I have developed a recipe pet peeve. That is for yeasted recipes that were apparently tested in the tropics in an 80+ F kitchen. You know the ones, the ones you start with more than enough time and even though your kitchen is by no means cold–even hot according to your arctic-minded family–it takes waaaaay longer for the dough or batter to rise than the recipe predicts.
Granted, I never should have started this recipe in the evening, but I also should have had more than enough time. Instead I went to bed at 2:30 in the morning. Agh.
Now having said all that–and my recipe instructions do address this conundrum–I am so excited I found this recipe. I have tried other chocolate breads and chocolate yeasted cakes, and have always found them lacking. I made a chocolate babka this spring, for example, that did not make the cut for going on the blog because while it was definitely chocolate and definitely an enriched yeasted cake, it was just not sweet enough nor chocolate-y enough to really float my boat. If you are going to call something a cake, it needs to qualify for dessert, not breakfast or teatime. In my opinion.
Happily this does. You can serve it plain, dusted with powdered sugar or with whipped cream–all 3 of which I can personally vouch for. I also think you could try, as the recipe suggests, a flavored simple syrup or a chocolate sauce, but I never got that far. It just was not necessary. I served this to 4 preschool aged children and 4 other adults, and they all agreed except my husband, who apparently must have some issue with yeasted chocolate cake in general. Or something!
I am sending this cake over to YeastSpotting at Wild Yeast. Be sure to check it out every Monday.
One-Bite-to-Heaven Chocolate Yeasted Cake
Closely Adapted from Deep Dark Chocolate, Sara Perry
5 t (or 2 packages) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110-115 F)
3/4 cup warm whole milk (110-115 F) (I used a combo of 1% and cream)
3 cups (378 g) AP flour, divided in half
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
6 oz melted good quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (I used half 62% and half 71% Scharffen Berger)
6 oz mini chocolate chips
Sprinkle the yeast over the water in a medium-large bowl. Stir to blend, and then let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Mix in the milk and 1 1/2 cups of the flour (189 g); whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until light and spongy, about 45 minutes (Perry claims 30).
Using an electric mixer, preferably stand, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until totally incorporated. Add the yeast mixture and vanilla and beat until blended.
In another bowl, whisk together the remaining flour (189 g), the baking soda, and the salt until fluffy and blended. Add this flour mixture to the batter in 3 additions, alternating with the melted chocolate and beginning and ending with the flour. With the last flour addition, add the mini chocolate chips and mix until completely blended. Finish by hand, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Generously butter a 10 inch tube pan and scrape the dough into the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until light and foamy, but not quite doubled–Perry says 1 hour in a warm spot, I would allow for 2 hours, even longer if your kitchen is cold. After 40-60 minutes (depending on how fast it seems to be rising), preheat your oven to 350 F. Bake until the sides pull away from the edges and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for at least 20 minutes. Use a thin knife to gently loosen the edges before inverting and removing. Unlike other cakes, this one can be served warm (alas I did not get to try that since it was 2:30 in the morning). After it cools, wrap it securely with plastic wrap or store in a cake keeper.
This cakes look perfect – I'll take a slice with whipped cream please 🙂
I have attempted one yeast cake in my life (actually 2) they were both Italian cakes. I like the texture and will consider a chocolate version nest time. GREG
Delicious! I love yeast cakes, and I can't wait to give this a try. Thanks for sharing such beautiful photos!
Wow, this looks great! I haven't had a yeasted cake…But I made a chocolate yeast bread last week and thought, "Gosh, this could be cake it is so good." I will have to make this!
Oh, getting recipes to work in my kitchen can be a problem too. I'm so glad you shared this recipe and your similar experiences.
Wow, this cake looks amazing. seems like it really would lead to heaven!
what a perfect cake.definitely worth staying up late for.
Funny about the babka! That's just what it's supposed to be like. I agree, not my favorite dessert, but depending on the meal it can be a nice not-too-sweet ending.
This one looks delicious, though. Yum!
I am all for anything chocolate… This looks yummy!
Bite to heaven! It looks so tempting I'm already on my way to the kitchen
This looks like heaven, thank you for the recipe – and the tip to start early in the morning! 😉
if you're gonna end up staying awake til 2:30 in the morning, methinks both chocolate and success should be involved. glad it worked out for ya. 🙂
I'm made lackluster chocolate yeast cake before and it was not so awesome. I'm so glad to find a good recipe!
Oh wow! This is just beautiful. I"m saving it to my recipe box! 🙂
this sounds amazing – I also wonder what room temp means with some of these recipes – hope it was a wonderful cake to wake to
chocolate and yeast breads often fall short in the flavor dept. but this seems like there's LOTS of chocolate, so I'm gonna give it a shot. Looks greaTT!!!
My dad's recipe calls for overnight refrigeration with the batter in 2 9-inch pans. In the morning you move them from the fridge into a preheated oven. No need to stay up late.
This is my first yeast cake. It is gorgeous!! Thank you for this excellent recipe. Wish I could post a picture.
I honestly have no idea how to do (provide for pics in comments) but awesome I love hearing this!
Cake was great! Hubby loves it! My didn’t rise as high but still good.
Yay! We all need some happiness right now, that is for sure. And the weather has been so nuts, at least where I am, who knows if that affected things.
Can I give you a suggestion re getting yeast doughs and batters to rise if your kitchen isn’t wam enough? Run your tumble dryer for a few minutes then stop it and turn it off. Pop the bowl with the dough in it into the drum and let it proof there.
Whoa! That would never have occurred to me and sounds brilliant! I am trying that next time…. well next winter time LOL.
Hi! Please try SAF gold instant yeast. It is exactly for the purpose of high sugar breads. The reason you waited so long for your dough to rise is that your yeast was the kind that suffers in the presence of too much sugar. You need special pastry yeast like this.
Also being “instant,” there’s no need to proof. Just add to lukewarm milk of recipe and move on! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I like to make chocolate conchas but my recipe lacked a good chocolate flavor and it wasn’t sweet enough. Now I hope they will be perfect when I use this recipe instead.
Interesting, I have never heard of buying a special yeast for sugared breads. I wonder what the cut off is, since my babkas are always fine. Or my sweet rolls. I actually no longer proof my yeast. I was raised to do it that way and so followed that part of the recipe at the point this was written but I agree with you about that. I do think kitchen temperature can make a huge difference. These days I will actually adjust the temp in my kitchen–higher for bread, lower for cookies, somewhere in between for cake.