Si, Es Posible! Cake
My partner and I went to a restaurant a few weeks back and for dessert, we got a slice of something called the "Imposible." It was advertised as "chocolate cake with custard drizzled with caramel." As it turns out, that's like telling someone about Niagara Falls by saying "It's some rocks with water falling off it." This thing was ACTUALLY chocolate cake made with cinnamon and cayenne pepper, topped with a thick vanilla custard, dusted over with cinnamon, and drizzled in rich warm caramel sauce. We each took a bite and melted a little because holy heavens it was good.
"I know how to make this," I told my partner.
"Really?" he said. "This is a thing?"
"No," I said (around a mouthful of cake, I wasn't about to let conversation rob me of my fair half of the slice), "but I can make this."
(Side-note: my other superpowers include being able to nap anywhere, diving way too deep way too fast into the pop culture items that catch my fancy, and stopping speeding vehicles with little more than a Disappointed Dad look.)
Now, I've made a lot of desserts over the years I've been cooking, and the vast majority of them have been Really Stinkin' Good, but this one is actually better, by a lot, than any of the others. That's not ego boasting, that's God's honest truth. Haul it on down to my house and I'll serve you a slice if you don't believe me.
(And yes, I know it's going to look like this cake has too many ingredients and steps and stuff when you scroll down, but as a full disclaimer, I got home from work yesterday and managed to bang this thing out in like 45 minutes, total, while eating pizza and cleaning up the kitchen as I cooked, so where it isn't the easiest recipe out there, it's by no means the pain in the neck it might look to be at first glance.)
(Oh! And the cake is vegan, which is pretty cool. The custard and caramel are very much not.)
Ingredients
For the cake
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
Generous 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (rounded, not leveled off)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup cold water
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (use oil if you don't have applesauce, but applesauce is WORLDS better)
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Oil to grease the pan (I use olive oil)
For the custard
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups milk (I use soy, you can use seriously any kind you want)
2 eggs
4 tbsp butter
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon to sprinkle on top eventually, do NOT put it into the custard
For the caramel
1/2 cup butter (that's a stick of butter, friends)
1 cup brown sugar OR a scant cup of white sugar with 1 Tbsp molasses (I do the latter and OH MAN it's so good, you'll never buy brown sugar again, what)
1/4 cup milk (again, I use soy, I don't think it matters what you use)
1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake.
- Add the wet ingredients and whisk until combined.
- Grease a 9 1/2" springform pan with like 1 tsp oil -- doesn't need to be all that greasy.
- Dump the cake batter into the pan.
- Bake at 350*F for 25 to 30 minutes (it always takes 30 minutes for me.)
While the cake is baking, make the custard.
- In a medium heavy-bottom saucepan over NO HEAT, whisk together sugar, salt, and cornstarch.
- Add eggs and whisk to combine.
- Slowly whisk in the milk so that everything's smooth and nice and friendly.
- Turn the heat on to medium high, and whisk for what will feel like an eternity until the mixture decides to thicken for you. This takes a very long time and your whisking hand will get very warm during this time. There is no avoiding it.
- Once the mixture has thickened and started to boil, whisk for another minute or two, then remove the pan from the heat.
- Add in the butter and vanilla and whisk until the butter is all melted. I find that it's better if I cut the butter into pieces before adding it. Melts faster and more completely that way.
Set the custard aside until the cake's done. This was only like 3 minutes for me.
- Place the cake on a wire cooling rack.
- Pour the custard over the top of it, jiggling the pan a little to make it even, if you'd like.
- Allow to cool until you can easily touch the sides of the pan with your hands.
- Cover and place in the refrigerator to cool. Ours was in the 'fridge overnight, but I'd say you could probably get away with cooling it only 4 hours and it'd be fine.
When you're ready to cut into the cake, dust it with cinnamon and make the caramel sauce.
I don't measure the cinnamon I put atop this cake. I just dust it until it's got a fairly even layer on top. You can go with less if you want; we're just really into cinnamon over here.
Anyway, caramel sauce:
- In a small heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the butter.
- Add the brown sugar (or white sugar + molasses) and whisk until it's fluffy.
- Slowly incorporate the milk, whisking so that everything's all melty and smooth.
- Bring to a boil and whisk, boiling, for about a minute.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla.
- Let it cool maybe 5ish minutes, just so that it thickens a bit.
- Serve maybe 2 tbsp caramel sauce/small slice. Don't be stingy.
And that's it! I know it sounds like lots of work, but it yields lots of cake and probably a few marriage proposals (I have a very short list of folks to whom I would very much like to serve this cake if it means a proposal of marriage, or at least letting me run my fingers through his hair it's so fluffy I can't handle it) so it's totally worth it I promise.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go have a second slice of this stuff because of course I do.
<3
"I know how to make this," I told my partner.
"Really?" he said. "This is a thing?"
"No," I said (around a mouthful of cake, I wasn't about to let conversation rob me of my fair half of the slice), "but I can make this."
(Side-note: my other superpowers include being able to nap anywhere, diving way too deep way too fast into the pop culture items that catch my fancy, and stopping speeding vehicles with little more than a Disappointed Dad look.)
Now, I've made a lot of desserts over the years I've been cooking, and the vast majority of them have been Really Stinkin' Good, but this one is actually better, by a lot, than any of the others. That's not ego boasting, that's God's honest truth. Haul it on down to my house and I'll serve you a slice if you don't believe me.
(And yes, I know it's going to look like this cake has too many ingredients and steps and stuff when you scroll down, but as a full disclaimer, I got home from work yesterday and managed to bang this thing out in like 45 minutes, total, while eating pizza and cleaning up the kitchen as I cooked, so where it isn't the easiest recipe out there, it's by no means the pain in the neck it might look to be at first glance.)
(Oh! And the cake is vegan, which is pretty cool. The custard and caramel are very much not.)
¡Si, Es Posible! Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
Generous 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (rounded, not leveled off)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup cold water
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (use oil if you don't have applesauce, but applesauce is WORLDS better)
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Oil to grease the pan (I use olive oil)
For the custard
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups milk (I use soy, you can use seriously any kind you want)
2 eggs
4 tbsp butter
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon to sprinkle on top eventually, do NOT put it into the custard
For the caramel
1/2 cup butter (that's a stick of butter, friends)
1 cup brown sugar OR a scant cup of white sugar with 1 Tbsp molasses (I do the latter and OH MAN it's so good, you'll never buy brown sugar again, what)
1/4 cup milk (again, I use soy, I don't think it matters what you use)
1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake.
- Add the wet ingredients and whisk until combined.
- Grease a 9 1/2" springform pan with like 1 tsp oil -- doesn't need to be all that greasy.
- Dump the cake batter into the pan.
- Bake at 350*F for 25 to 30 minutes (it always takes 30 minutes for me.)
While the cake is baking, make the custard.
- In a medium heavy-bottom saucepan over NO HEAT, whisk together sugar, salt, and cornstarch.
- Add eggs and whisk to combine.
- Slowly whisk in the milk so that everything's smooth and nice and friendly.
- Turn the heat on to medium high, and whisk for what will feel like an eternity until the mixture decides to thicken for you. This takes a very long time and your whisking hand will get very warm during this time. There is no avoiding it.
- Once the mixture has thickened and started to boil, whisk for another minute or two, then remove the pan from the heat.
- Add in the butter and vanilla and whisk until the butter is all melted. I find that it's better if I cut the butter into pieces before adding it. Melts faster and more completely that way.
Set the custard aside until the cake's done. This was only like 3 minutes for me.
- Place the cake on a wire cooling rack.
- Pour the custard over the top of it, jiggling the pan a little to make it even, if you'd like.
- Allow to cool until you can easily touch the sides of the pan with your hands.
- Cover and place in the refrigerator to cool. Ours was in the 'fridge overnight, but I'd say you could probably get away with cooling it only 4 hours and it'd be fine.
When you're ready to cut into the cake, dust it with cinnamon and make the caramel sauce.
I don't measure the cinnamon I put atop this cake. I just dust it until it's got a fairly even layer on top. You can go with less if you want; we're just really into cinnamon over here.
Anyway, caramel sauce:
- In a small heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the butter.
- Add the brown sugar (or white sugar + molasses) and whisk until it's fluffy.
- Slowly incorporate the milk, whisking so that everything's all melty and smooth.
- Bring to a boil and whisk, boiling, for about a minute.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla.
- Let it cool maybe 5ish minutes, just so that it thickens a bit.
- Serve maybe 2 tbsp caramel sauce/small slice. Don't be stingy.
And that's it! I know it sounds like lots of work, but it yields lots of cake and probably a few marriage proposals (I have a very short list of folks to whom I would very much like to serve this cake if it means a proposal of marriage, or at least letting me run my fingers through his hair it's so fluffy I can't handle it) so it's totally worth it I promise.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go have a second slice of this stuff because of course I do.
<3
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