Christopher Kimball's Milk Street: Stovetop Chocolate Cake

It’s a cake you don’t bake! Rosemary Gill, director of education at Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, joined us to share a decadent recipe from “The Milk Street Cookbook: 5th Anniversary Edition”.

Stovetop Chocolate Cake

Start to finish: 35 minutes (10 minutes active), plus cooling

Servings: 8

Steaming a standard chocolate cake batter produced a light, moist cake, and let us avoid having to turn on the oven. To elevate the cake above the water that steams it, we fashioned a ring from foil. Brown sugar and espresso powder gave the cake complexity, while sour cream added richness and a welcome tang. We liked serving this cake dusted with powdered sugar or topped with whipped cream. If your Dutch oven has a self-basting lid—bumps or spikes on the underside—lay a sheet of parchment or foil over the top of the pot before putting the lid in place to prevent water from dripping onto the surface.

Don’t open the Dutch oven too often while steaming, but do ensure that the water is at a very gentle simmer. You should see steam emerging from the pot. If the heat is too high, the water will boil away before the cake is cooked.

—Yvonne Ruperti

• 130 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
• 29 grams (⅓ cup) cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 218 grams (1 cup packed) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 6 tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) salted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Rosie likes to add:1 tsp cardamom and 1 tsp Urfa pepper. (If you’re using a hotter pepper, use less!)

Cut an 18-inch length of foil and gently scrunch together to form a snake about 1 inch thick. Shape into a circle and set on the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Add enough water to reach three-quarters up the coil. Mist the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray, line the bottom with a round of kitchen parchment, then coat the parchment. Place the prepared pan in the pot on top of the foil coil.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda into a medium bowl, then whisk in the salt. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs until slightly lightened, about 30 seconds. Whisk in 1/2 cup water, the espresso powder, sour cream, butter and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and whisk gently until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Cover and heat on high until the water boils. Reduce to low and steam, covered, until the center of the cake is just firm to the touch, about 23 minutes.

Turn off the heat and remove the lid. Let stand until the cake pan is cool enough to handle. Transfer the pan to a wire rack, then run a paring knife around the edge of the cake to loosen. Let cool completely.

Invert the cake directly onto the rack, lift off the pan and remove and discard the parchment. Re-invert onto a serving plate.