Erstellt am: 23. 1. 2012 - 18:54 Uhr

Cake!

Chocolate cherry hot fudge upside down cake.

I wanted to share with you the best cake in the world. Well, my favorite cake. The cake I came up with in a fit of absurdity, combining a bunch of other recipes into the ultimate expression of cakey decadence.

The cake, when made correctly, is a chocolate cherry hot-fudge upside down cake. A rich chocolate cake topped in cherries and swimming in a thick fudge sauce with a crispy bottom that provides a textural counterpoint to the otherwise gooey goodness.

Served straight out of the oven with a bit of vanilla ice cream it can be a very fine cake indeed.

Assuming you get the ratios right that is.

Get the ratios wrong, and you end up with this.

dempsey

It still tastes good, but it isn't the mind blowing experience it could be.

The Cake

The base is a chocolate cake made with mayonnaise. I know that probably sounds a bit nasty, but it makes the cake very moist, and I'm convinced that the mustard and vinnegar in most commerical mayo actually strengthens the chocolate flavor. It also makes the batter almost foolproof.

2 (288g) cups flour
1/2 (64g) cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons (5g) baking soda (natron)
1/4 teaspoon (1.5g) salt

Mix the dry ingredients well, eventually sifting to eliminate any larger clumps of cocoa and to evenly distribute the baking soda.

1 cup (210g) sugar (backzucker extrafein)
3/4 cup (150g) mayonnaise (I use 80%, healthier folk might want less)
1 cup (237 ml) water
1 teaspoon vanilla (or one packet vanilla sugar)

Mix the sugar, mayonnaise, water and vanilla in a second mixing bowl. They mayo may separate a bit, but it should be fairly smooth and very liquid. Slowly add the dry ingredients to this bowl until well blended.

The upside down bit

Cherries. At least one big jar, probably more.
Cake pan Ø 24 cm

Once you have mixed up the batter, get out your pan and a couple of jars full of cherries. I like using sourkirschen to provide a little bite, but for the serious sweetntooths out there you can use others if you want. The amount you will need is dependent on the size of the pan, but you want enough to completely cover the bottom. My mistake cake was partially compromised by my lack of cherries. Keeping them dense helps maintain a better top for the fudge by keeping the cake from rising through the cherries and absorbing the sauce.

After the cherries are laid out, pour your batter into the pan. I usually use a silicon form, so I haven't ever really worried about greasing the pan, and if everything works out right, you probably won't either. Otherwise grease and dust as usual, eventually using cocoa rather than flour.

The fudge sauce

1 cup (210g) sugar (I prefer Rohrzucker)
1/4 cup (32g) cocoa
1.5 cup (355ml) water

This is where it can go wrong. Well, this is where I screwed up anyway. A one to one ratio of sugar to cocoa is not a good idea. One to four in volume should be about right.

Once the batter is in the pan, mix the sugar and cocoa together and sprinkle on top of the batter. Try to cover it as evenly as possible before adding the water. Very hot should be ok, but I have had the best results with boiling.

Whatever you do, don't stir. Resist the temptation and just get it into the oven. I know it looks and seems strange to just leave the water pooled on the top, but it should eventually seep through to the bottom of the pan, leaving a crispy, slightly caramelized cocoa base and a rich chocolatey sauce on the top. Or rather the bottom.

It IS an upside down cake after all.

Bake at 175 c. 45 minutes should be about right, but I start checking the cake after 30 minutes. To test, insert a toothpick into the middle of the cake, and when it comes out clean, the cake is ready to remove from the oven.

Now for the fun part. After letting the cake cool for a few minutes, place a plate on top and flip the whole thing. If everything has worked, you should be able to easily lift the pan off the cake as oodles of chocolate sauce runs down the sides.

Serve immediately with a side of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.