Monday, August 25, 2008

The Hot Mess



















Some of us are Nigella Lawson and some of us are not. I am in the latter category. Nigella Lawson, aka The Domestic Goddess herself, aka the almost anti-Martha - can somehow make me feel insecure about not being able to follow a recipe as well as she can not follow a recipe. Make sense? Yeah, I know.

I watch her cook on TV - throwing and thrashing together ingredients with abandon - in no discernible order, going against ALL the baking rules set forth by all other know-it-alls. All the while, there she is smiling like a Cheshire cat, flirting with you, daring you to throw around your own ingredients, don't bother with this, don't bother with that, who has the time for it, and besides my boobs are awesome! She makes everything seem easy and adorable and delectable and a delight to make, doesn't she? I swear the woman could sell me ocean property right here in the desert, where I live. The saucy minx.

Well anyway, I've seen the little tart make this certain cake a number of times and it was on my list of "To Bake". We were craving something chocolate and I was flipping through my brain files for something different and recalled this crazy chocolate cake Nigella raved about. So I made it.

I think it's the ugliest fekkin' cake I ever made. It's a heinous slab.

But that's just so Nigella. It's a glorious loaf of delicious, messy, chocolateness. It ain't pretty, it isn't graceful to eat, it's not easy to serve right away - it's just one HOT MESS. Remind you of anyone?



















Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake


This is a very yummy, ugly chocolate cake. Moist, chocolaty, dense, rich - and I think it goes without saying, decadent. I think the best parts of this cake were the areas where the syrup reached the cake - OH MY - extra moist and the flavor was so deep and perfect. I like my cake "fudgy" - and the areas where the syrup met the cake were where my taste buds went wacko. I think the most charming thing about this cake is it was probably the easiest dang thing I ever made in my life - i.e., toss in processor, blitz, done. That's just so Nigella.

Cake
1 2/3 c. AP flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. cocoa
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
2 T. vanilla
1/3 c. sour cream
1/2 c. boiling water
1 c. mini chocolate chips

Syrup
1 tsp. cocoa
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. water

2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped or curled, for garnish

Equipment: Loaf pan - approximately 9.5 x 4.5 x 3 inches, lined with greased foil, overhanging at the top. Preheat oven to 325F and place baking sheet on middle rack.

In processor, add flour, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream - blitz until smooth. Scrape down batter and process again while pouring boiling water down the funnel. Turn off, remove lid and add chocolate chips, using spatula to combine.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and place on baking sheet in the oven; cook for about 1 hour. The cake will be done when the loaf has risen, split down the middle, and a cake tester comes out fairly clean.

About 10 minutes before the cake should be done, put the syrup ingredients into a small saucepan and boil for 5 minutes (it won't thicken much).

When the cake is done, place it on a cooling rack (still in the pan) and pierce here and there using a kabob skewer, cake tester, or chop stick. Pour the syrup over the cake, letting it soak in. Allow the cake to come to room temperature, then remove it from the pan and remove the foil. Sprinkle generously with chocolate garnish. ENJOY!

29 comments:

Clumbsy Cookie said...

I'll call you Annella from now on! The thought of your brain files just scares me! Oh, and don't call the cake ugly, there's no such a thing as a ugly chocolate cake!

Jennifer S said...

That looks scrumptious. Nigella IS hot, and I have a bit of a girl crush on her. But mostly I just want her to cook for me.

I'd say you're a domestic goddess in your own right!

flutter said...

I just drooled all over the keyboard.

Anonymous said...

I will take that hot mess off your hands any time. I adore that Nigella.

Anonymous said...

i love nigella, much as she sometimes pisses the balls (if i had any) off me with her seductive come-hither looks and stupid kitchen laziness, because she can create hot messes that are terribly wonderful and decadent like this.
gosh great pictures anna..you're one nigella yourself...cut me a slice, slap on a serving of melting vanilla ice cream and i'll marry you...

;)

hungryandfrozen said...

Yay - Nigella - my favourite :D

Hot mess? Hells no, that still looks crazily delicious to me :) And yes, the syrup, even though it sounds ridiculous, definitely makes it!

grace said...

you say ugly, i say make-me-weak-in-the-knees heavenly. i'd like to kidnap nigella and have her bake for me indefinitely.

YD, sometimes with ♥June and ♥Angel Samantha said...

I can't stop drooling over that cake!!! Help me by sending me that cake.

John D. said...

Mmmmmmmm...quadruple chocolate... Arrrrggghhhhhhhhh!!!!

(that means YUM!)

And how could that much chocolate ever be ugly? : )

Lisa said...

Hey Ann - makes my teeth hurt to look at it - in a good way of course! Just had a spectacular failure with an orange bundt cake - will work out the bugs and post, but it made me wonder how this cake would work in a bundt or tube pan? More little edges for the syrup to collect in? I'm just sayin' . . . .L

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't have had the will power to wait until it cooled to enjoy it!!!!

NV said...

OK -- now who's going all cookspeak on ME? Looking at the ingredients and I'm thinking: The Associated Press makes flour? :-)

Anonymous said...

I am loving that cake... does it ship well you think? One could freeze it and then mail it. I would gladly accept a lump of chocolate in any form. Yup. On second thought, you'd better just fly here with and plan for at least a week's visit. Bring that darling puppy dog, Marcel. Oh yes, and any other darling critter you happen to have. Tony, too. He and Josh can drink beer and play pool or whatever.

It's all decided then.

Blessings!
Lacy

Nic said...

Looks so chocaliciously scrummy, I could eat most of that right about now!

Anonymous said...

I am one of the few non-chocolate cake fans in this world. That being said, this is one cake I would like a big piece of. Nothing ugly about it at all. Frankly, I think Nigella would be proud of your efforts.

Patricia Scarpin said...

I love watching her show but the hubby says she is too clumsy and kind of trashy. He finds her beautiful (who doesn't?) but he wouldn't eat her food. :)
I have read so many wonderful things about this cake... I have got to make it too! Yours looks divine.

Sugar Jones said...

I love messy desserts. So much fun to eat. So when you were the asking "remind you of anyone" question, were you referring to Nigella, me, or you? ;) hee hee

Pea and Pear said...

Today I found that I was having a surprise day off work and also today I found your blog!! What a good day it has turned put to be!!!
Ali

Manager Mom said...

Will you PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE move in with me? I'll buy you one of those Viking stoves, Calphalon, whatever your heart desires. Just bake me some of that somethin' somethin.

ALF said...

That looks like chocolate bread. What a delicious invention.

Anonymous said...

God I love Nigella - she makes me want to bake AND make out with her. Which is weird because I never bake and rarely make out with girls.

Tarah at Genesis of a Cook said...

If you ask me, I wouldn't say it's an ugly cake. Beside, not everything is going to look like it's from a bakery shop, you?

It look gorgeous to me and I'd take a piece any minute. It looks so chocolaty!! <3

Abeer said...

the uglier the chocolate cake the tastier it is - my theory!

Anonymous said...

oh. my. word. does this look good or what!

Laura said...

I have made that cake and I love it. Your description of Nigella is spot on though--cracked me up. Whenever something of mine turns out particularly ugly, I always imagine her talking about how her grandpa railed against "landscape cookery" and I think "yeah. down with landscape cookery!".

RecipeGirl said...

An ugly chocolate cake? Is there such a thing?? Looks perfectly acceptable for forking up large bites and swigging a glass of milk along with it. Yum!

John D. said...

Ummm...this was really good, but I'm hungry again.

; )

Anonymous said...

That looks and sounds amazing! Who doesn't love a 'hot mess' of chocolate??

Leslie said...

NICE..and your right..you cant get much easier than that!