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The All-Time Greatest Chocolate Cake: Beatty’s Chocolate Cake

The All-Time Greatest Chocolate Cake: Beatty’s Chocolate Cake
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       As some of you know, Andrew and I have embarked on what we have named “Andrew and Monte’s 130th Birthday Trip”.  That’s our combined birthday this year and we’re celebrating with a trip to Europe.  Believe me, you will hear all about it.  But in the meantime, here’s a cake to bake anytime you want to celebrate anything— Birthdays, Anniversaries, Bon Voyages, or….even this Sunday for Mother’s Day. This incredible chocolate cake takes the prize for our absolute favorite.  It’s a chocolate lover’s dream, moist and so full of chocolate you can smell it.   The icing gives you more chocolate on chocolate. There’s a secret ingredient that reinforces the chocolate flavor: Coffee!  It also has a wonderful story attached to it.  And a not-so-wonderful story too so read along and see.
The Bridgehampton Florists

This recipe comes from our dear friend Michael Grim.  Now if you are a faithful viewer of Ina Garten’s “Barefoot Contessa”, you’d immediately recognize Michael. She has even made this cake on the air.  With his partner, Jim Osburn, Michael is The Bridgehampton Florist and they are both on Ina’s show with some frequency.  There’s a link to Michael’s blog on Chewing the Fat. Just scroll down “Blogs I Follow” to find it.  If you love flowers, you’ll love Michael’s Blog. But I digress. The Beatty of Beatty’s Chocolate Cake was Michael’s grandmother. His grandfather had a milk route in Pennsylvania Dutch country and Beatty used to bake this cake to take to the customers on his milk deliveries.  I urge you to try this cake with a tall glass of icy cold milk.  It will take your breath away.       

Now, about the not-so-wonderful part.  This recipe has been in Michael’s family for years.  It’s an old Pennsylvania Dutch secret that’s been around a very long time.  But when Ina Garten published it in “The Barefoot Contessa at Home” (Clarkson Potter 2006), no less than the Hershey Chocolate Company itself came in and demanded credit for the cake!  Not a very sweet thing to do, if you ask me.  Besides, what good cook doesn’t want to share their recipes?  But don’t let this leave a sour taste in your mouth, bake this and I am almost certain you’ll forget all about Hershey’s. (Especially since we recommend using Callebaut chocolate and not Hershey’s)  The secret, by the way, is not really the chocolate: It’s the cup of hot coffee that gets added to the batter and the instant coffee in the frosting. Here is the recipe:



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