Our fabulous Pastry Chef Mandi Konen has shared her delicious recipe for chocolate cake and ice cream. Check it out! Your taste buds will do a happy dance.

Chocolate Cake

 Yields: 2-8” Cake Pans

1 c.              Unsalted Butter, room temperature

2 ¼ c.        Granulated Sugar

1 c.              Black Cocoa Powder

2 tsp.          Baking Powder

1 ½ tsp.      Baking Soda

2 ¾ c.        A.P. Flour

1 Tbsp.       Salt

3 ea.           Eggs

2 c.              Warm Water

 Preheat oven to 300. (325 for Standard Ovens)

 Whisk together cocoa powder and sugar in a small bowl.  Cream butter and gradually add sugar/cocoa together until light and fluffy.   Whisk together baking powder, baking soda, flour and salt and mix with creamed butter until crumbly.  Add eggs one at a time and slowly add water, letting it be absorbed into the cake batter before adding more.  Adding the water in slowly is very important, otherwise you are going to be left with big lumps. Pour the mixture into sprayed cake pans.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.  Allow the cakes to cool.

 *Note- This recipe calls for splitting it up between 2-8” cake pans, but it can be baked as 1 cake in a 9” cake pan, the baking time might increase by doing this.

 *Note- Black cocoa powder is an ultra dutched cocoa powder. Using a regular dutched cocoa works wonderful too. Make sure it is dutched and not natural an example of that would be Hershey’s cocoa.

Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream
Yields: approximately 3 qt.

8 oz.            Egg Yolks
6 oz.            Sugar
1 qt. 8 oz.   Milk
12 oz.                   Granulated Sugar
8 oz.            Bittersweet Chocolate
8 oz.            Dutched Cocoa Powder, sifted
1 pt.            Heavy Cream

Combine the egg yolks and the first quantity of sugar in a bowl. Whip until thick and light.

Combine the milk and the second quantity of sugar in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Gradually beat the milk into the egg yolk mixture. (Tempering) Set over a hot water bath and heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (Nappe) approximately 165 degrees. Immediately remove from the heat. Let cool until lukewarm.

Melt the chocolate and let cool slightly.

Gradually stir into the custard mixture.

Add the cocoa and beat with a whip until it is thoroughly combined.

Stir in the heavy cream.

Chill the mixture 12 hour to mature the mix.

Spin in an ice cream freezer.