This time we're doing mocha spice cake. Sorry only post nom pics today. You'll notice there wasn't much left. And why would there be? This cake was a huge hit. I'm sure you all know that I've baked quite a few cakes on this long journey. This is easily one of my all time faves. If I had to describe it with just one word, I'd use 'subtle'. None of the spices overpower each other or the coffee. They blended together quite well, though you can still barely pick each one out. After your first couple bites you may find yourself worried about cotton mouth. But a few more mouthfuls will drive that concern from your mind. It's crumb is spongey and delicate and the drizzle is to die for. One of my most dependable cake eaters pulled me aside this week. Apparently he can hardly stand to be in the same room as dishes with cloves or nutmeg, but based on the nommage of previous cakes he'd try a bite. He went back for fifths. So let's get down to the sexy, sexy baking. Gonna need some stuff: A 12 cup bundt or 10 inch tube pan, preferably with a bunch of ridges A double boiler, legit or ghetto. More on that later. This goes in the cake: 3/4 cup cold strong coffee 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter @room temp 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar 1/4 cup molasses 3 big ol' eggs 2 1/2 cups cake flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg The delicious drizzle needs: Two 1 ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate 1 1/2 cups (about 1 small can) sweetened condensed milk 2 tablespoons coffee Since we're using using cake flour today this seems like as good a time as any to teach y'all everything you need to know about the many different flours out there in the world. Basically flour is made from milling either hard or soft wheat. There are soybean and rice flours out there, but the SUCK at cake. Within wheat flour there are many varieties you'll find at any self respecting grocery store. Bread flour: This is the fucking juggernaut of flours. Made from hard wheat it's at about 14% protein and, as you probably guessed, gets used in a lot of breads. Kugelhopf and other yeast leavened cakes use bread flour. All-purpose flour: is a blend of hard and soft wheat. It's protein content sits around 10%. It's generally been enriched and can be used in all cakes. It's really great at cakes with fruit or nuts in them which need extra support. There are two varieties, bleached and unbleached. Bleached has been made white with chemically magic, and unbleached turns ivory when it is exposed to oxygen. Beyond that there is no appreciable difference. Self-rising flour: This is basically all-purpose flour that has had leavening and salt added to it already. Only use it when a recipe specifically calls for it, and don't buy more than you need. It loses it's oomf within 6 months. You can use all-purpose flour in its place if you add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt for every cup of flour. I've seen a few cake recipes that use this stuff, but it is more commonly found in biscuits and quick breads. Cake flour: The light weight of the family. It only has about 4% protein and I have never seen it used outside of cakes. But my what cakes they are! This flour is less capable of absorbing moisture than the others, and it produces a light, delicate crumb. Some people make the mistake of buying self-rising in its place. DO NOT BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE! Whole wheat or graham flours: These are made by milling the entire kernel of wheat, shell and all. They are much more nutritious than the white flours and have a protein content ranging from 12% to 15%. Health food nuts might be tempted to use this to make 'healthier' cakes, but use caution. The variable protein content can lead to unexpected results, and you're going to have to accept that you're radically altering the flavor and going to end up one fucking heavy cake. Don't replace more than half of you white flour with whole wheat, and be choosey about which cakes you give this treatment. Fruit and spice cakes ought work well, but never ever do this to a delicate fancy pants cake. Whole wheat flour also absorbs a lot of moisture from the air so it goes rancid very quickly. If you're not using it within a week put it in the fridge. It will last up to 3 months in there and about a year in the freezer. Be sure to bring it back to room temp before you use it. White flours will last over 6 months at room temp in an air tight container. You'll only get a few more months if you keep it in the fridge. But in the freezer you should be able to get a good 2 years out of it. Again bring it to room temp before you use it. But honestly if you bake anything like I do you will never run into these constraints. The self life of leavening is another very important topic I will cover in another lecture. But if you cakes are coming out flat and you don't know why, old leaveners are probably to blame. Well wasn't that informative, Can we start baking now? 1: First step is to get some goddamn coffee. Brew it yourself or use this as an excuse to go down to your favorite cafe, you fucking hipster. Just make sure it's strong, full of flavor, and preferably not loaded with too much sugar. Though if you really want to try this with a peppermint white mocha, who am I to stop you. THE FUCKING CAKE MASTER THAT'S WHO!!! 2: Oven to 350*F, pan sprayed and floured. 3: Cream the butter. Add the sugar a little at a time. If you have a mixer beat it at medium-high speed for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. If you're a peasant and don't have mechanical slaves to do your dirty work, then you better hope you have Popeye arms. If you don't you soon will. 4: Mix in the molasses at a lower speed then add the eggs one at a time. As always beat well after each egg. 5: In a separate bowls dry whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together. 6: Add a third of the flour to the creamed batter and beat the shit out of it. Then add 1/4 cup of coffee and do the same. Repeat until all the flour and the 3/4 cup of coffee is in there. Notice the order is 1/3 dry then 1/3 wet? This is how we add the wet ingredients in almost every cake regardless of if it's yogurt, sour cream, whipping cream, etc. So you better fucking learn to get it right! 7: Pour the batter into the pan and bake it for 45 minutes. Never trust baking times in recipes. Every oven is different and in time you'll get to know yours intimately. I have a little gas oven that taken 5 minutes more on almost every cake I've made. Always test your cakes. On a related note if you do have a gas oven you should bake with the windows open, unless you've always wanted cancer later in life. Seriously indoor air quality is shit. Often you'll find concentrations ten times higher than the EPA's outdoor standard in your own home. Vent that shit! 8: Cool for 10 or 15 minutes before unmolding onto a rack to cool completely. Holy shit, my kitchen is covered in chocolate and it is delicious! or, it's time to make the chocolate drizzle. This is where the mocha bit really starts to come into play. It's also the reason I recommended a pan with a lot of ridges. More ridges mean more places for the chocolate to stick to, which means more 'zomg nom'. I used my vagina pan, as it was christened by a ghettoer whom I forget. Look at all those nooks and crannies! This shit is going to be goooood. We are going to need another piece of equipment though, a double boiler. These can run between $20 all the way up to fucking $80 or $90. If you have are made of money, or work with a lot of chocolate you might want to get one. You can never have enough kitchenware right? I get by with this totally ghetto, jerry-rigged contraption: BAM! What now KitchenAid?! I am your slave no longer! If you want to be a rebel like me here's what you do. Take a pot and find a bowl that will fit completely over its top. Fill the pot with water but leave about an inch between the water and the bowl. Bring the water to a medium boil then put the bowl on top and let it heat up. Now you're good to go. Double boilers, even ghetto ones, are great for heating up delicate ingredients that would break down under direct heat. Chocolate should always be melted this way and tons of sauces need double boilers too. If you try to use direct stove top heat or even a microwave to melt chocolate you will likely royally fuck the consistency up. You may even burn it ruining the flavor. So use a goddamn double boiler! Seriously can we just make this fucking drizzle already? 1: Toss your squares of chocolate in there and heat them until they are completely melted and smooth. 2: Add the sweetened condensed milk and stir until it's incorporated. Keep on stirring for about 5 minutes or until it's thickened. 3: Cool the drizzle until it's at a consistency you're happy with, stirring occasionally. 4: Load up a spoon with the drizzle and let your inner Jackson Pollock clash with your inner Martha Stewart over the cooled cake. If the chocolate has solidified heat it back up over the double boiler. 5: You're done. Stop reading and start staring at your cake, waiting for the drizzle to cool down. Then it will be time to strike.