Chocolate Cakes

I don't recommend trying to achieve Hermione's goal when making our next item, though Crabbe and Goyle probably did enjoy this delicacy before they keeled over on the floor:

"She held up two plump chocolate cakes. 'I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught'" (Chamber of Secrets 213).

I found an exciting recipe for Flourless Nutella Chocolate Cake that sounds absolutely delicious, so that's what I'll be attempting today.

You Will Need:
200g (almost 1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
100g (almost 1/2 cup) dark chocolate
200g Nutella
100g white sugar
6 eggs, separated
1 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder (which I left out)

1. Butter and lightly coat either a 9" springform pan or cupcake pan with cocoa powder. Prheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the pans inside.
2. Place the butter chunks and chunks/chips of dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melt together at 30 second intervals (or use a double boiler). Stir until smooth.

3. Add the nutella to the melted chocolate/butter mixture and stir well with a whisk or fork until completely incorporated. Mix in the coffee powder if using.

4. Separate the egg whites and yolks into two separate bowls. Add the sugar to the yolks and whisk for a minute until combined.

5. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly.

6. Beat the egg whites until stiff(ish) peaks form.

7. Add the chocolate/yolk mix to the egg whites and mix by hand until completely incorporated.

8. Pour the batter into your prepared (hot) pans(s). Don't fill cupcake tins more than 3/4 full. Place in the oven.

9. Bake for 20-30 minutes (my cupcakes were done at 22). They are done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean-- you don't want them completely solid all the way through, but the center shouldn't sway when jiggled.

10. Let cool completely and garnish with hazelnuts if you have any.

Theses are cakes are very tasty, but not very plump like Hermione's sleeping draught cakes were. The flourless aspect seems to make them want to collapse on themselves. So while not very pretty, they will certainly cure any chocolate craving! Enjoy!

Cake

And so we begin Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with a food only mentioned briefly in passing on Harry's twelfth birthday:

"Of course, his hopes hadn't been high; they'd never given him a real present, let alone a cake-- but to ignore it completely..." (Chamber of Secrets 5).

Since this mention of cake is super vague and non-specific (and is the only time in the entire series when Ms. Rowling doesn't tell us what kind of cake her characters are enjoying!), I get to choose what kind of cake we'll make! So we'll be trying a recipe for Hungarian Flourless Hazelnut Cake I found on allrecipes.com. 

You Will Need:

12 oz hazelnuts

2 tsp baking powder

6 egg yolks

5/8 cup granulated sugar

6 egg whites

1 pint heavy cream

1/8 cup chopped hazelnuts for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour (I thought this was flourless?) a 9" springform pan.

2. Grind hazelnuts until very fine. Place in a bowl and mix in the baking powder.

3. In a large bowl, whip the egg yolks with the sugar until a pale yellow color. Beat in the hazelnut mixture.

4. In a separate CLEAN bowl, with CLEAN beaters, whip the egg whites until stiff.

5. Quickly fold 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture, then add the remaining whites and fold in until no white streaks remain.

6. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 60-75 minutes (mine was done after 60), until the cake springs back when lightly tapped.

7. When the baked cake has cooled completely, slice it horizontally into 3 (or just 2) layers.

8. Whip the cream until stiff, and spread generously between the layers, and on the top and sides. Sprinkle the top with chopped hazelnuts.

This cake is really delicious! Not too sweet, super easy to make, and such a pleasant hazelnut flavor. Yummy! I hope you enjoy it!

Cakes

Following an epic Slytherin VS Gryffindor Quidditch match (as well as overhearing a very suspicious conversation between Snape and Quirrell), Harry learns of a celebration in which we find our next food item:

"Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens" (Sorcerer's Stone 227).

Ms. Rowling does not specify what kind of cakes our favorite twins have nicked from the kitchens (though in truth their arms were likely filled with all sorts of leftovers by the lovable house elves). Since the last recipe we tried turned out to be super involved, I have decided that we should make some simple English Tea Cakes. The recipe can be found here.

You Will Need (I halved this recipe and got 12 cakes):

2 cups butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour

60 walnut or pecan halves, toasted

1. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in the vanilla.

3. Gradually add the flour, mixing well.

4. Drop by heaping spoonfuls into greased muffin cups and flatten slightly. Press a nut into the center of each.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes (more like 12-15) or until edges are slightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from the tins. Makes 5 dozen according to the recipe (but their cakes must be awfully small!).

These little cakes have a delightfully subtle sweetness. And they're so easy to make! They would be an excellent choice for any elegant tea or casual evening on the sofa by the fire! Delightful! I hope you enjoy them!