Every Israeli home has its own version for this simple chocolate cake. This cake is the ultimate cake for children’s birthday parties, because it is chocolaty and yummy, and at the same time very simple to make, and not very challenging to the kids’ taste buds. I got this recipe from a friend of mine, years ago, and ever since it has become a permanent resident in our home, especially on birthdays. The picture above is from Jonathan’s 6th birthday (already 12 years ago???!!!!)…
Ingredients:
round 10’’ (26cm) baking pan, or 12 ¾’’ X 9’’ (32cm X 23 cm) pan
7oz (200g) butter
7oz (200g) bitter sweet chocolate, broken into cubes
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup Manischewitz wine (or port wine)
For the chocolate sauce:
5 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons coco powder
4oz (100g) bitter sweet chocolate, broken into cubes
4oz (100g) butter
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 360F (180C).
Place the butter, the chocolate, and the sugar in a large glass bowl. You don’t want to use metal or plastic bowls because they are not microwave friendly. Place the bowl in the microwave and nuke for 2 minutes on high heat, to melt the ingredients. Remove from the microwave, and using a whisk, mix the ingredients until you end up with a smooth mixture.
Add the eggs, one by one, to the warm mixture, whisking constantly, to prevent the eggs from cooking. When mixture is smooth, add the flour and the baking powder, and mix well. Add the wine and mix well.
Pour the mixture into a well greased baking pan and bake in the oven for about 25-35 minutes, depends on the oven. The cake is ready when a wooden toothpick inserted to the middle of the cake comes out clean, with some crumbs on.
In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate, sugar, water and coco powder, over low heat. Mix constantly until mixture is completely smooth and remove from the heat. Add the butter and mix it in, until it is completely dissolved and incorporated in the sauce.
Pour the sauce on the cake and using a spatula, spread it to cover the whole cake.
If you want the sauce to only cover the cake, cool the cake completely before glazing it with sauce.
If you like the sauce to be partially absorbed in the cake, add to the saucepan an additional 3 tablespoons of water, when making the sauce, before adding in the butter, to make it more liquid. Pour the sauce on the cake while the cake is still hot.
