Pain (Irlandais) au Chocolat

I am moved by Oregon’s oddly cold weather to resume fall activities, such as baking, creating rich pasta sauces, crocheting, and wearing sweaters. I know on some level that this cool weather is only a brief pause, like nature’s apology for leaving the proverbial oven on. However, my spoiled California instincts see the overcast and tell me that the summer is over. Inspiration is rarely logical.

Giving in to the domestic temptations of fall is not without risks. On the one hand, I should take this welcome respite for what it is: relief from cooking in a sweltering studio apartment with one window and no air conditioning. On the other hand, the marine layer could break at any moment and I would be trapped by broiling heat on both fronts. The risk is only exacerbated when coupled with the size of the toaster oven, making most standard baking near to impossible. Any recipe I take on will likely need to be divided down to Lilliputian proportions to be done right in this kitchen.

A good cake recipe seemed like the best idea, weather be damned, and could probably be modified to make some delicious cupcakes. A Chocolate Stout Cake recipe came highly recommended by my vibrant Irish relatives as a rich, creamy, subtly sweet cake. I have made the recipe several times for special occasions; it produces a three-layer masterpiece that stays moist forever and is enjoyed by people who do not even like dessert. It made sense to make such a crowd-pleaser as my first toaster oven baking attempt. With back episodes of “Mad Men” on at full volume for inspiration, I halved the required ingredients, sent Ben out for provisions, marveled at the fact that my kitchen-phobic sweetheart had a cupcake tin, and hoped for the best.

The batter smelled wonderful as they baked, but something seemed off when I licked the spoon. It didn’t taste sweet enough. The entire purpose of this recipe is to create a more savory cake, but this seemed too unsweetened. Perhaps my math was off as I attempted to halve the ingredients and watch Jon Hamm at the same time (no small feat). Perhaps it was the ingredients themselves.

Ben followed my shopping list to the letter, with three minor judgment calls that I feel vastly affected the outcome of the cupcakes. First, he chose light sour cream instead of standard sour cream. I am all for making decadent recipes healthy, but cake is hardly the place to start cutting calories. Second, he brought home salted rather than unsalted butter. I did enough calculations to make a chemistry professor proud so I knew how much salt to take out of the recipe while breaking even on the recipe’s requirements. I don’t know whether it was the stoichiometry equations or the hot plate that shot me back to memories of college laboratory science, but either way I am pretty sure that my reminiscing made me get the calculations wrong.

Finally, and I think most importantly, Ben brought home Guinness Extra Stout instead of the standard variety. He thought this would end up being a bold move on the part of the recipe, giving it an extra kick, and I completely agreed. As I drank the remains of the beer while the first batch of cupcakes baked, though, I got the distinct impression that the Extra Stout would be too yeasty for this cake. I also suggest that if you try this recipe, indulge in the best quality cocoa powder you can afford. Our local supermarket only had one brand to offer us, so we did not have the luxury of choice, but I am curious to see how the flavor would have turned out if I had used Ghiradelli or Scharffen Berger. It will take a few more rounds of this experiment to determine the biggest problem with the batter, but I have strong feelings that the altered ingredients are to blame.

Just as I suspected, the finished cupcakes were good but definitely leave something to be desired. They tasted less like cupcakes, and as a result of the taste and texture seemed a good deal more like chocolate bread. My taste testers all had polite comments for the cupcakes, which may be proof that I need a more critical set of laboratory rats. I fully intend to repeat this experiment as soon as the weather brings a longer cool streak, but when I do I will tweak one ingredient at a time, rather than three.