Life's a Christmas feast

Christmas baking a decadent chocolate spice cake

Tis the season to be jolly, according to one well-known holiday song. And it’s certainly difficult not to be what with the swags of gaily-colored lights and the glittery garlands strung up and down every street, the holiday music piped into shops and city squares adding a festive rhythm to one’s already bouncy step, while every shop window kindles our excitement and imagination.

Although I don't celebrate Christmas, I have never hidden the fact that I adore this festive season; I revel in the everyday contemporary rituals, the glorious food, the lights and decorations, the cheerful music that swirls around me, and the goodwill that fills us all. There’s excitement in the air, that special holiday electricity that zips through each of us as we experience the smells and the sounds, the childlike wonder, and we believe in Santa Claus once again. Celebrate or not, I know how easy it is to get swept up in the festivities.

Friends are furiously baking, keeping pace with the whirling winter winds outside the windows of their snug kitchens, snowstorms of flour flying. Pies, cakes, cookies, holiday traditions bursting with apples, sparkling with cranberries, overflowing with gingery spices, redolent of cinnamon and maple. Worldly delicacies like Figgy Pudding, Bûche de Nöel, fruitcakes, and Panettone are whipped up in kitchens everywhere and Christmas cookies come tumbling out of the oven batch after batch, butter and spice, gingerbread and chocolate, decorated with frosting and glaze and all kinds of colored sugary things, all filling the house with that warm, homey, inviting scent of the holidays.

As soon as the last flicker of candlelight and the scent of latkes fade away and Hanukkah comes to an end, I start looking towards Christmas. The snow hasn't yet reached our corner of the world, so the days jog from pewter skies and rain to bright winter sunshine, the chill wind whipping through our hair and nipping at our cheeks, and the evenings inside are cozy while outside the night air is thick with mist, giving the season a frosty, angelic, magical look and feel. Although the hotel now keeps me too busy to bake, for years I would take winter refuge in the warmth of the kitchen and bake and bake and bake and there is certainly something about the holiday season that inspires. Having lived - and baked - in 3 different countries, I have a world of choice: cranberry walnut bread or stollen, panettone or Bûche de Noël, biscotti or zimtsterne, zuccotto, charlotte, or wreath-shaped yeasted coffee cakes.

I want to share a few of these special recipes with you while there is still time to add them to your holiday repertoire. Forget puréeing pumpkin or peeling apples for the moment, the centerpiece on my holiday table must always be chocolate: rich and decadent, spiced with a little Christmas spirit in the form of mixed holiday spices: cinnamon and nutmeg, star anise, ginger and cloves, a dash of lemon and orange zest. Drizzle on an orange-infused chocolate ganache for a truly spectacular finish, and nothing says Christmas more than this Decadent Chocolate Spice Cake. Wedges of this moist, dense confection can be served as is or simply with a dollop of freshly whipped cream, gently sweetened with a dusting of powdered sugar or a swirl of sweetened chestnut cream. 

Chocolate Spice Cake with Christmas Flavors

3 ounces (90 grams) unsweetened or bitter chocolate

8 tablespoons (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (250 ml) boiling water * see note

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups (400 grams) sugar

2 large eggs, separated

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ cup (125 ml) sour cream (I use creamy 0% fat fromage frais/quark)

2 cups (280 grams) flour *** see note

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon mixed Christmas Spices ** see note

Chocolate Ganache recipe below

* All or part of the water can be replaced with other liquids to change the flavor of the cake; you can replace part of the water with strong coffee, orange juice, or the juice from jarred fruit such as cherries or blueberries. Taste before using more than half a cup fruit juice of the total cup of liquid. If you choose to replace some of the water with another liquid make sure it goes well with whatever spice you decide to add. Or leave out the spice completely. And a dash of Amaretto or rum never hurt anyone...

** I used a mixed Christmas Spice from Germany called Pflaumenmus Gewürz (Plum Jam Spices). It can be replaced with another spice blend such as Gingerbread Spice Mix. Use up to one teaspoon of ground cinnamon or a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove. Not more than one teaspoon combined. You could also add the zest of half or one whole orange. This cake is delicious even without added spices.

*** To measure flour, using a tablespoon stir up the flour to lighten then lightly spoon into the measuring cup until slightly mounded - do not press the flour down into the cup and do not tap the cup on the work surface to level - these actions will pack the flour and you’ll use more/too much flour in your cake. Once the flour is lightly spooned in and mounded, use a flat knife blade, pastry bench scraper, or offset spatula to level the top.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease with butter and flour a 10-inch (25-cm) tube pan. I line mine with oven-proof parchment paper as I was afraid that the batter would leak out the bottom of the pan. You could also use a large Bundt pan, also greased and floured.

Chop the chocolate, cube the butter and place them both together in a large heat-safe (Pyrex) mixing bowl. 

Bring one cup of water* to the boil then pour over the chocolate and the butter, allowing it to stand and stirring until completely melted and smooth.  If adding finely grated orange zest, stir it in once the chocolate and butter have melted.

Stir in the vanilla and the sugar.

Separate the eggs and place the whites in a small plastic or metal bowl and set aside; whisk the egg yolks, one at a time, into the above chocolate batter until well blended.

Stir the baking soda into the sour cream. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and ground spices together. First whisk the sour cream into the chocolate batter, then the flour, whisking until smooth and homogenous.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks hold. Fold about a third of the whipped whites into the chocolate batter until most of the white has disappeared, then fold in the rest of the whites in one or two additions. Try not to overwork the batter as you will beat out the air incorporated into the egg whites, but don’t be afraid to really fold and make sure no white lumps of any size remain or your finished cake, gorgeously dark, will have white spots in it.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 – 55 minutes (depending on your pan and your oven), until the cake is set and a tester stuck down into the cake comes out clean. To test the cake for doneness, gently press the surface of the cake every few minutes starting at about 40 minutes baking; if you feel liquid or unset batter under the surface allow the cake to continue to bake for a few more minutes before testing again. The cake is done when you feel some resistance - then test by sticking a tester (such as a long metal brochette spear) in. Watch the cake carefully at the end as you neither want this cake underdone and gooey nor overdone and dry.

Remove the cake from the oven and onto a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool completely before loosening the cake from the sides of the pan (and the inner tube) with a sharp knife and carefully lifting the center tube with the cake out of the pan. If you have lined the pan with parchment, you can grip the edges of the paper and lift it off of the tube. Then place a rack on the top of the cake, flip it over, peel off the parchment from the bottom of the cake, place your serving platter onto the upturned bottom of the cake then flip upright.

Prepare the Chocolate Ganache :

Chop ¾ cup (100 g) dark chocolate *** see note below and place in a medium-sized pyrex bowl.

Bring ½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream just to a boil. Pour it over the chopped chocolate and allow to sit, stirring, until the chocolate is completely melted and the ganache is perfectly smooth.

Allow to sit at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency: to drizzle over the cake, it should retain its pouring consistency yet be just thick enough to cling to the cake and not run off and puddle around the cake on the plate.

*** I usually use Lindt dessert 70% or Lindt Excellence 70%. I have also made ganache with one of the Lindt Excellence dark chocolates flavored with either orange, grilled almonds or mint. This Christmas Spice Cake is especially delicious topped with Chocolate Ganache with the hint of orange.

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