Hello, world! Long time no update this blog. But then, long time no cooking. I moved across the country this summer, and for a few months I was in a situation where I was sharing a very small apartment with too many people. Plus, and it kills me to even think about this, I had to leave most of my kitchen behind. Actually ... pretty much all of it. I won't lie, I died a little.
We have some more space now, though, and I finally was able to fill some cabinets with baking goods and get some things in the oven. I wanted to do a chocolate cake, but my standard recipe is complex and I forgot I don't actually have cake pans yet. So I turned to my list of "some day" recipes, and I found smitten kitchen's "everyday chocolate cake" right at the top. One bowl, loaf pan? Perfect!
one bowl chocolate loafcake
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup alkalized cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Oven to 325; prepare a 9x5 loaf pan.
Cream butter, add sugars, then egg, then buttermilk & vanilla. Sift in flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt; stir.
Now, I baked mine for 60 minutes and it got a little crunchy around the edges. It isn't burned, per se, but it is overcooked. (Some buttercream frosting made it all better.) Your mileage may vary; I seem to be having some trouble getting used to this new oven. Not that it's a bad oven. on the contrary I think it might be the first good oven I've worked with in ages. We'll see. Basically just keep an eye peeled; if you know from cake you shouldn't have any trouble.
