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Raspberry Chocolate Mink

Gourmet Magazine’s September 2005 Cook the Cover contest ended yesterday. The featured recipe was fur a chocolate pudding cake called the Chocolate Mink. I couldn’t resist giving the recipe a shot, particularly when it was formulated for the convenient serving size of two portions. I decided that my addition to the recipe would be to add raspberries, since raspberries and chocolate make a wonderful combination. I layered them along the bottom of the ramekin and stirred a few into the batter.

According to the recipe, it was supposed to be a “gooey, flourless chocolate pudding cake”. I like chocolate pudding cake quite a lot and was suprised when mine didn’t turn out as advertised, but I quickly realised that this unexpected outcome was the result of my failure to read the recipe all the way through.

I admit that I was hoping for a sort of raspberry sauce to form, but, though my little cake was neither puddingy nor saucy, it was still tasty. It looked gorgeous, unmolded very easily and was a nice, rich chocolate brownie cake. Baking uncovered gave it a nice crust and the raspberry layer made sure that every bite had a hint of berry to compliment the chocolate.

I’m not sure if it would have been a contest winner, but it definately proves that with good ingredients, you can’t go wrong even if you don’t follow the recipe.

Raspberry Chocolate Mink

1/4-1/3 cup fresh raspberries, divided

3 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 tbsp butter

pinch of salt

1 egg, separated

1 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350F and butter two 5 or 6 oz ramekins or oven safe dishes. Place a single layer of raspberries on the bottom of each ramekin. Reserve 2 tbsp of the berries and mash gently with a fork. Set aside.
In a small bowl, over a small saucepan of simmering water, melt together chocolate and butter. Stir in a pinch of salt and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in egg yolk.
In a small bowl, beat egg white to soft peaks with the sugar. Fold 1/2 of the egg white and the mashed raspberries into the melted chocolate. Fold in remaining white until no streakes remain. Divide evenly into prepared ramekins.
Place ramekins into a deep baking dish. Fill the dish with hot or boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove ramekins from water bath and allow them to cool for at least 20 minutes before unmolding the cakes and serving.
Makes 2.

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14 Comments
  • Mika
    September 26, 2005

    That cake looks good. And makes just 2 and that is a good thing for people like me with a sweet tooth!

  • Nic
    September 26, 2005

    Thanks, Mika. Sometimes it’s nice to have a small batch recipe.

  • Cathy
    September 26, 2005

    It’s gorgeous Nic! I agree with Mika, perfectly sized recipe too. You hinted that something you did differently accounted for the unexpected results – what was that?

  • Nic
    September 26, 2005

    Ah! I knew I had forgotten something. The original recipe called for tightly covering the ramekins with tin foil to make them more pudding-y. Personally, I am not sure I would have liked it that way, so I’m rather glad that I skipped reading that line!

  • Niki
    September 26, 2005

    Phwoaaarrr. And now you just have to make it again to taste it as it was intended, so you can make a comparison. Purely in the pursuit of academic research….
    Quick question: would you prefer to bake/eat a chocolate peanut butter pie or a chocolate pecan pie? I’m wondering which to make…(and realistically, only one of them!!)

  • Tea
    September 27, 2005

    That’s a really nice looking cake…I’m now craving it. ^_^ Good thing the recipe only makes 2 servings…I don’t have the willpower to stop myself from eating them all. ^_~

  • cass
    September 27, 2005

    hi nic,

    im new to your blog and i must say this chocolate cake looks delicious whether you missed a step or not! there, u have invented a new recipe just by not protecting the cake with foil! amazing how a little detail like that makes such a difference, huh?

  • Lori
    September 27, 2005

    Nic, I like that last line of yours where you said, “… proves that with good ingredients you can’t go wrong even if you don’t follow the recipe.” I’m also very grateful when I don’t follow my baking recipes to the letter, but I’m still rewarded with a terrific dessert. 😛

    BTW, I think that if you had tightly covered the ramekins with foil, you might have ended up steaming the mink cake somewhat… (?)

  • Nic
    September 27, 2005

    Niki – Hmm. You’re probably right. I think that chocolate pecan sounds great. A little more unusual than chocolate peanut butter.

    Tea – It’s nice when things work out like that.

    Cass – Welcome! I think that in this case in particular it made a huge difference.

    Lori – I think you’re right. And I think that with the raspberries, I would prefer a slightly firmer chocolate cake to a squidgy one.

  • Skrat
    September 27, 2005

    Hey nic,
    i was giggling to myself when i read that bit about you failing to read through the entire recipe until its too late…..i make that mistake rather often….so bad of me! Your pic looks gorgeous…….combined with raspberries, its looks too pretty to dig in!

  • milgwimper
    September 28, 2005

    The cake is gorgeous. Thank you! I am so terrible at reading through the recipe all the way. I mean to but inadvertently I will skip a line or an ingredient. Not to mention I always change it a little on purpose, so the whole recipe ends up changing. Ahhh the results usually are pretty darn good, and I have to say yours takes the cake! ;P 🙂

  • Randi
    September 28, 2005

    that looks so good. im on the lookout for recipes that only serve two since we are counting points. Have you tried anything from small batch baking ?

  • Nic
    September 29, 2005

    Randi – You know, I don’t have the book, but I’ve seen your posts about the small batch recipes and think they’re great. I may just have to pick up a copy!

  • pumpkin
    January 22, 2006

    I have made this recipe from Gourmet. If you bake the cakes uncovered without the waterbath for twelve minutes they will be gooey. So delicious!

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