Alise's Velvet (Cup)Cake

Alise's Velvet Cake (cupcake-style)



This recipe was included with a box of Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Chocolate. I don't think they provide this recipe anymore as I couldn't find it on their website, and it doesn't come with the chocolate anymore. The Velvet Cake listed on their website is totally different recipe. This one was provided by their pastry chef at Cafe Cacao, Alise Raya. Since the recipe is not really available anymore I will include the original amounts & instructions here.

I was getting sick of modifying the other chocolate cupake recipe and thought maybe a different chocolate cake recipe might be easier to modify for this lofty elevation. This recipe seems promising because it doesn't use very much baking powder, and it uses buttermilk, a high altitude staple. The acidity is supposed to help tenderize as well as do other groovy things.

Their description of the cake:

Dense but delicate, this cake has a crumb that's as velvety-smooth as the name implies.

I am a fan of Scharffen Berger's not-so-cheap boutique chocolate that I can't really afford. But the upside to buying it in Los Alamos is you can support a local business. Cook'n In Style is the only place to buy Scharffy in Los Alamos. But any good quality unsweetened chocolate can be used.

Again, this recipe uses unsweetened chocolate, which you don't ever want to just bite into, as it is 99% cacao, and has no added sugar. Just cacao and vanilla beans. I'd be curious how this is with bittersweet choco or a combination of the bitter + unsweetened.

I modified the recipe a bit for my first stab at it, just doing some minor fairly run of the mill adjustments: adding flour and buttermilk, reducing sugar and baking pow. 

Ingredients (underlined ingredients were modified, see below):

• 8 oz unsweetened chocolate
  
• 6 TB (3 oz) unsalted butter
  
• 2 c. sugar
  
• 2 tsp rum (could probably substitute vanilla).
  
• 3 large eggs
  
• 3/4 c. flour
  
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
  
• pinch of salt.
  
• 1/2 c buttermilk

Modifications for high altitude, Take 1. Note, this didn't work out perfectly, so baker beware.

• 2 cups minus 2 TB sugar.  Hint: 2 TB == 1/8 cup
  
• 3/4 cup plus 2 TB flour. The flour weighed 100 grams total.
  
• scant 1/4 tsp of baking powder, maybe more scanty than usual. But not an 1/8th or anything.
  
• 1/2 cup plus 1 TB buttermilk.
  

I almost added an extra egg but resisted.

Measuring Note: I whisked the flour in a bowl, then spooned into a measuring cup and levelled off. If you weigh the flour, just measure out 100 grams (for high altitude). In the original recipe it would be just over 3 oz of flour.

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Either prepare cupcake pans; or butter two 9-inch round pans and line bottom with baking parchment.

Melt the chocolate & butter in a stainless steel mixer bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth and melted. Add sugar, stirring until well incorporated. Set aside.

Beat eggs & rum together in medium bowl. In another bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowing add the beaten eggs and rum to the melted chocolate and mix at low speed until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix at medium speed until the batter is shiny, about 2-3 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed. Add the buttermilk and mix at low speed until incorporated.

Divide batter between pans (or put into cupcake pan 3/4 full) and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Set on cooling racks about 5 minutes, then turn the cakes from the pans.
Let cool completely.

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Overall: The cupcakes didn't rise very much. They took forever to bake (over 40 minutes), and I never got the center completely baked. It's slightly gooey in the center. There is a bit of crust on the top. Not a velvety-smooth texture. But tasty.

First Batch:
I only filled the cups 1/2 full, so they didn't rise above the cupcake papers. I cooked them in the lower part of the oven at 350 F for 40-45 minutes. I took them out even though the tester came out with batter on it. They taste pretty good -- crunchy at the top, moist and dense inside. Very chocolatey. But a little too gooey in the center.

Second Batch: The batter was super thick from sitting around at room temp for 40 minutes. I raised the oven temperature to 375 F. I filled the cups almost totally full this time. Again I had to cook them for too long (40 minutes), and eventually had to take them out of the oven as they were getting almost black on top. These ended with a thick crust and the bottom go too cooked as well. I took a bite of one and it wasn't as good as the first batch.



Wrap-up: I'll keep the first batch and toss the second. I've googled a little and am not sure how to fix this issue, but the first thing I will try is some more liquid (buttermilk), and probably will use the full 1/4 tsp of baking powder. It's possible an egg would add more liquid. They definitely need to set faster.

Another idea is to change the methods used putting the cake together. I think I might try creaming the butter and sugar (more air gets whipped in, helping volume), and adding in melted choc later. Also, I might try alternating adding the buttermilk & flour mixture. Beating the flour & chocolate mixture for 3 minutes at medium speed seemed weird to me.