The 8 Texture Chocolate Cake

Sweet 16 months –that’s how old my darling angel has turned today. It has been 16 of the most beautiful and sweetest months of our lives. Vaanya is becoming adorable day by day and is such a blessing to us as parents.

It is also time of the month to whip up something sweet in my kitchen to celebrate our ‘Sweet day’.

If you are a masterchef fan and have been watching it regularly, you’ll remember the pressure test where the 8 texture Chocolate cake was made. You must have experienced  the magical heartbeat-skipping moment when the hot chocolate sauce makes an indent in the centre of that beautifully rich chocolate cake. Its almost like the entire mountain of chocolate melting away. It was such an amazing moment just watching the contestants pouring the hot chocolate sauce and praying for the cake to sink in.

You may call me a Big Maniac, but from that moment on I have been wanting to recreate the same magic in our little kitchen. And my partner-in-crime has been my partner-in-life, my husband Vishal without whose encouragement and support I would have never thought of lest attempt this beautiful cake. No wonder he was the one who had the maximum portion of the cake!!

Well, the stage was set having decided on the occasion. Vishal got me a three page printout of the recipe from the Masterchef website. And the final push came from these three incredible bloggers Zoe@Bake for Happy Kids, Anuja@Simple Baking and BabySumo@Eat Your Heart Out who are hosting my most favorite event-Cook like a Star-Masterchef series. 

It was time to finally take out the recipe and read over and over (and over) again. There are so many elements that you go crazy and tired just looking at them. First, I quartered the entire recipe and decided to divide the elements in day1 and 2. (Whew!! What a task it was). Each element on its own is not very difficult if you are a regular baker but you need lots of free time because you need to devote all your attention into each element (which I obviously did not have as I have recently shifted to a new place, into an unfamiliar kitchen where half of my stuff still needs unpacking. And to top it all my daughter requires regular attention as she is in her exploratory stage where each and every thing starts from her hands and ends up in her mouth !!)

I must consider myself no less than a Braveheart for 

just attempting this recipe (just to feel good) as ,to confess, almost everything went wrong. My cake was dense, mousse not set, dacquoise not crisp, top chocolate disk unevenly set and to top it all my hot chocolate sauce got burnt while I was busy trying to take some decent pictures of the cake!! But may I also confess that nothing reduced that amazing moment when my cake sank in. Me and Vishal were jumping like kids screaming ‘It works. It really does!!’ And the best part is that nothing takes away its dizzying chocolatey taste. Me, a self confessed Chocolate freak could not take more than 2-3 bites (maybe because I had already polished off quite a lot while making!!)

It is a ‘Beyond Death-by-Chocolate cake’, extremely rich but also extremely satisfying (if you are crazy like me to even think of making it)

Do not try this at home before reading the recipe a hundred times over and gathering all the equipments required. 

You can find the recipe here
I am not posting the recipe as it is very extensive. I have quartered the entire recipe and increased the size of the cake from 8 cm to 10 cm (as that is the size of the ring I had!!)

After tasting Vishal was quick to ask when will I try it again. I showed him the most horrid face as if are you asking for real! 

But on second thoughts I would love to recreate the magic once more with my own modifications. I think I can make a better cake base, a better mousse and reduce the number of layers. 

All I can say is, it was definitely worth all that effort to see happy smiley chocolate-smothered faces at home.

Happy Birthday my darling angel.

Here is a video of that Nail-biting and fingers crossed moment. How we waited with bated breath. 

Hope you enjoy our magical moment too.

Happy crazy-experimenting
Amrita