A week of cakes and pastries

I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I'm taking a break from baking. Just for the next few days, though! No way is this a permanent situation!


I think this is due to the massive amount of cakes and pastries that I consumed while I was in Montréal last week.

Back when we were still living in Montréal, we thought nothing of finding a pâtisserie at almost every street corner, and we sort of took it for granted. You know how it goes: when something is so commonplace, so accessible, you end up not really taking advantage, not really appreciating. Then one day, you lose that something, and all you have left of it is a memory and a dull ache of longing in your heart (or belly)!

Hence my temporary insanity during last week's trip: everywhere I turned there were cafés, ethnic restaurants, specialty food shops, outdoor markets, boulangeries, pâtisseries ... oh, pâtisseries ... and I kid you not, I stopped at almost all the pastry shops I walked by. Mind you, I didn't eat at every single one - that's just not possible - but I didn't exactly exercise heroic self-control, either.

I even shamelessly consumed a chocolatine on the metro because, well,
      I was on my way to an appointment
                             and couldn't resist stopping for the treat
                                                but didn't have time to enjoy it at the shop.


I've never eaten on the train, and don't recall ever seeing anyone really eat on the train, either. That morning, though, I did. Pastry, at that.  Those little shards of puff pastry that inevitably landed on my shirt?  I didn't even notice, although I'm sure my train companions did.  Honestly, I didn't care, because I was the one in possession of the chocolatine.  Ha!


Desperation. Gluttony? Let's stick with desperation.


Actually, last week I was calling it "Research". That's what I cried out every time I left a shop carrying a box of treats: "Research! To gauge how my home baking is progressing, and to get new ideas for what to make when I return to Kansas! Research! For the blog!" Yeah, research. For the blog.

Believe me, by Day 6 - even if, might I add, I shared all the goodies I acquired - I couldn't stomach any more. I had been waiting for months to have exactly that baklava, konafa, and fresh almond/pistachio marzipan pictured up there, but when it was time to dig in I just couldn't. So I packed 'em up to bring home with me.  To share with my husband back home, of course.

I think what did me in was my brilliant idea, the day before, to overdose on chocolate at the very popular Juliette et Chocolat.

Their old-fashioned hot chocolate, presented in a mini-pitcher and poured into a bowl, is thick and luscious. Their choco-folie crepe, slathered with 3 kinds of chocolate, is decadent and satisfying. I recommend both, but I strongly recommend that you go on two separate occasions to try them. Because even if you might fantasize about getting dizzy on chocolate, the actual experience will be very far from the heaven you imagined.

That's not going to stop me from sharing a chocolate-filled recipe with you today, though. A reader requested the recipe for the chocolate bundt cake, so as promised, here it is. It is the most satisfyingly chocolatey, perfectly balanced chocolate bundt cake I have ever made. Something tells me you won't be disappointed. Something tells me you'll come back for more. Just don't forget the sour cream, and don't get dizzy on it.

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Stir together in small bowl until a paste forms:
  1 Tbsp butter, melted   1 Tbsp cocoa
Use a pastry brush to coat all interior surfaces of standard 12-cup Bundt pan with the cocoa/butter mixture above. If the mixture becomes too thick to brush on, microwave it for 10 to 20 seconds, or until warm and softened.  


Combine in a medium heatproof bowl:
  2.25 ounces natural cocoa 
  6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  1 tsp instant espresso powder


Pour over the chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth:
  3/4 cup boiling water


Set the bowl aside to let the melted chocolate to cool to room temperature.  When it has cooled, whisk in:
  1 cup sour cream


In a second bowl, whisk to combine:
  8.75 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour 
  1 tsp table salt
  1 tsp baking soda

Set this flour mixture aside.


In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes:
  12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 ½  sticks, or 3/4 cup)
  14 ounces light brown sugar
  1 Tbsp vanilla extract


Reduce speed to medium and add one at a time, mixing about 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down bowl with rubber spatula after first 2 additions:
  5 large eggs  


Reduce speed to medium-low.  Don't worry if the batter appears separated.  Add about one third of the flour mixture and half of chocolate/sour cream mixture and mix until just incorporated, about 20 seconds. Scrape the bowl and repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining chocolate mixture.  Mix again.  Finally, add remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated, about 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl and mix on medium-low until batter is thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.


Pour batter into your prepared Bundt pan, being careful not to pour batter on sides of pan.


Bake at 350ºF on the lower-middle rack for 45-50 minutes. It will be ready when a wooden skewer inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached.


Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto parchment-lined wire rack.  Let cool to room temperature, about 3 hours.


The cake can be made a day in advance; wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap and store it at room temperature.  In fact, I find that this cake is much better a day or two after it is baked, because the chocolate flavour becomes much more pronounced then.


Serves 12 to 14.