Week Six: Little Cakes are Still Cakes

Eureka! By George, I've found it! Huzzah!

What, you might ask, have I found? Why, nothing other than the core of this challenge! The recipe for a PERFECT cake!

When I started this adventure to make a cake per week until the New Year, I was hoping to pare down my ragged pile of recipes torn from magazines and my out-of-control "Recipes: To Try" Pinterest board. I wanted to find delicious recipes that aren't just good for that one time your wife wants a cake shaped like a cat on a surfboard (ask my husband) or for an unexpected Russian/Olympics themed dinner party. I wanted to find a cake so good, so delicious, and so reasonable (in price and time) that you could - and would - make it over and over again. 

So let me start over...

EURKEA! BY GEORGE, I'VE FOUND IT! HUZZAH!

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I've officially finished the majority of this end-of-year baking! I've completed sixty percent of my challenge - welcome to Week 6! 

To recap:

Week 1: Coconut Cream Poke Cake
Week 2: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Week 3: Orange Chiffon Cake with Candied Zest
Week 4: Upside Down Banana Toffee Cake
Week 5: Maple Bundt Cake
Week 6: Little French Fudge Cakes from The Splendid Table*

First of all, if you aren't listening to, subscribing by email, or otherwise digesting content from The Splendid Table  you are officially missing out. TST is dedicated to "life's appetites" and their weekly show (check your area NPR station or listen online) includes famous chefs and restaurateurs and a variety of other foodies who discuss trends, techniques, recipes, cookbooks, science, and more! The diversity of topics and recipes is astounding. Looking through their recipe collection (you can sign up for weekly recipe emails, too. YES, PLEASE!), you'll find so many things you've never tried (to cook or eat) or even heard of. Sometimes the ingredients are weird, hard-to-find, or expensive; but in my experience, they recipes are always good. So when comparing this to their other great recipes, would it be in poor taste ( bad pun #1) to say that this recipe takes the cake (bad pun #2)? Because it does. 

Zoom in to see all that glorious gooey chocolateness! 

If you like lava cakes or brownies, you'll love this. It's both gooey and cakey. 

Made in cupcake tins, the batter cooks quickly to get a nice fluffy breading on the outside and top. But with the extra bite-sized pieces of chocolate and short baking time, the center is still soft. It doesn't flow like molten chocolate sauce, but it's still creamy and soft (especially if you eat it warm, and let's be real here...warm chocolate cake!). 

If you like chocolate, you'll love this. It's FULL of dark chocolate, and a surprise. 

Boasting over six ounces of dark and unsweetened chocolate (that's an ounce/cake!), these little cakes pack a chocolatey punch! It's a rich and deep flavor for a dessert meant to be savored. But you also add ground cinnamon and the way it blooms to come through the chocolate is such a surprising and delicious accompaniment. 

If you like short recipes and only two dirty bowls, you'll love this. It's beyond simple. 

I'll happily re-type this recipe because it's basically three steps: melt some chocolate, stir into other ingredients, bake. And it's all done by hand without even dirtying a mixer! 

And that's not all, here are some other reasons you're sure to love this recipe:

Gooey cake + ice cream/whipped cream = a dream 

You have your own individual dessert, sharing is optional. 

It's easily doubled with no extra trouble, which makes it great for date night or a dinner party crowd.  

You can add a bit of sugar to make it more kid-friendly.  

Allegedly, they're good cold and will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days (who are these monsters?) 

Long story short, this is THE RECIPE. Six weeks in and I've peaked. 

The Hubs would happily settle for four more weeks of Little French Fudge Cakes, but we press on! 

*As a fair disclosure, I have won a sweepstakes from TST (5 lb block of grana padana cheese, cheese knife, planner and cookbook!), but this is not a paid ad or sponsored blog; they just rock!