Oak Lane Chocolate Cake

I ate a whole one of these in a weekend when I worked at Under the Oak Cafe.

Ingredients

For the cake custard:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate (90%)

For the cake batter:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water

For the buttercream icing:

• 32 ounces confectioners sugar
• 1 cup butter, creamed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the flourless chocolate topping:

• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/3 tablespoons water
• 1 1/3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/8 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 egg

Instructions

Make the cake custard:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans.

2. Beat the egg slightly in a small saucepan, add the sugar and water. Stir over low heat for 4 minutes.

3. Add chocolate and continue stirring until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is slightly thickened. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Make the cake batter:

1. Melt butter in saucepan; combine with sugar in large bowl, mixing well. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Then alternately add dry ingredients and water to the egg/sugar mixture. Combine well with whisk or low-speed mixer.

3. Stir in the cake custard, just to combine. Pour into two 8-inch cake pans and bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes, until center springs back when pressed lightly.

4. Cool in pans on cooling rack about 15 minutes, remove cake from pans, and let cool completely before icing.

Make the buttercream icing:

1. Cream the butter in a mixer.

2. Add sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. Mix until smooth.

Make the flourless chocolate topping:

1. Melt chocolate, butter, sugar, water and vanilla over medium heat, stirring for three minutes.

2. Remove from heat and fold in egg until mixture is smooth.

3. Pour into an 11-by-13-inch pan lined with wax paper.

4. Bake for 12 minutes at 425 degrees.

5. Cool, then refrigerate at least six hours. Cut into half-inch-square chunks.

Assemble the cake:

Frost the cooled cake with buttercream frosting, then sprinkle the chocolate chunks to cover the top of the iced cake.

• From Robert Tyree, Under the Oak Cafe (my highschool job)

Makes 12 servings

Per serving:

838 calories, 7 grams protein, 129 grams carbohydrates, 107 grams sugar, 37 grams fat, 138 milligrams cholesterol, 509 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber