DEATH BY CHOCOLATE AND OTHER EARTHLY DELIGHTS

Walking into the room filled with chocolate, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. My version of heaven, where you can eat whatever you desire and not gain an ounce.

I was in Paris researching my novel SUCH DEVOTED SISTERS, set in the world of gourmet chocolate, and I’d gained an introduction to the world-famous chocolatier, Monsieur Robert Linxe, by the well-known food writer Patricia Welles. This led to a private tour of Mssr. Linxe’s Parisian chocolate shop, La Maison du Chocolat, with its Willy-Wonka worthy kitchen below stairs where the chocolates sold in its retail shop upstairs were created.

As soon as I set foot in the basement kitchen, I knew I’d arrived in a place few mortals ever see. The air was scented with chocolate. Cauldrons of melted chocolate sat on the stove. Slabs of cooled chocolate and truffles in various stages of completion, from empty shells to ganache-filled, covered every surface. And me in the middle…swooning. And drooling.

“Try this.”

“What do you think of this?”

“What flavors do you taste in this?’

In his heavily accented English, Mssr. Linxe asked questions while plying me with sample after sample of his wares. I attempted to answer between moans of ecstasy.

Death by chocolate? Oh yeah, and every morsel that passed my lips was a little taste of heaven.

On that day, my life-long affair with chocolate reached its zenith.

During the time I was researching SUCH DEVOTED SISTERS, I learned lots of interesting facts about chocolate. Like how it’s made and that one of its components is phenylethylamine, commonly known as the “love drug.” It’s the chemical produced in the brain when a person is in love. No wonder it’s the love offering of choice on Valentine’s Day, second only to flowers.

As a rule I indulge only rarely, and only if it’s high-quality dark chocolate. But as a love offering? My hubby, Sandy, is often the recipient of my chocolate desserts and the fact that we’re still together after 25 years tells you something.

Every year on Valentine’s Day I show Sandy the love with a chocolate cake. This year, it was belated due to a book deadline, but no less appreciated by him. I made a cake I’d never made before, from a recipe given to me by my sister, Karen. Karen made this cake while I was visiting her in January, and it was the best chocolate Bundt cake I’d ever eaten. Moist and intensely chocolatey, drizzled with chocolate glaze, it’s to die for. And, oh, what a way to go.

Here’s the recipe:

GLAZED CHOCOLATE BUNDT CAKE
Serves 12 to 14

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups half-and-half, at room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

Cream the softened butter with an electric mixer in a large bowl. Add the sugar ¼ cup at a time, beating between each addition, until fully incorporated and the mixture is pale and fluffy about 3-5 minutes total. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Mix in vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder, making sure there are no cocoa lumps. Add a third of the combined dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated. Add half of the half-and-half and beat just until incorporated. Add half of the remaining dry ingredients and beat just until incorporated. Add the remaining half-and-half; beat just until incorporated. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat just until incorporated. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the back of a spoon until it is evenly distributed.

Bake for 60-70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs stuck to it. Let cool in the pan. Run a small knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto a wire rack. Set it over a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper. Drizzle with the glaze (see recipe below).
Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

Combine the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring until melted. Or, alternatively, place the butter and chocolate in a small, microwaveable bowl and heat, covered, in the microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring between each interval, until melted, for a total of approximately 1 ½ minutes.

Stir the sugar into the butter-chocolate mixture. Beat with an electric mixer with 2 tablespoons boiling water until it reaches the desired consistency, adding more sugar or more hot water to achieve either a thicker or a thinner glaze.

Drizzle over the cooled cake. Allow the glaze to cool and harden before serving.