_wednesday tastes like...chocolate cake_

Cake! Actually it originally had what I thought was a great mysterious name, but then I translated it, and it translated as 'Cake.' Lame. So a new name perhaps? How about Broiled Ten Layer Zebra Cake? Would that get your attention? It got mine! Yes BROILED. Have you ever heard of that? I hadn't. It actually wasn't too hard, you just have to be hovering over your oven for a while. ...which I don't mind. As long as I have a hefty pot of tea :) 

Recipe:

Baumkuchen (Cake) .. or.. Broiled Ten Layer Zebra Cake. 

Vanilla and chocolate layer cake, baked layer by layer using the broiler. 

Ingredients: 

_250 g butter

_250 g sugar

_1 pinch salt

_7 eggs

_150 eggs (whites and yolks separated)

_100 g corn starch

_1 tsp vanilla

_9.35 oz (235g) chocolate chips - bittersweet

_1 cup water

Process: 

1_ Preheat broiler

2_ Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy

3_ Add egg yolks one at a time

4_ Then combine flour and starch, I sifted them together, then sifted them over the top.

5_ In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and a pinch of salt until soft peaks form, then fold the whites into the rest of the mixture.

6_ Divide the batter into two parts. In one part add vanilla extract, add the cocoa to the other half.

7_ Grease and flour a 9" baking pan (I used a springform pan).

8_ Add a couple tablespoons of the white batter, and spread a thin layer across the bottom of the pan.

9_ Broil the layer for approximately 2-3 minutes until the top layer is golden. (My broiler took about 2.5 for golden brown. DO NOT BURN THE TOP. Just watch it like a hawk. Drink tea. Set timers. Listen to music and dance in the kitchen.. whatever helps you to keep that nice and golden brown and not burnt). 

10_ Take the pan out of the oven, and spread a few more tablespoons of chocolate batter on top of the first layer, then repeat the whole process until all of the batter is used up. 

11_ Prepare the chocolate ganache. Actually - as an edit to the original recipe, I opted for making a chocolate ganache sans cream and butter. Sound crazy? It is. Crazy good.  It ends up being pure chocolate, yet is so light and fluffy. Here is how you do it... 

   11a_Melt chocolate and water over a double broiler until melted through and smooth. Prepare a bowl of ice larger than the double boiler bowl. Set bowl on top and whisk until thickened. Eventually the chocolate will act almost like whipped cream because of the freezing of the water within it. If it doesn't thicken enough to act like a whipped cream or an icing, you can add more cocoa... the taste is just more chocolaty. If you wish, you can add sugar if dark chocolate isn't your thing. Beware that it might affect the texture. Want better directions? Look at this link, and they go into more detail.  Or, if you want to go the boring route.. make a normal ganache. It's tasty too. 

12_With whatever chocolate loveliness you are putting on your cake, make sure you wait until the cake is only a little warm, then frost on the top and sides. 

13_ For the impatient (like me) serve immediately. Or you can let i set up in the fridge for an hour or two.

Then serve. Enjoy! 

original recipe found here.