I love to bake. Baking makes me happy. I like making good, sweet foods for my loved ones. When my little sister would come home from college, I always baked something fun for her.

Last month, I joined a group called The Daring Bakers. I thought The Daring Bakers would be fun, and I knew that it would give me an excuse to learn some new cooking techniques. I love to learn, and I love to eat, so I signed up.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

The rules of The Daring Bakers say that participants may not change the recipe at all, so (for the second time in my whole life), I followed it exactly. I did, however, rewrite part of it in my own words to make it a little easier to follow. And then, I got all fancy and made you an illustrated tutorial of sorts.

Chocolate Valentino Cake

• 1 pound of chocolate, roughly chopped – note that your final cake will taste exactly like the chocolate that you use. I used an entire pound of Hershey bars, and I adored the final product. Some of the other Daring Bakers used mostly bitter dark chocolate, and they were less pleased with their final product.
• ½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 5 large eggs, separated

1. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler, stirring often. (I am going to try to pre-melt the butter next time since it took a lot longer than the chocolate to melt and become smooth.)
2. While the chocolate butter mixture is cooling, butter an 8-9″ springform pan; line with a parchment circle, then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry). If you try to do this by hand, your arms will be so tired that you’ll think they are falling off and the egg whites will not become stiff enough. Learn from my mistake, and use some kind of electric mixer. A hand mixer would probably be best, but I’m going to try my KitchenAid next time.
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
   
6. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.



7. Pour batter into the prepared pan. The batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way. Bake at 375F for about 25 minutes.
   The top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
8. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Wendy’s Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream

• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 2/3 cup sugar
• Dash of salt
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla – I used Mexican vanilla that we bought on our honeymoon. It was a lot stronger than the normal stuff in the store. Next time, I will cut the amount I use in half or more.

1. Mix all ingredients together.
   
2. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.
3. Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.

The Challenge

I made this on the morning of a Sunday family dinner. Everyone was on the way over, and Joe was making homemade pasta.

Oh, yeah, and Gracie was trying to steal my Hershey bars.

It was so easy that I pulled it all together, made ice cream, and got the homemade pasta in the KitchenAid mixer, all while protecting my chocolate from a stool-wielding toddler with a sweet tooth.

But then, I accidentally overcooked my cake. I cooked it for only 25 minutes, but it was far too done. I was afraid that I’d ruined it, but the flavor was amazing – like the fudgiest fudgy brownie I’d ever eaten – and the texture was heavy, but okay.

This cake was so good that I wanted to eat the whole pan. I am not going to lie, and I’m not exaggerating. I could have eaten the whole pan.

My sister didn’t like the flourless cake. I can’t even comprehend how she didn’t like it, because I thought it was amazing.

I haven’t made it again because I’m afraid I will eat the whole pan. So beware. Only make this cake when you have a house full of people to eat it for you.

Happily submitted to Mouthwatering Mondays,  I am Blissfully Domestic, Homemaking Monday, Making a Happy Home Monday, Make Something Monday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Tuesday Toot