Happy 10th Mads!

Chocolate Chunk cake recipe from The Colophon Cafe. Cake Crafted, inspired by Minecraft.

Colophon Cafe Chocolate Chunk Cake
-a dark, dense, chocolate cake that's not too sweet, with a chocolate frosting to match. I also spread several tablespoons of fresh raspberry jam between the second and third cake layers to cut the full-on chocolate power of this cake.

2/3 c. cocoa powder
1 c. boiling water

First, add the boiling water to the cocoa powder, whisking slowly. Set this aside as you prepare the rest of the batter. 

3/4 c. softened butter
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 Tbs. vanilla

Cream the butter and sugars, add the eggs and yolk, then the vanilla. Once creamed, mix in the slightly cooled cocoa mixture. 

Then add, 

3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

And, blend to combine. Then, with your stand mixer on medium-low, slowly pour in 

1 2/3 c. buttermilk

Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again for 60 seconds. 

Pour batter into baking-sprayed 10-inch square baking pan and bake at 350-degrees F for about 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick-test comes out clean. (I used a professional anodized aluminum baking pan, so baked my cakes at 325-degrees F for almost 50 minutes). 

I baked two of these, then sliced each cake layer into two layers to fill and stack. I filled with the Colophon's chocolate frosting, slightly modified with vanilla extract, and frosted the whole cake with it too, then topped it with my usual buttercream (which I don't measure anymore, and would guess that I make with only about 5 c. of powdered sugar now) with a splash of almond extract and about 1/3 cup of cream cheese, plus some powdered lemon peel from Penzey's.

Colophon Chocolate Frosting

1 c. softened butter
1 1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla 
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. half-and-half

Cream the butter and cocoa powder together, then add the vanilla and a splash of the half-and-half, and mix. Then, mix in the powdered sugar, and slowly add the rest of the half-and-half to the frosting, scraping the bowl as needed. 

#minecraftcake

Tastes Like Home

Bellingham is our other home. It's where Joel and I began, it's where we graduated college, and is the first home we moved away from together. And, it took a long time for us to feel like this was home. Even after we bought our house, it took a while for here to be home instead of feeling like B'ham was still the place to be...

Luckily, we've come to love our current home very much and feel very connected here as well. And, we also have some very close friends North of Bellingham and family in Sudden Valley, so we get to enjoy fun times with wonderful people on our visits back there.

One of the many nice memories of B'ham is Village Books and the Colophon Cafe. And, thankfully, I've also got a little cookbook of theirs. I made their African Peanut Soup this weekend, and it is as lovely as I remember — spicy, complex and delicious with ginger and garlic, peanuts, tomato and chile. Trust me, it's a top seller. And, the recipe is even online right here. Really, I wouldn't steer you wrong. I do, however, cut the tomatoes in half since I like this less tomato-filled. But, that's just my preference. Try it! Even if Bellingham was never your home, but especially if it was!!