It has been a little while since I have posted here. Friends and co-workers have been asking about some baked goods, so I wanted to make something different that was not too big of a project.
These are actually bars, even though the title states cake. This recipe hails from a label on some gourmet chocolate bars. The chocolate bars are the Julia Baker chocolate brand. The idea of reserving chocolate bars for baking may be a difficult task, but the effort to resist eating the bars by themselves does pay off. The chewy, tasty texture of the cream cheese in the batter paired with rich chunks of chocolate make for one tasty treat.
Chocolate Chunk Cream Cake
adapted from Julia Baker via Bakingdom.com
Ingredients
2 eggs
4 oz of cream cheese
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbs melted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup plus 2 tbs cake flour
1 cup confectioners sugar
3-4oz chocolate bar, coarsley chopped
Prepare an 8x8 inch pan by greasing the interior. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk in the granulated sugar. Stir in the melted butter. Then add 1 egg and mix until all is smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula or back of a spoon to making sure all is even. Place 1/2 of the chocolate bar pieces on top of the batter. The pieces should be placed so the coverage is even and no pieces touch the sides of the pan. Set pan aside.
Beat the cream cheese in a small bowl on medium speed for 30 seconds. Then scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for an additional 30 seconds. The cream cheese should be smooth and fluffy.
Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar into the cream cheese and stir until no dry streaks remain. Repeat this process, scraping down the sides of the bowl at each interval, until all the confectioners sugar is blended. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the egg and the vanilla extract.
Pour this mixture evenly over the first batter layer in the pan. Then finish by placing the remaining pieces of chocolate on the cream cheese layer. Again, take care not to have any pieces touch the sides of the pan.
Bake for 30-33 minutes. Cake will have a deep golden hue when done. Cool completely before cutting and serving.
Notes and Tips:
1. original recipe states that you can also use a 4X11 inch tart pan. Since the removal of the cake does require a sharp knife to be run along the edges, do not use a tart pan with scalloped edges.
2. As stated above, the cake will not easily slip out the pan for removal. The bottom has no issues it is just the sides due to the toasted edges. The greasing helped a little, but it still needed a knife run along the edges.
3. I used caramel filled as well as regular dark chocolate bars. Using the caramel filled bars caused an occasional grit or crunch to the bite. Based on that, I would use a plain dark or milk chocolate bar.
**LAST YEAR:Fried Apple Hand Pies**