Tuesday, June 22, 2010

TWD: Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake

For this week's Tuesday with Dorie assignment, Amy Ruth of Amy Ruth Bakes chose the Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake from p. 286-287. 

Once again, I contemplated skipping out b/c the cake didn't sound fabulous to me, but I forged ahead and made it very last minute...to the point where I had to stick the cake in the fridge and cut and frost it while it was still pretty warm in order to have it done by 10 pm!

Despite my procrastination, I thought it was a pretty quick and easy cake to throw together.  I made a few substitutions based on what I had on hand: I ran out of regular cocoa powder halfway through so I used half regular, and half hershey's special dark.  I also didn't have enough sour cream so I used half sour cream and half vanilla yogurt.  I was kinda worried b/c both my yogurt and sour cream were low fat and I was afraid that it might make the cake less moist, but I was wrong!  (and seriously, how can you be worried about not having enough fat when there are 2 sticks of butter?!?)  I also really think that the dark cocoa  was a change for the better--I ADORE dark chocolate w/raspberry and that's what it tasted like :).  Oh yeah, and I used raspberry rhubarb jam for the filling, but I told my coworkers it was just raspberry...ooops!  I also was using a slightly smaller pan than specified so I only filled it just over halfway full and baked the remainder in my freestanding heartshaped silicon cupcake liners.

Well, I sure am glad that I made this b/c it was amazing!  The cake was extremely moist with an almost velvety texture, and though I had slight reservations about the fruit filling I thought it definitely brightened the taste.  And the frosting!  How amazing is that!?!?  All you had to do was melt some semisweet chocolate and stir in sour cream!  Amazing!  Even though I had to slice and fill the cake while it was still slightly warm, I had no trouble at all cutting the layers and stacking them.

With my cupcakes I sliced each one in half and tried a few different fillings: nutella, chocolate peanut butter, and one with the jam.  As much as I love those chocolate spreads, the jam was definitely my favorite.  I don't know why, but the one I filled with nutella tasted very cinnamonny--and of course there was no cinnamon in the cake...weird.


Sadly, I did not get good pictures.  I waited until right before leaving for work this morning to try and get a good natural light shot, but it is so miserably hot and humid that this is what I got:
 It fogged my lens up! 

The first one up towards the top is somewhat clear, but it did not take any time at all to feel like I was photographing a fog, and by the time I got home from work, this is all that was left:
The cake was a hit at the office, except for sweet Larissa (though she still ate two pieces I think...).  She took a bite before I told her there was a fruit filling and just looked at me weird. Then she asked it it was orange or pineapple!  heehee--silly friend.  Hubs was also intrigued by the cake--he saw it on the counter and said "Cool! It looks like a meatloaf!"  which I don't understand b/c he HATES meatloaf and usually refers to it as gross.  But he didn't try it due to the jam.  Silly boy.

Thanks so much to Amy Ruth for this pick, and be sure to visit the TWD LYL post to see who baked along this week!

8 comments:

  1. Meatloaf--that's what my cake looked like! I never thought of rhubarb jam--too bad, as I have jars of the stuff. Glad this was so popular-my friends loved it too!

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  2. I've never had rhubarb jam. But it sounds so good. I think you are very sweet to share this cake with your co-workers. I kept mine all to myself. I think I am going to have a piece tonight before I go to bed! I'm sure it will help me with some good dreams. Your cake looks really good.

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  3. Sarah I love the name of your blog and I think fogged up lenses are kinda special and misty. Like a lazy day. I'm so glad you found the recipe easy to work with and that you had sweet people who you could feed. :")
    That is always a good thing in my book. Yea, my fam doesn't eat meatlof either, although I am a huge fan. So good for you pulling out the rhubarb and fooling them all. That sounds extra special and tangy.Thanks again for baking along with me.
    AmyRuth

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  4. This cakes looks so delicious!!! Love the summer pics, we're having the hot and humid weather here, too.

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  5. hahaha i've had my camera fog up like that too before LOL

    looks great and i love that you made cupcakes too

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  6. You should see my presentation..yours is much nicer! I think the cake looks so good..I like the last picture of the slice left! I'll be right over to eat it.:)

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  7. I love the before and after work photos; definitely proof that everyone liked it! This one disappeared fast at my house too.

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  8. Ha, this made me very glad I live in a low-humidity environment! But it looks like the cake was a raging success.

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