My brother introduced me to the Epicurious app, which I think is great. It has a variety of helpful search options, and my favorite part, it usually has pictures.
My mom loves chocolate. (I do too, though I didn't used to - I've since acquired that stereotypically female trait.) So chocolate was a given. We also had a bunch of raspberries (probably more on this in another post). Chocolate and raspberries go well together, so the raspberries were in too. Of the options Epicurious presented, the Chocolate Decadence was most intriguing. Seriously, how could I pass up on a name like that?! But the recipe looked interesting too, and like it had a chance to live up to its name.
This is also a flour-less recipe for my friends who are gluten free, though that's not an issue in my family, as I'm sure upcoming posts will make quite obvious.
Getting this thing made sneakily was a bit of a trick. My mom just started a new part-time job, which usually gives me a few alone hours each day, but her b-day happened to fall on one of the days she has off. Which is nice; who wants to work on their birthday? But it makes preparing a surprise dessert a bit difficult. Luckily it was a lawn-mowing day, and even though it was her birthday, my mom said she'd still mow half of it. So that gave me about 2 hours with her out of the house.
As soon as she was safely outside, I flew into sneaky action. I hunted down the double-boiler, overcame my former memories with the thing (it's long been called "the throw-up pan" in my family because, since it doesn't have a long awkward handle, it was easy to keep nearby someone's bed when they were sick... don't worry, it has always been thoroughly sanitized afterward), and started melting chocolate chips and butter together. I got a cake pan wax-papered, buttered and floured (which is not as easy as it sounds). I whisked out the beaters and whipped eggs and sugar together. I folded the egg mixture into the chocolate. I preheated the oven and figured out how to get the cake pan into a water bath. I baked it to just the right moment and then fished it out of the water bath - arguably the hardest part: two hot pans + boiling water + movement + flotation + pot-holders + cake you wish to keep dry and unburned = danger. But I did it! I got it on a rack to cool and effectively barricaded so that a stray glance would only reveal that something delicious had been baked without giving anything away.
Meanwhile, I had made up the raspberry sauce. Relatively simple: puree raspberries with sugar and then force through a sieve to remove the seeds. The sieve part was a bit tedious, but on the whole not bad, and it turned out great. I got that done and safely in the fridge while the cake baked.
Eventually, after the cake cooled, it was supposed to go in the fridge for several hours. Which was no problem. I covered it with saran-wrap and wrapped the whole thing in a towel. The towel hid it from view and indicated that no peeking is allowed - an indication that is honored in our house, because everyone knows that ruins the fun.
Just before we ate it, I got the cake out of the pan and onto a serving plate, and whipped up some fresh unsweetened whipped cream. I popped a candle in place and served it with the whipped cream and raspberry sauce - accompanied, of course, with several rounds of "Happy Birthday."
My mom loved it. My dad and I did too. The Chocolate Decadence was, well, decadent! Rich and fudgy, and the raspberry sauce added a nice, refreshing tangy flavor - a perfect compliment. And who doesn't love whipped cream? Definitely worth having again.
Happy Birthday Mom!!
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| Forgot to take pictures until the end. This one doesn't quite do it justice. However, that's my mom's finger making sure nothing is left behind! |
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