Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake for Tuesdays With Dorie
22 Jun
Discovering an unfamiliar word sends me right to the kitchen where I keep at least a couple of paperback copies of Webster’s Dictionary. If I can’t find a pair of readers, I go to the computer and google it. Anyway, I love looking for definitions. Just one of my (many) quirks. I’ve been thinking about this recipe and about the sort of frou frou name “Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake.” Perception can entice or repel. Words and definitions both fascinate and entertain. So why would the name Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake attract little old me?
1. Chocolate – the other food group, the food of the Gods, a cure for PMS, an aphrodisiac, some say. Of course, chocolate is almost always my first choice.
2. Then there is the other descriptive word, ”dressy.” It reminds me of way, way back to childhood. I grew up in Oklahoma. Is that the south? Well, either way. Somehow every Easter, Mom and Dad managed to provide my brother and me new clothes, complete with shoes and hat (for me, no hat for him, hehe) for church Easter Sunday. It was special and the shopping was much anticipated. I remember standing in the backyard while Mom or Dad stood with the Brownie Hawkeye camera to take photographs. Yep, in black and white. All of this is a comforting and happy memory.
This just had to be a happy recipe, right? Hope you think so too.
Back to the Dressy Cake
Now here is the fun.
For the Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
~
1/3 cup best-quality red raspberry or cherry jam-for filling
1 teaspoon water
For the Frosting
5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 1/2 x 5 inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on the top of one another.
To Make the Cake: Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each one goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream. Still working on a low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix only until they disappear into the batter, Give the batter a last stir with a sturdy rubber spatula and scrape the batter into the pan.
Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. If, after about 45 minutes, the cake looks as if its browning too quickly, cover it losely with a foil tent. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the cake rest for about 5 minutes before turning it out on the to rack. Cool to room temperature upside down.
To Fill The Cake: Bring the jam and water to a boil over low heat or in a microwave oven. Stir to smooth it, and keep at hand.
The top of the cake will become the bottom layer, so if it is uneven and your cake rocks a bit on the counter, turn it right side up and use a long serrated knife to level it. Using the serrated knife, cut the cake into 3 even layers. Put the first layer (originally the top of the cake) cut side up on a long serving plate and spread half of the jam over it. Cover with the middle layer and spread that layer with the remaining jam. Lift the top layer into place, cut side down. Use a small pastry brush to chase away any crumbs on the top or sides of the cake.
To Make The Frosting: Fit a heatproof bowl into a pan of gently simmering water, add the chocolate and warm, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted. Still working over the hot water, stir in the sour cream. Don’t be concerned if the cream tightens-just keep stirring gently and the frosting will become smooth and glossy.
Remove from the heat and cover the sides and top of the cake with the still warm frosting.
Dorie says its ready to serve as soon as it is frosted, but likes to wait about an hour, until the frosting develops the slightest little crust; the frosting underneath the crust will still be soft and velvety. Serve with a bit of whipped cream and if you’d like a pitcher of the Smooth & Tangy Chocolate Sauce.
Playing Around If you want to serve the cake with a sauce that is perfectly matched to it, double the frosting recipe and use half for the frosting and the other half to make a sauce.
for the sauce: bring about 1 cup whole milk (amount is your preference of consistency) almost to a boil. Put the bowl of extra frosting back over the pan of hot water and gently whisk in the hot milk a little at a time, adding as much as you want to get the desired consistency. The sauce is ready to use when it is as thick or thin as you’d like and perfectly smooth. You can make the sauce in advance and keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; just warm it gently before serving.
This “Dressy” recipe is brought to you by the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group’s beloved inspiration, Dorie Greenspan. It is from her wonderful book entitled Baking From My Home to Yours. Thank you Dorie for giving all the joy of your kitchen to all of us. Your book has really enriched many lives. Just think of all the sharing that goes around. What Fun!
Be sure and check out all the Tuesday With Dorie bakers and see the phenomenal display of Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cakes. I assure you there will be some decked out cakes! hehe
Corbin and I enjoyed taking a lot of photographs for this special occasion of Tuesdays with Dorie. It was my turn among the over 300 bakers to choose the recipe. I know you’ll love checking them out. Here they are. Thank you for visiting and baking with me.
Just a note: Please don’t tell my “gym-rat” friends, this chocolate cake is totally worth the calories, meaning I am willing to work out a little extra just to eat this. Its that good. Yum!
Congrats on your “turn”! What a great recipe for such a celebration – you can tell you really enjoyed selecting and making it. It was a surprisingly good cake – worthy of that “definition”! Thanks for choosing such a wonderful recipe.
Delicious cake, great choice! Thanks for picking this dessert. Love your photos!
It was so happy! I loved it! Your cake is perfect and Im so glad you picked it this week. I love your blog!
What a great way to show us lots of pictures through the slideshow on Flickr. You’ve got a good photographer hanging around the house. Fun place to send my friends who want this recipe.
Congrats on your pick. I had a piece last night and it was just fabulous. We are loving it every night while we watch tv as our little treat for the night. Your photos are beautiful and your cake looks perfect as always! Thank you for choosing this.
Great pick this week, Amy–my girls really enjoyed it. =) I love the way you frosted your cake. And the pictures are all great–very nice plating.
Thanks for hosting Amy! It was a great pick and I loved that I could modify it to please me and my husband. Your photos are lovely and it was fun to click through and see all of them on Flickr!
Love the slide show of your perfect pick to start off the summer. What’s better than chocolate and berries. That last shot is gorgeous.
Great pick! Made 1/2 the recipe which adapted easily to cupcakes. Love your photos
Yours really looks dressy! Mine not so much. Loved the jam between the layers. Great pick.
thanks for a superb, and definitely happy, pick this week! your cake your gorgeous..the way it’s decorated reminds me of buche de noel.
great photo set..corbin has serious talent with a camera, and the two of you must have a blast in the kitchen together!
great choice and beautiful photos.
GREAT GREAT pick this week! I loved this! Yours looks absolutely gorgeous! All of those pics are so cute! I love reading your blog and you look like you are having so much fun!!
A very happy recipe! Thanks for selecting it
The guys loved this cake…thanks for a great pick. Your cake looks beautiful, somehow I pictured you featuring a strawberry or two with it all!
This was a cake fit for Goddesses, who polished it off quickly. Thanks for a great choice.
i thoroughly enjoyed this cake amy! perfect for entertaining
Amy Ruth, this was such a fantastic pick! And did Corbin take all of those amazing pictures? They’re gorgeous. I always liked the word “dressy” too — especially when I was little. It must be middle south-Oklahoma Texas sort of thing.
Love the picture with the dressed up cake and red and white! Perfectly dressy!
I dressed mine up a little differently, but it was still good.
Fun pick! Thanks. (I’m all for chocolate as one of the food groups myself.)
I loved this cake! Thank you for picking such a tasty (and simple) recipe!
This looks great! I didn’t get to bake along this week but will definitely have to try this soon!
Amy, your cake is beautiful and I love your post. It’s so nice that the word ‘dressy’ took you back to your childhood. When I named the cake, I thought of the word ‘dressy’ as being old-fashioned.
Amy — off topic, but I tried to send you an email for your daughter about Paris, but I got a message that it was ‘delayed’. If you don’t get it, please let me know. Thanks — Dorie
It was a great choice! Love the cake (did not care for the frosting).. but as a whole it was a good solid cake.
that second picture is a work of art!
This is a keeper! Thanks for picking such a great recipe.
What a great pick Amy!!! I absolutely loved this recipe, thanks for picking it!
What a beautiful and fun cake! I cannot wait to try it out myself… yum! Thank you for the great pics and inspiration to play in the kitchen!
Your pictures are gorgeous!!! Thanks for the great pick!
Great pick this week! It looks wonderful with the sauce–yours is the first I’ve seen with it.
Thanks for picking this–it was wonderful!
Awesome, awesome pick, Amy! I’m so excited that you finally got your turn! Your cake looks scrumptious. And Corbin did a beautiful job on the photos.
Not only happy, but so tasty! I look at pound cake in a whole new way now. Thanks!
Your cake looks fabulous! I really like the name of it too, plus the fact that it’s chocolate. Thanks for the greeat pick!
Excellent choice, Amy! My family and I really enjoyed this cake.
Amy Ruth,
I think I have gained 5 lbs from eating 2 pieces of cake yesterday. It is SOOOOO good!!!! Thank you for a great selection-one that will be making a reappearance in our house-we loved it!
Love your definitions of Chocolate and Dressy. Can completely relate to both! I did make the cake but unfortunately my pics were a disaster so didn’t post. I made it into two layer sponge cake with the jam and cream in the middle and the frosting on top. It was delicious. Great pick.
Your pictures really are stunning! Thanks for a great pick this week. And doesn’t it warm your heart that Dorie is commenting every week on the “host blog?” Love it. Happy to meet you too!
Wow you did take lots of pictures! Looks like you had great fun baking this one. Great choice!
Thanks, Amy! This one is worth several repeats!! Beautiful photos!
Thanks for the great pic, Amy! The cake tastes really good!
Thanks for picking such an elegant and easy recipe! Yours looks amazing. Great photos!
This was such a good cake! We loved it! I didn’t realize you were in Missouri. We live near Louisville, but I went to Lindsey Wilson for 5 years (and worked on their main campus for 2 years), so I’m familiar with Scottsville.
Thanks again for a great pick!
Wonderful pick. We really enjoyed it over here.
Oh, my. What a cake. I could eat the screen.
Your cake looks fabulous! This was one of those selections that really exceeded my expectations. It disappeared pretty fast at my house.
Wow, lovely cake, it sure looks so tasty and full of flavor
Your cake is beautiful! I didn’t get to make this one and I’m sorry I didn’t!