Chocolate Magic Cake

You know sometimes I just see a recipe and I know I have to make it immediately! This was one of those. First I was curious about how the three layer thing worked. I mean how do they form? Yeah I know it's that scientific stuff going on here. Baking is really chemistry blah, blah, blah. Well this is really the type of chemistry I can get into.

There were a few things I changed up in the recipe (you know I can never leave a recipe alone!). I, of course, added 1 tsp of chocolate extract. I also made the chocolate batter before whipping the egg whites. It didn't make sense to whip egg whites and then have them sitting around deflating while I worked on the batter. The batter came nearly to the top and I was afraid that it might go over. I was a little hesitant and decided to put a pan under the baking dish in the oven-just in case. Ugh nothing worse than cleaning baked on cake off the oven floor! But my worries were totally unsubstantiated - there was no spill-over.

See nearly to the top!

I wasn't sure when to take it out of the oven. The recipe was a bit vague and said it should still be a little jiggly. I couldn't stand waiting for it to cool so that I could see the three layers and taste it! As it cooled I realized it was still a little too jiggly. I should've let it go in the oven a little longer.

See it looks set - but oops not enough

I liked the custardy-ness of the cake but felt that it could've been a little bit sweeter. Even the Sous Chef admitted it needed more sugar. He never says that! It had really wonderful chocolate flavor. I would vote for increasing the confectioner's sugar to 2 cups if not more. Overall it reminded me of something my Mom used to make when I was a kid called Brownie Pudding. You put the ingredients together into a casserole dish and then pour boiling water over it and then bake. It forms sort of a brownie on top and below forms a pudding. Sorry but Mom's Brownie Pudding was better.

There is also a lemon version of this cake, which calls for only 1 1/4 c of confectioner's sugar. I would definitely try this recipe but would increase the sugar. I think the lemon version might be better (I know-me admitting something could be better than chocolate - SHOCKING!).

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