Bon Appétit (January 2015)
We think it's only fitting to end January -- month of resolutions, revolutions and reductions -- with a big ol' chocolate cake.
More than a year ago, a group of Clay's coworkers made the kind of resolution we can definitely get behind: The BAKE-O-LUTION. The idea is simple: Bake a new recipe once a month, and bring it into the office to share. So for more than a year now, once a month, folks show up at work with their baked goods: cakes (so many cakes!), pies, cookies and brownies galore. It's a glorious thing. And it's the perfect inspiration to do more baking.
But in the year that the BAKE-O-LUTION has been going on, we've never baked anything for it. It's not because we're anti-cake (far from it!). We just never got our act together to plan, shop and bake for the monthly get-together.
It was time to break that streak.
So for the first BAKE-O-LUTION of 2015, Clay showed up with this Chocolate-Rye Crumb Cake, from the latest issue of Bon Appétit.
Given the kind of cooking we do, selecting new recipes from food magazines each month, we didn't have a lot of cake choices in the January food issues.
But we likely would have picked this Chocolate-Rye Crumb Cake even out of lots of choices. We loved the idea of a heavy rye flavor (meaning flour, not booze) paired with chocolate. Crumb cakes aren't our favorite, but hey, we'll try anything.
There are highs and lows here.
The topping is tops. No surprise, really, given that it's sugar, flour, chocolate and butter. It's crazy delicious. As one of Clay's coworkers said, "I want to sprinkle it on ice cream." We would sprinkle it on just about anything.
The cake itself is a mixed bag. It's not too sweet (which we like), but it also turned out dry, even though we shortened the baking time by at least 10 minutes (the recipe suggests 60 to 70 minutes; we pulled ours out a little before 50 minutes). If we made this again, we'd start checking the cake for doneness at 30 minutes.
The rye, unfortunately, was a much more subtle flavor than we had expected. The cake uses equal parts rye and all-purpose flour. We haven't really worked with rye flour much, but we'd love to play around with the proportions, to amp up the rye flavor.
So our household's first showing at BAKE-O-LUTION was just okay.
But we're going to be on the lookout for a stellar cake recipe. After all, there's always February.
Have a favorite go-to cake recipe? Please share it in the comments!
Chocolate-Rye Crumb Cake
Bon Appétit (January 2015), recipe by Alison Roman
Subscribe to Bon Appétit
(This photo: Peden + Munk for Bon Appétit)
NOTES FROM ZACH AND CLAY:
- Our cake turned out dry. If making this again, we'd start checking the cake for doneness at 30 minutes.
- The rye is very subtle. We haven't really worked with rye flour much, but next time we'd take a risk and see how the cake turns out with only the rye flour (doubling the rye and omitting the all-purpose).
SERVINGS: 8
INGREDIENTS
For the Crumble
⅓ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup rye flour
3 tablespoons cacao nibs
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
For the Cake And Assembly
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup rye flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup buttermilk
¼ cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
METHOD
Crumble
Whisk granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, rye flour, cacao nibs, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl until blended. Work in butter with your fingers to form large clumps—there should be no dry spots. Cover and chill.
Do Ahead: Crumble can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
Cake And Assembly
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9”-diameter cake pan with nonstick spray and line with a parchment round. Whisk all-purpose flour, rye flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and add eggs and vanilla; mix until blended, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add half of dry ingredients followed by buttermilk, mixing well after each addition. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients and yogurt (this is a stiffer batter). Scrape into prepared pan. Scatter crumble over.
Bake, rotating once, until cake starts to pull away from sides of pan and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 60–70 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack before turning out.
Do Ahead: Cake can be made 3 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.
