A Nice Cuppa

If I told you I???m not a huge chocolate fan, would you think less of me? All of my life, I have opted for anything creamy, buttery, and sugary when it came to dessert. I was a caramel kind of girl. Since caramel is sugar, butter, and cream, it makes sense. I never really thought chocolate was an earth-shattering flavor until the first time I had a chocolate cake called ???Creole Chocolate Cake??? at the Dairy Hollow House Inn in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Owned by a children???s and cookbook author, Crescent Dragonwagon, and her husband, Ned, in the Inn???s restaurant I became initiated into a love affair with chocolate at the late age of twenty-two.

What makes the difference? The Creole part does, which is the addition of coffee in the batter and the substitution of brown for white sugar. Does it really make that much of an impact? Oh, honey. Make this recipe and you???ll see for yourself. This is my favorite chocolate cake recipe ever. I???ve been using it for twenty years.

The Dairy Hollow House Cookbook, one of my favorite and most-used recipe books, is out of print by traditional publishers but can be found at Dragon Z Books.
Following is the recipe straight from the cookbook but you all know me now. Any recipe for me is more of a hint of a suggestion than a hardcore template so at the end of the article I???ll tell you what I change when I make this. Feel free to use the original, my version, or step off the high dive and make it your own.

Creole Chocolate Cake
By Crescent Dragonwagon in “The Dairy Hollow House Cookbook”

?? cup very hot brewed coffee
3 ?? ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
?? cup butter, cubed
?? cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups unbleached white flour, unsifted
?? tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup white sugar
1 ?? cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup buttermilk

1) Spray two 8-inch cake pans and dust with unsweetened cocoa. Set aside.
2) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
3) Pour hot coffee over chocolate and butter. Stir well until melted.
4) Add cooking oil and vanilla and mix until smooth. Set aside.
5) Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside
6) In a large mixing bowl, cream eggs, sugars, and buttermilk.
7) Alternate additions of chocolate mixture with flour into the egg mixture, beating until smooth after each addition.
8) Transfer to prepared cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until done. Do not over bake.

Creole Chocolate Icing (Ganache)

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup sour cream
?? tsp vanilla

1) Melt chocolate over hot water.
2) When smooth stir in sour cream and vanilla. Beat by hand until smooth. Let cool until of spreading consistency and frost cake.

Glenna???s Deviations:

For the cake:
1) I substitute espresso from my own machine for the coffee or sometimes I cheat and run through the Starbucks drive-thru.
2) I never use 1 tsp of vanilla in any recipe, it???s always 1 Tbsp. It???s not that you taste the vanilla itself, it???s that I like the way the extra flavoring enhances the other flavors. Also, I use only Madagascar vanilla which is slightly stronger and woodier in smell and taste than Mexican vanilla that makes up the biggest chunk of vanillas available on supermarket shelves. Think McCormick for Mexican vanilla. It???s a personal preference. I guess you don???t really need to know that I love Madagascar vanilla so much I frequently dab it behind my ears like Granny Clampett and hit the town.

For the Ganache Icing:
1) There???s only one substitution (other than the vanilla rule of thumb but I???ve already told you about that) and it brings a smile to your lips when your tongue hits the frosting. I substitute ?? cup of Kahlua for ?? cup of the sour cream. ???Nuff said. Enjoy.

Glenna Anderson Muse