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Yield:
8-12 Servings
This Devil’s Food recipe is straight from my mother, Angelina Recchiuti, and as a kid I remember snacking on it after school with a glass of cold milk. For a special Valentine’s twist, you can cut the cake into heart-shaped servings and garnish it with your favorite topping. The individual cakes are perfect for a romantic evening at home or whenever you just want to share some love.
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Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup espresso, brewed and cooled
1/4 cup flavorless vegetable oil
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, preferably Madagascar Bourbon
1 cup granulated cane sugar
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon orange zest
Extra-Bitter Chocolate Sauce, for garnish
Fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for garnish (optional)
Bake the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. A nonstick pan may be substituted.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together into a bowl. Stir the baking soda into the espresso in another bowl and then stir in the oil, milk and pure vanilla extract.
- Combine the sugar and egg in a medium bowl and whisk together by hand. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 additions, alternately with the coffee mixture in 1 addition. Fold in the orange zest with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the batter into the pan.
- Place on the middle shelf of the oven and lower the oven temperature to 325°F.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes. Check the cake with a toothpick at 25 minutes and then again every 5 minutes until the toothpick comes out moist. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
- Lightly grease a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter and use to cut into individual servings.
Plate and serve with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar and a drizzle of warmed Extra-Bitter Chocolate Sauce. Garnish with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (optional.)
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I wasn’t looking to fall in love with chocolate. The only plan for my two vacation days in San Francisco before heading north was to unwind from the daily grind of New York living.
The Ferry Building’s a foodie mecca, hmm? That’s what the concierge said. Perfect! So I wandered over for a quick visit and you know how it works – when you least expect it, that’s when you meet your soulmate. That’s what happened to me in the Ferry Building that sunny June day. That’s when I met you, Recchiuti. You weren’t your average kind of chocolate shop, you. Reserved and subtle yet mysteriously beckoning, you were like a hip computer geek sequestering your passion, bestowing it only upon those who are worthy of your greatness. In that moment it was clear, I had to know you.
Our first moments together were rather dreamy. You had me at Fleur de Sel Caramels. The emotional wave was carried forward with the honeycomb-design topped Sesame Nougat and then you sealed the deal with the Kona Coffee pyramid. I was elated! Even though we’d just met, I took you back to my hotel room where time passed in blissful discovery of your single-origin varietals. We had a beautiful night together, and then you were gone. Seriously, who knew it could be this good between a woman and her chocolate?
Days – ages – later, back in San Francisco I couldn’t just skip through to the airport without saying goodbye. Not after learning the week before that no matter how much I loved you – and no matter how much you wanted me to love you – you in fact would not be moving to New York any time soon. So back to the Ferry Building I ran ever so nonchalantly to pick up some airplane sustenance – a hand-picked collection of all your caramels including the rose, burnt and limited edition passion fruit. You belong in San Francisco, and from then on my heart stayed there too. Not for the sourdough bread bowls or my former what I believed-to-be-my-favorite Bay area chocolate store. See before you I only thought my chocolate-loving palate was happy. Nope. Turns out I’d been living a lie and was actually one of those girls who chocolate-settles. That all changed after I met you. |
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