Cures Everything

I frequently read reviews and see them influence me. Remember all those CCC recipes, including banana, that promised crispy, chewy, chocolatey cookies? I fell for that every time. The reviews written by employees on the wine aisle and at the book store? Certain phrases catch my imagination and I see a bright future in those words. Therefore, when NY Times Cooking referenced Ruth Reichl's Giant Chocolate Cake from her book, "My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life", well, I hoped. The chocolate for the cake comes from 1 1/4 cups, 100 grams, of cocoa powder whisked with boiling water which smelled like heaven and promised good things. I weighed my ingredients with a scale, approving of the pile of cocoa and alarmed by the pile of sugar, which seemed larger than the dry measuring specification. I reduced sugar by 15%. Not having 13 X 9 cake pans, I used nine inch springform pans and had to bake the layers longer, wondering if less sugar would effect less cake structure, but they turned out fine.

I used Guittard unsweetened chocolate in the buttercream frosting and remembered how much I like that flavor. Ruth Reichl doesn't call this giant for nothing and I'm happily cutting pieces for everyone I can reach.