Another Chocolate Cake

I love 8-inch cakes. They look so cute and tiny, but because they are so small, when everyone gets their piece, there's not much left for me to eat and get fat. I like that. And because the cakes get eaten so quickly, no one gets tired of their tastes and they all want more. I have to thank Nigella Lawson for all this, because the main reason I bought (well, requested it for Valentine's day :D) the 8-inch pan was because of her Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake. And I haven't looked back since.

Every time I open the Martha Stewart Food page, there is the ''Luscious Layer Cakes'' slideshow right before my eyes. Every time. But, since I don't really want to eat one stick of butter every day, I didn't choose a ''luscious layer cake'' after all, but I went through the chocolate cakes slideshow. And there I found this tiny chocolate cake, which, as the name already tells you, is really easy to make. Nom nom.

Easy Chocolate Cake (from Martha Stewart)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 C). Butter an 8-inch round cake pan; line bottom with wax paper. Butter paper, dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture alternating with sour cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
3. Spread batter into prepared pan. Tap pan firmly on countertop several times to force out large air bubbles. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely (bottom side up). Set rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour glaze over, spread gently to coat entirely. Let stand until set. Garnish with chocolate shavings. Serve with whipped cream.

Chocolate glaze

4 ounces coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Let cool until thick yet pourable, 2 to 3 minutes.

Ah, Martha. Another perfect recipe. Nom. This cake tastes fantastic! It's really dense and chocolate-y. Of course, as usual, my glaze wasn't actually a glaze, more like a spread. It didn't look as flawless as the cake in the picture, so I covered it in nonpareils. And, when I cut it, I realized that I forgot to tap the pan on the counter, so there were some air bubbles inside the cake. But still, the taste was perfect, not too sweet, a bit of bitterness and the nonpareils on top just a bit sweeter... ahh, I want more of it. NOW.

Look: 5/5
Taste: 5/5
Approximate cost: 4 €

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