Cookbook 1 : Miette - Double Chocolate Cake

First of my Cookbook Challenges for the year, I have chosen a gorgeous looking one from a San Francisco Bakery called Miette. It has the prettiest layout with scalloped pages, my Mum took one look at it on my coffee table last year and fell in love with it.  I even bought it for 2 birthday gifts in 2012 because its such a stunner!

So make sure you put this on your birthday list this year, available at www.thebookdepository.com (free shipping worldwide):


The cake itself is a wonderful thick chocolate cake, so moist and lucious.  I have made it in a triple layer and a double layer, I highly recommend the effort of a triple layer in the 6-7 inch tins, I felt that it was glorious with the three fudgey layers with ganache in between.

Double Chocolate Layer Cake

1 1/2 cups Plain (all purpose) Flour
1 1/4 cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 tsp Bicarb (Baking) Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt
2 Ounces 70% Cacao Chocolate - chopped coursely
1 cup Boiling Water
1 cup Buttermilk (I use my previously advised subsitute of 1 cup full cream milk with a Tbsp Lemon Juice)
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs - room temp
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
2 1/4 cups Castor Sugar

Grease your tins extremely well, I go against my rule of grease & flour for this one to avoid a floury coating on your cake layers. If you prefer to dust your pan you can do so with cocoa.

Pre heat your oven to 350 (180) degrees.

Firstly sift your dry ingredients into a large bowl, this is your flour, cocoa, bicarb soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Place your chocolate in a large glass or metal bowl (heatproof), pour your boiling water over the top of it and stir until the chocolate is completely melted.  Set aside and let it cool for 15 minutes.

Prepare your buttermilk if your like me (I take one cup of full cream milk and add a squeeze of fresh lemon until it curdles) and then add your vanilla to it. Set aside

Using your Stand mixer, place your eggs into the bowl and whisk on high until foamy (approx 2-3 minutes), reduce to low and pour in your oil and whisk until combined. Raise the speed for approx another 30 seconds.

Reduce back to low and slowly pour in the cooled chocolate into the egg mixture.  Next slowly pour in the milk vanilla mixture.  Then add in your sugar and whisk until the batter is smooth and liquid, approximately 2 minutes.

Next stop the mixer and remove the bowl, add in your sifted ingredients and mix in by hand until combined, ensure your run your spatula along the bottom of the bowl to ensure it is all combined well.  The batter will probably still appear quite lumpy but stop mixing it as over mixing will bruise the raising agents.

The final step is a little unusual but it definately produces a more superior cake finish.  Take a seive not too fine, and pour your mix into it, using your spatula and push through the lumps, discard any lumps that down easily push through the sieve.

Divide your mixture into your prepared pans and bake each one for approximately 45-55 minutes depending on your oven.  To test stick centre of cake with a skewer and check it comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 20-30 minutes and turn out onto a wire rack and allow to completely cool.  Once cold wrap in 3 layers of gladwrap (cling film) and place flat into the freezer.  You can store in the fridge or freezer from 1 hours to 3 days, I prefer overnight.  It can store in freezer for up to 2 months. Ganache a cold cake for the best results.

Helpful Notes in Miette Cookbook (Quoted Below from pages 18 and 55) :

• "We use natural cocoa powder not dutch-processed, as the dutch-processed cocoa has been treated with an alkalizing agent that heightens the colour of the cocoa but gives it a milder flavour".
• "If you choose to use this recipe for cupcakes, fill each cupcake liners with 2/3 batter and bake at 350 (180) degrees, and bake for approx 20 minutes, makes 2 dozen cupcakes".
• "Adding Eggs - Add your eggs slowly and carefully, this process simply cannot be rushed as you are emulsifying a liquid into a fat.  If not done gradually you risk 'breaking' the batter, the termfor when the fat and liquid that are beginning to hold together in a mixture suddenly seperate again.  Add eggs one at a time and ensure they are fully mixed in before adding the next."