Cakes. with passion!

Hello everyone! Today we're talking about cakes. I love making something new and beautiful, especially for the birthdays of my friends and family — for my brother Emanuele's 22nd birthday I baked two cakes, because I like spoiling him in a sweet way.

In this post I want to share the recipe for one of the two cakes: the chocolate cake.

Recipe

Ingredients, the fresh and genuine ones

Let's start with the ingredients. First of all we need 6 medium eggs — I always take the fresh ones, laid every day by the loving, generous hens of Tenuta Torciano.

Then: dark chocolate 150 g, bitter cocoa powder 50 g, flour 00 180 g, sugar 180 g, butter at room temperature 200 g, baking powder 8 g, a pinch of salt.

Method

Let's make the cake together

I chose this cake because it's part of traditional Italian pastry, and because it isn't heavy on calories or fat: dark chocolate means no added fats or sugars like the ones in white or milk chocolate, and the eggs, laid fresh every morning, are as genuine as it gets.

Start by chopping the dark chocolate, then melt it in a bain-marie, stirring it now and then.

Cut the butter into cubes and put it in a bowl with the sugar. Whisk until creamy, then add the 6 eggs and keep mixing until you get a soft, smooth cream.

Fold in the now-lukewarm chocolate and keep beating until it's fully combined, then add the salt. In a separate bowl mix the flour with the cocoa and the baking powder, then gently fold it into the batter with a spatula. Line a 22-24 cm cake tin and pour in the batter. Bake in a preheated oven at 180° for about 40-45 minutes.

To check if it's ready I usually test it with a toothpick: if it comes out dry, the cake is done; if not, bake a few minutes longer. Let it cool before serving — I usually finish it with a dusting of icing sugar.

The result

Mission complete!

It was great to be able to prepare a cake for my brother, especially with healthy ingredients. The moment he saw it he was thrilled, and he ate two pieces on the spot. Before cutting the cake he blew out the candles Mom had bought for the occasion: shaped like his age, twenty-two.

Bye! See you soon!