I make a couple of chocolate cakes each year for birthdays. I make a damned good chocolate cake. I do. And not by accident, either. I’ve gone through dozens of eggs perfecting this recipe, not to mention, hours on a treadmill working off the experiments. Over the years I’ve tried everything from adding puréed beets, mayonnaise, or strong, black coffee. I’ve come to know the difference between Dutch process cocoa and regular cocoa. I’ve even discovered a triple cocoa blend that claims to bridge the divide between the cocoas. And let’s not even talk about flour. Yes, this isn’t just any old chocolate cake that I make. It’s a PhD thesis of a chocolate cake.
It’s a PhD thesis of a chocolate cake.
Chocolate cake is all about cocoa powder. All cocoas, however, are not created equal. Natural cocoa powder is not only lighter in colour, it’s more acidic than Dutch process cocoa powder. Acid makes a cake rise more but it can yield a drier cake. Dutch process cocoa is natural cocoa that’s been, yes, treated to a process that was invented by, yes, the Dutch back in the 1820s. More than just a difference in colour, there’s also a difference in the fat content in the two types of cocoa powder. Natural cocoa powder has less fat than Dutch process cocoa powder. Dutch process cocoa powder is cocoa powder that’s been treated with an alkalizing agent like potassium carbonate and the result is a less acidic cocoa which is, therefore, sweeter. A fatter, sweeter cake is almost always a better tasting cake. Higher quantities of alkalinizing agents produce darker coloured cocoas. And, being as we taste first with eyes, a darker cake is also perceived as chocolatier.
One of my chocolate birthday cakes on the cake stand that’s been a feature of birthdays at my house for decades now.
Photo: Jane Macdougall
Here’s a photo of the super Dutched black cocoa powder that I use in order to get a sinfully black chocolate cake.
So, I’ve given you the dark secret behind my black-as-night chocolate cake. The puréed beets work as well but you can also buy super Dutched black cocoa powder which has even higher content of alkalinizing agents which makes for even darker cocoa. Super Dutched cocoa, however, has fewer flavonals – antioxidants – but we’re not eating chocolate cake for the nutritional benefits now, are we?
An inside view of my super Dutched cocoa cake.
Photo: Jane Macdougall
I love baking birthday cakes. When I was growing up, the birthday child was the one who got to lick the beaters so the day was always off to a good start. Without fail, the cake always concealed foil-wrapped coins and you prayed you’d get the sole quarter hidden amongst the pennies, nickels and dimes. It seems the tradition of coin-laden cakes has fallen off in recent years but the history of hiding things in cakes is a long one.
… whoever got the single coin hidden in the citrus-y cake
was promised a year of good luck.
Lore has it that the Greeks began this tradition with their vasilopita cakes which were served on the first day of the new year. Traditions vary, but the cake is served either in descending or ascending order from the eldest to the youngest, or vice versa. One aspect that doesn’t vary is that whoever got the single coin hidden in the citrus-y cake was promised a year of good luck.
Mardi Gras celebrations incorporate a “king” cake into their annual observance of Epiphany in January. The traditional “king” cake is a riotously colourful cake, embellished with the purple, green and gold sprinkles, the colours of Carnival which signify justice, growth and prosperity.
… whoever finds the baby in their slice of cake is considered
king or queen for the day.
A “king” cake also conceals a small, plastic, baby Jesus figurine and whoever finds the baby in their slice of cake is considered king or queen for the day. There’s also a bit of a caveat: that person is also expected to host the following year’s Mardi Gras party. How popular are these cakes during Carnival? Manny Randazzo Bakery in Metairie, New Orleans has been devoted to making these cakes, and only these cakes, since 1995.
It’s interesting to consider the buzz around the re-opening of the Bon Ton Pastry shop in Vancouver. The beloved Diplomat cake is back and lots of people are deliriously happy. The Diplomat is a rum-infused sponge cake layered with flaky puff pastry and Italian buttercream – what’s not to love? For lots of Vancouverites, this cake has been the guest of honour at every birthday party since the bakery first opened its doors on Granville Street back in 1926. I was just reading that Moore’s Bakery, another beloved Vancouver institution since the early 1930s, has a customer who has been getting the same mocha birthday cake from them for 50 years now.
A Vancouver favourite – The Bon Ton Pastry shop’s beloved Diplomat Cake.
Photo courtesy of The Bon Ton Pastry Shop.
We’ve always been a home-baked birthday cake household. Those cakes are almost always chocolate, although carrot cake – the one with crushed pineapple and macadamia nuts – comes in a close second. I have a friend who’s been having a Dairy Queen ice cream cake since he was five years-old. It’s the only time, in any year, that he has an ice cream cake. He says that if they ever stop making those cakes, he’ll take it as a sign from God that his days are numbered. I think it’s kinda nice, celebrating your birthday with a cake that you wait all year on. Because when life gives you birthdays, eat cake. Ideally, a cake that has hidden surprises.
This week’s question for readers:
]DO YOU HAVE A BIRTHDAY CAKE TRADITION?
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