The Whole Wheat

This recipe came to me in a monthly email that Recchiuti Chocolate sends out. I love their shop at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. And I greatly admire his amazing book: Chocolate Obsession: Confections and Treats to Create and Savor. I love simple cakes such as this – tasty and rich, but so easy and simple to put together. It can just as easily be dressed up with strawberries and chocolate sauce as served plain or with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Versatile and easy – my kind of cake!

The recipe, exactly as it was sent to me, follows.

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup espresso, brewed and cooled
1/4 cup flavorless vegetable oil
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, preferably Madagascar Bourbon
1 cup granulated cane sugar
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon orange zest
Extra-Bitter Chocolate Sauce, for garnish
Fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for garnish (optional)

Bake the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. A nonstick pan may be substituted.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together into a bowl. Stir the baking soda into the espresso in another bowl and then stir in the oil, milk and pure vanilla extract.
- Combine the sugar and egg in a medium bowl and whisk together by hand. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 additions, alternately with the coffee mixture in 1 addition. Fold in the orange zest with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the batter into the pan.
- Place on the middle shelf of the oven and lower the oven temperature to 325°F.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes. Check the cake with a toothpick at 25 minutes and then again every 5 minutes until the toothpick comes out moist. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
- Lightly grease a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter and use to cut into individual servings.
Plate and serve with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar and a drizzle of warmed Extra-Bitter Chocolate Sauce. Garnish with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (optional.)