Steamed Chococlate Cake

Steamed cake you say? Well that sounds um well not really that good huh? Well guess what it was pretty darn moist and pretty darn good. Now I wouldn't go saying WOW this is a great cake to make in the summer. I don't have to put my oven on because you are generating steam on the top of the stove to cook it.  It is pretty easy to make and it is pretty amazing that you can steam a cake.

Steamed Chocolate Cake (Adapted from Milk Street)

1c flour
1/3 c cocoa
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c water
1t instant espresso powder
1/2 c sour cream
6 T butter, melted
1 1/2 t vanilla

Cut a length of foil (about 18") and gently scrunch it together. Form it into a circle and place it in the bottom of a Dutch oven. Add enough water to reach about 3/4 of the way up the foil. Grease a 9" round pan and line the bottom of the with a round of parchment. Make sure it fits in your Dutch oven.  Also make sure that the lid will fit tightly when the pan is inside the Dutch oven. If not, squish down the foil a little more. You want to make sure that you have enough water in the Dutch oven. You will not be able to add additional water once the cake pan is steaming.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl whisk the sugar and eggs until lightened. Whisk in the water, espressso, sour cream, butter, and vanilla. Gently whisk in the flour mixture until just combined. Pour batter into pan. Cover (if you have those pesky basting nubs on the lid, place a piece of parchment over the cake pan) and bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to low and steam for about 25 minutes. Remove lid and insert a toothpick. It should come out clean. If not, cook until it does.  Turn off the heat and remove lid. Leave cake in Dutch oven until cool enough to handle. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool fully.  Invert onto a plate and remove parchment, flip, and top with confectioner's sugar.

I was very worried about running out of water because my cake took about 40 minutes to cook. It was still a little squiggly in the center. I put the lid back on and let it sit there for about 15 more minutes. I figured the residual heat would do the trick and it did.

The directions might seem a little long or may sound a bit complicated, but I promise you they are not. The texture of this cake is just lovely. It is a little spongy and very fudgey, rich. If you are serving this to guests, you might not want to tell them that it's steamed until they've tasted it.