Aunt Helens Chocolate Cake Recipes

HELEN NASH'S CHOCOLATE ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan with margarine. Line the pan with parchment paper, and grease the parchment. Dust pan with 1 tablespoon potato starch; shake out excess.
• Fill a small saucepan with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and allow water to simmer. Place chocolate in a small heatproof bowl, and set over saucepan. Stir chocolate until melted, and set aside to cool.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream 1 cup margarine on medium speed, and add sugar gradually until the mixture is pale and bubbles appear, about 10 minutes.
• Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Lower the speed, and beat in cooled chocolate and orange juice. With a large rubber spatula, mix in cocoa powder, cognac, 1 1/2 teaspoons potato starch, lemon zest, orange zest, vanilla, and ground almonds.
• In a clean dry bowl, beat egg whites on high speed until stiff. Fold half of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. Repeat with another quarter of the egg whites, then reverse the process, pouring the batter over remaining whites. Gradually fold together until egg whites are completely incorporated.
• Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth the top. Bake until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out slightly sticky, about 1 hour. Cool completely, and refrigerate overnight.
• To serve, run a small, sharp knife around sides to loosen, and carefully remove springform ring. Transfer to a serving plate, dust with Passover powdered sugar, and garnish with sliced almonds. Note: This recipe has been adapted from Helen Nash's original to make one cake. To make two smaller cakes, prepare two 9-by-1 1/2-inch round cake pans, and divide the batter between them.

BEATTY'S CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
• Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
• Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.
• Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

AUNT JOYCE'S CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.
• Pour the melted chocolate into a large mixing bowl. Blend in the mayonnaise, vinegar and vanilla. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt and gradually stir into the chocolate mixture. Slowly stir in the warm water. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

AUNT GERALDINE'S CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• For cake:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9x13-inch pan; dust pan with flour. Sift flour, sugar and salt into large bowl. Combine coffee, butter, and cocoa in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until mixture is smooth and comes to boil. Pour coffee mixture over flour mixture; stir until blended. Add buttermilk, eggs, cinnamon, baking soda and vanilla and stir until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack.
• For frosting:
• Combine cocoa, butter and 6 tablespoons buttermilk in heavy large saucepan over high heat. Stir until mixture is smooth and comes to boil. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat frosting until smooth, adding more buttermilk by tablespoons if frosting is too thick.
• Spread frosting over cake in pan. Sprinkle walnuts over. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Let stand at room temperature 3 hours before serving.)

AUNT HELEN'S OLD FASHIONED CHOCOLATE FUDGE WITH PEANUT BUTTER

Steps:

• Butter 1 8x8 inch square glass pan and set aside.
• melt chocolate in milk using sturdy, heavy bottomed pan.
• Stir in salt and sugar with wooden spoon until just mixed.
• Cook the chocolate, milk, salt and sugar mixture on medium or a little less than medium heat until it reaches softball stage. DO NOT STIR and DO NOT SCRAPE THE SIDES OF THE PAN.
• Softball stage: You can use a candy thermometer. I find the thermometers unreliable, so I check the progress of the fudge by dropping a small amount in cold water. If I can easily make a soft ball of it with my fingers, it is ready. With one batch of fudge, this generally takes about 8 minutes or a little longer. Obviously if you double the batch it takes more time. However, don't just assume 8 minutes will work. Either use the softball test or a candy thermometer to make sure. What works on my stove may be different for yours.
• When fudge has reached softball stage, place in a sink partially filled with ice and water. Make sure there's not so much that it could seep into the pan. This is just to cool the pan.
• Stir in peanut butter and vanilla with a wooden spoon. Do not scrape the sides of the pan. Stir until the peanut butter is melted and the fudge begins to thicken and lose some of its gloss. Pour into prepared pan. Cool, slice, and enjoy.
• Don't skip the peanut butter. It gives it an amazing layer of flavor and also helps it set faster. I have only tried this with Jif so I can't guarantee any other peanut butter will be as good.