate cake

Heléne's great chocolate cake

I've had the recipe for Heléne's great chocolate cake, written out by hand (my hand, to be precise), sleeping away in one of my recipe binders for a very, very long time.

The binders themselves are roughly 18 or 20 years old. They're a remnant of the times when people actually printed things out off the internet instead of saving them to a reading list or cooking app for later search-and-destroy style cooking. (That follows, right? Search for recipe, make recipe, destroy by use of mouth.)

I don't know where I found this recipe, but it's a fair bet that I copied it off some site or other at least ten years ago when I didn't have access to a printer for whatever reason. So I have no idea who Heléne might be -- or at least I didn't until I did a search and discovered an identical recipe, credited to Heléne, a Swedish woman from Los Gatos. The internet comes through again.

Heléne's great chocolate cake

Of course, I had to make a few changes. I used whole wheat flour, because that continues to be how I roll. I also only had 1/4 cup of milk, so I substituted 1/2 cup of plain yogurt thinned with a little water to make up the rest of the dairy. And we don't have any round cake pans, so I used an 8x8 square.

The batter was easy to make and super satisfying to work with -- thick and fluffy and delicious when accidentally dripped onto your fingers and licked off. And the cake? It was pretty perfect.

Here it is, exactly as I first wrote it down.

Heléne's great chocolate cake

Heléne's great chocolate cake

2 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup milk
1 stick melted butter (8 tbsp or 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup flour

9 in. round - buttered & floured - 350F

Mix eggs & sugar; whip until fluffy. Add vanilla, baking powder, & salt. Add cocoa gradually while mixing. Add milk & cooled butter. Add flour.

Bake 30-35 min until toothpick almost clean.

Powdered sugar, whipped cream, strawberries.

Heléne's great chocolate cake

Note that it is not possible to test this cake with a knife without making a giant hole. Toothpick recommended. Don't try to cut it until it's cooled, at which point it will pull nicely away from all the sides of the pan of its own volition.

Had I ever even made this cake before? I don't know --- but I'm certainly glad I made it now. The last of the strawberries are over (actually, they're cut up in the freezer, but hey), so I had mine plain, with a big mug of black tea. Very nice.

How is your fall baking coming?

7 comments:

Michelle said...

I love plain chocolate cake like this. Simple and delicious!

Marissa said...

This is my kind of cake - simple, satisfying, not overly sweet. I still have binders on the shelf of recipes that I've torn from magazines or that people have given me. I often wonder if I should just get rid of them - will I really ever cook from them or are they just mental weight?

Sippity Sup said...

How does the internet store all of these words (and cakes) and pull them up just when we need them. The human brain is a thing of the past I tell ya! GREG

foodfeud said...

my fall baking has been slacking! I've been either too busy, too lazy, or made duds.
This looks pretty though. Gotta love a simple, plain chocolate cake. I used to love it dusted with powdered sugar.

Haley @ Cheap Recipe Blog said...

Yum! Sounds like a great, classic chocolate cake recipe.

Joanne said...

I love simple cakes, and this is a winner. Perfect for a midday tea or coffee break!

Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl said...

This looks like a real treat for a cake! I'm loving how moist it is.. what a great job!