Friday, July 8, 2011

Chocolate Cake with cayenne and cinnamon

Today I found that the last of my milk had gone a bit off. Not enough to be worrying, still good for cooking or adding to my morning coffee, but not something you'd want to drink straight or put on your cereal. I decided to use it up by making a chocolate cake (my recipe calls for buttermilk anyway).  I also used some of the leftover coffee that was still in the pot from this morning.

Then I realized that I didn't have any brown sugar, so I poured in a tablespoon of molasses (so the flavor wouldn't use any depth). I also had some spelt flour left over from the rosemary olive oil cake last week, so I substituted some regular flour for that. I also added a bit of cayenne pepper and cinnamon, to give the cake a bit of kick.



The result was pretty good. The spiciness isn't as pronounced as I'd like, but that's easily remedied. The spelt flour seems to make the cake a bit drier and crumblier (next time I'll try it with 2 eggs instead of 1), but it's still really nice. I'll definitely make this again sometime, if I happen to have these specific ingredients on hand. Otherwise I'll Jerry-rig a new recipe.

Chocolate Cake with Cayenne and Cinnamon
a variation of my everyday chocolate cake

1/2 c butter, softened
1 3/4 c granulated sugar
1 T molasses
1 egg
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c brewed coffee
1 t vanilla
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c spelt flour
3/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
cayenne pepper to taste
a pinch of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 325.
beat the butter with the sugar and molasses until it's fluffy. Beat in the egg, buttermilk, coffee, and vanilla as well (I did this in a blender). Add the cinnamon and cayenne a little at a time, mixing after each addition, until it tastes good to you (if you're worried about salmonella, do this before adding the egg).
If using a blender, mix your dry ingredients (flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) in a separate bowl and pour in the wet mixture before stirring just to combine.
Otherwise, sift the dry ingredients into the wet and mix just to combine.
Pour the batter into a oiled, floured cake or loaf pan and bake for about an hour (mine took 50 minutes).
Let cool for a while in the pan before removing the cake to cool the rest of the way.

As always:
t : teaspoons
T : tablespoons
c : cups

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