I have been eyeing this recipe for a long time. I love cinnamon and chocolate together. The husband is not such a fan. So until is was required for me to make it, I just waited patiently.
This is a very cinnamon-y cake. Very. For me, that's a good thing. There's something like three tablespoons of cinnamon in the whole thing. It's only an 8 x 8 pan. It's a cinnamon cake layer, a layer of cinnamon-sugar and chocolate, and then more cake. The Dorie fuss factor was low. I lower it by using dishes for more than one thing (the measuring cup for the milk was also the bowl for the liquids). Other bakers reported problems with baking this in a glass pan. I only had a Pyrex pan in this size, so, choices were limited. The cake came together easily and spread easily in the pan.
Here it is all sprinkled with chocolate, cinnamon, sugar, and espresso powder. Mmmmm.
It smelled amazing when it was baking. I love the smell of cinnamon. It took about ten minutes more than the recipe called for. As it cooled, I could see it sink a bit in the middle. I was a little worried, but it wasn't gooey. Then I flipped it over out of the pan to cool. I had a slight inkling that something wasn't right. I could see spots of chocolate on the bottom. The chocolate was in the middle, right?
So, it cooled. I made the frosting. I know I did something wrong here. It's chocolate and butter. Not many steps involved. Somehow, though, my frosting was not creamy and whipped looking. It was heavy. Like a slightly pliable chocolate bar.
Then it was time for eating. I cut into it. Hmmmm. No wonder there was chocolate on the bottom of the cake! It all sank almost to the pan. Not the layered beauty that was featured in the cookbook for sure.
I brought the cake to a family dinner the next day. The group mostly liked it. The frosting was a little more solid than I would have liked. It actually started to bloom a little on the edges. I really liked the flavor of the cake. One person suggested replacing the chocolate in the middle with pecans and making a brown sugar glaze. I think I might just do that. Or, I was thinking of tossing the powdered ingredients with the chocolate instead of layering it on top of the bits.
I'm pretty sure I'll try this cake again. I think it would be great for a brunch. Thank you Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures for picking this cake. My patience was starting to wear a bit.
22 comments:
Glad you like it Jules. I think most people's ribbons sank - most of mine did, with a few "pretty pieces here and there.
I really enjoyed this one. My ribbon sank too and I was disappointed that it wasn't as pretty as the pic in the book. It was still delicious, though!
I'm glad this worked out for you! It did smell Heavenly, but something went wrong with mine. Amazingly, my ribbon didn't sink LOL
Mine sank too, but yours looks lovely!
The most important part is how it tasted and this looks delicious! And you have some good ideas for the future! Good post.
Well, your cake looks beautiful and I can still see that ribbon of chocolate running through it, so I would say that was a big success! Mark loved it with his coffee...said the flavors were all a perfect match. What is bloom? Clueless here.
I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who didn't experience sinkage.
However, it was great, and your frosting looks fine - mine didn't look like the book either - which makes me wonder how she did it.
looks good, despite sunken chocolate!
Great looking cake! Im bummed I had to miss this one. I hope to bake it asap!
The sunken ribbon seems to be a common problem, but yours doesn't look as sunken as many were (uh, like mine). I didn't refrigerate mine, so my frosting stayed pliable, and the freshness of the cake was fine the next day.
I was glad for the fuss free factor too.
My filling sank..sank..sank...
i too love how cinnamoney this cake is--like a warm blanket:)
The smell was almost the best part! :) I've started putting a dash of cinnamon in almost everything!
this cake was so easy and it was very cinnamon-y. yours looks great even if there was sinkage. my ribbon was all over the place.
Thanks for baking with me this week! The squares did smell amazing as they baked! Sorry they gave you a few issues - I love your ideas for how you'd change them next time!
Sunken ribbon or not, it looks really tasty. If you want to make the frosting a little softer just add a bit of cream to it when melting and it won't set up as hard.
It looks great! I've had a few TWD recipes that I've liked, but felt I could adjust a bit so I'd like them even better; sounds like this was one like that for you.. I managed to get a ribbon, but I think it's because I put a little too much batter on the bottom layer.
I don't think it matters that the cinnamon/chocolate ribbon sunk (that's what I tell myself), because it all tastes soo good in the end! And I think your frosting really does look creamy!
It looks great, even if the layer is a little lower than you had in mind. I wonder why it sunk? Ah, the mysteries of baking. I split the recipe in half and made half with a streusel filling and really liked that much better than the chocolate, but I'm in the "chocolate/cinnamon hater" camp. Your cake looks delicious!
Sorry about your troubles with it. It looks good. I think it's fun that everyone's ribbon layers are all different! ;)
Your ideas for changing this up sound good.
TWD does give us a good excuse for making things others in our household don't like!
Although your ribbon hit below the belt, it looks great! I'm people enjoyed it!
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