Fabulous Chocolate Wet Cake 巧克力湿蛋糕

I made this cake on a cooling rainy day. It is a perfect teatime snack for this kind of weather.

From the name you may wonder, is it really wet? No, it is not really wet but the texture is unique, somewhere between fudge, cake and a milk chocolate candy bar. No need for the mixer here, a wooden spoon, fork, whisk or eggbeater is the low-tech way to go.

This reminds me of the Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake that I had ever made and raved about. The batter is very much the same but this is even runnier.

Enjoy it by itself or serve with your favourite chocolate frosting.

Ingredients:
(A)
¼ cup cocoa
1 cup water
1 cup (226g) butter or shortening (see note)
(B)
2 cups plain flour } sift together
1 tsp baking soda }
2 cups sugar (I used 1 ½ cups)
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I used ½ tsp)
¼ tsp salt
(C)
½ cup buttermilk (see note)
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 200C and grease a 13”x9” baking pan generously (I used a 9”x9” pan and 2 small ramekins).
2) Combine (A) in a saucepan and place it on the stove over medium hear. Stir now and then, helping butter melt and mixing everything together into a smooth chocolate sauce. As soon as it comes to a gentle boil, remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.
3) In a large bowl, combine (B) and stir them together with a fork.
4) In a medium bowl, combine (C) and stir with a fork to mix them well.
5) Combine all three mixtures, pouring both the chocolate and the egg mixtures over the flour in the big bowl. Use a big wooden spoon or a spatula to stir everything together into a smooth chocolate batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
6) Bake at 200C for 25 mins, until the cake is firm and shinny and springs back when touched lightly in the center. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel.

Note:
1) If you don’t have buttermilk stir 1 ½ tsp of vinegar or lemon juice into ½ cup of milk, and let stand for 10 mins.
2) I used canola oil to replace butter and simplified step 2 by mixing the cocoa in hot water and add in the oil, i.e. no heating is required. I am not sure if this affects the final result but my cake turned out well.

It was so tempting that I finished the cake right after shooting. Happy Baking!

(Recipe source: Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)