the fluffiest chocolate cake

I’ve told you before that women are always trying to feed me here; it’s in their nature and I do my best to not say no. There are certain moms who feel the need to make me desserts more than others, and it’s on those days that I eat a lighter lunch before going to their homes. By now I’ve got this down to a science.

One mom in particular, as I’m wrapping up the English lesson with her little girls, magically appears wielding a cake covered in Nutella, or a bowl of hot chocolate pudding, or amazing wafers with toasted hazelnuts. And if I say something along the lines of, “This is so good,” she’ll proceed to wrap up in tin foil whatever it is, insisting that I take it home. 

Last week, as the girls and I were finishing up with the verb “to play,” she came in with little plates of steaming chocolate cake covered in confectioner’s sugar. It was so fluffy and literally falling apart as I took a bite, its crumb lighter than air. She revealed the recipe along with, you guessed it, half the cake to take home. I had to make it again this week, just to try out her secret tip for getting it fluffy.

Do you realize that this is my entire kitchen work space? This mini washing machine. Oh, and there's my shiny new mixer that I told you about on twitter!

Fluffiest Chocolate Cake

3 eggs, separate the yolks from the whites when they're cold

about 3/4 cup sugar (150 grams)

3/4 stick butter (100 grams)

1 1/3 cup flour (200 grams) 

1/2 cup bittersweet cocoa (75 grams)

1 cup milk (7 ounces)

2 tsp baking soda

Beat the three yolks with the sugar and the butter until creamy orange. Clean the beaters well and beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. (This is what makes the cake fluffy!) Add the flour and cocoa to the yolk mixture and slowly pour the milk in as you blend. Folding swiftly but gently, add the whites to the mixture and finally, the baking soda. Again, here you want to work quickly to incorporate the mixture. Pour the batter into a buttered 8 inch cake pan. Bake at 350. Her oven took 40 minutes, mine took 20, so keep an eye out after 20 and stick a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done.

And that's the secret to fluffy cake! Converting this recipe from italian weight measurements to American cups was no easy task, so if you're a baking perfectionist, I highly suggest buying a kitchen scale. Even the baking genius Joanne Chang in her cookbook Flour says weighing is a much more accurate approach to baking. And if that doesn't convince you, read this great article about kitchen scales, and I swear you'll become a convert. 

Buon weekend my friends!