Ina’s Chocolate Cake And How The Wind Blows

I can definitely recommend this chocolate cake of Ina’s, which I think EVERY American has already made (judging by the number of reviewson FoodNetwork.com). BUT don’t do what I did as I was finishing it off. 

Oh, first, I did make a little change. I one-and-a-half-timed the recipe (the cake AND the icing) and baked it in three NINE inch pans, instead of two EIGHT inch ones. I was feeding about 15 people, so I wanted a bigger cake. (I was lucky, I was only making dessert. It was my S-I-L that actually had to give everyone dinner.)

Everything proceeded well. I actually did everything Ina said, including sifting, which I sometimes skip. (I’ve told you before, though, that I always sift baking soda through a tea strainer, because getting little bits of that isn’t fun.) 

I cooled the layers in the pans as ordered and then cooled them OUT of the pans.

After I iced the cake, I thought it needed a little schuzzing (sp?), but I had hardly any time and no extra buttercream for rosettes, so I quickly grated some chocolate on a cutting board.

The problem came here. As I lifted up the cutting board to get it closer to the cake (so I could sprinkle the shaved chocolate on neatly), IT ALL BLEW OFF THE CUTTING BOARD because of the ceiling fan I had on ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM! It’s a new fan, so I was unfamiliar with its airflow patterns and it (obviously) does a really good job at getting a lot of air moving around the kitchen. So my advice is before you finish off anything in the kitchen, turn off all moving blades. 

   

 

Oy, that reminds me of that nightmarish incident where Chef George Perrier of Le Bec Fin cut his fingers in a food processor. My flying chocolate was nothing compared to that, but, again, ALL BLADES OFF is a good rule when handling food. 

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