Chocolate Decadence

In general, I don't like cake. It tends to not be very satisfying. It tends to be dry. It tends to not have enough chocolate in it. I'd much prefer a slice of cheesecake, a slice of pie, or a brownie. I wasn't very enthusiastic about having a wedding cake, and was playing the the concept of just serving chocolate éclairs in lieu of cake.

Enter my friend Stacey, also known as "the caterer." Now, this woman is seriously has the potential to revolutionize the way people think about food. She's a visionary who can look at branches of a rosemary bush and think, "Huh, what happens if I use those for a shish kabob skewer?" She will be in charge of all the food at my reception - including the cake. A cake baked by Stacey is guaranteed to be a good cake. I feared I still wouldn't like it - it is cake, after all - but it should be the best representation of cake possible.

My fortunate increases by having a fiancé who appreciates chocolate, so after a brainstorming session it was determined to do multiple flavors of chocolate in a single slice of cake. Two layers of differing chocolate cakes each with a raspberry topping to emphasize the chocolate. A thick, center layer of butter-cream (and let me note that this ain't your buy-it-in-a-bucket frosting). The entire cake will be coated in a thin, dark ganache and topped with a glaze.

Earlier tonight Stacey-Caterer brought over three, small, sample cakes for Wm and I to taste and decide which to include in our wedding cake. Oh deliciousness in heaven. Yesterday was was a slightly bad day, and the chocolate made everything better. Stacey wanted to soak the cakes in a simple syrup (plebeian speak is "sugar water"), so she brought us half of each cake soaked and half unsoaked for comparison.

First, her signature midnight chocolate cake. It's a dense, rich, deep chocolate that's almost too intense on it's own. She makes it out of 75% chocolate bars. Layer some raspberry puree and a chocolate butter cream on top of the dark chocolate? Amazing. The raspberry cuts through the potential bitterness and the cream lightens the taste. Two bites and you're dessert craving is satisfied by the delicious cake.

Second, was a sachertorte which she also calls, "Meet My Chocolate Doorstop." This is a frightfully heavy cake - you pick it up and you do think, "Where is all that weight coming from?" This cake is made of cocoa powder and almond flour (or was it paste?) and is soaked with the simple sugar until the plate under the cake is sitting in a pool of sugar. It's amazing. The soaking? A bit gushy. I much prefer a half soak.

Third, was a chocolate cake which is miles above any box-mix ever made with its texture and delightful flavor, yet after the first two cakes it was, "Oh. Hi, chocolate." This flavor of chocolate was like an old friend, but someone unremarkable in comparison to the other two cakes. If I had started on this one I would have loved it much more, but the midnight cake had redefined all of my notions of what makes a cake cake.

Of course, this is one reason I'm always impressed by Stacey and her culinary skills. Not only can she create the quintessential chocolate cake (her third chocolate cake), but she can create the very apotheosis of cake (her midnight cake).

It was hard to choose which two cakes to choose for the cake layers. Of course, I could say, "All three please!" but I'm not certain all 3 would be even more work for my friend. In the end, the midnight cake was omitted because, quite frankly, Mormons have been trained to expect sheet cake at weddings. (I'm immensely fortunate to have a friend willing to take all the work to bake a decadent cake for me. I couldn't justify the expense if she weren't giving me such a generous deal on her services.)

Here's the logic. Say you pick up a forkful of cake expecting a Costco sheet cake of fluffy, sugary frailness with barely a hint of chocolate. Instead you find yourself with a mouthful of deep, dark, dense, intense, almost fudge-like cake. Your first thought will be, "What is this? Is this cake? What did I just put in my mouth?" Now take a second bite, "Yes, this is cake, but wow, it's different." A third bite, "Chocolate. Yum, but wow." I'm betting that while eating that slice of cake the only thought will be comparing this cake to that sheet cake. Now, three weeks later? You will remember that cake as the most amazing cake you've ever tasted, yet I fear you won't fully appreciate it at the time you actually eat it. You'll be too busy processing, "Wow, this is cake?"

So, yeah, in interest of not hitting guests with a chocolate mallet, we're giving our guests a cake layered with the "chocolate friend" and the "chocolate doorstop." Yum. I'm really excited fro the completed cake. It will be amazing.