A Chocolate Cake - An Heirloom Recipe Series

A Classic Chocolate Cake & A Confession - Extra Food Chat with Kath

Welcome to another edition of Extra Food Chat with Kath!

People who know me well will probably have read the subject line of this email and thought, ‘but Kath you don’t eat chocolate why are you sharing a recipe for a chocolate cake?’. Maybe even ‘how did you test this recipe if you don’t eat chocolate?’.

Let me confess something here. I actually haven’t been able to taste or smell in four months. So I’ve had to rely on tried and tested recipes from Grandma’s collection for the past few months, or rely on the feedback of others when testing new recipes.

Initially I didn’t think I’d have to rely on these things for long. Losing my sense of taste and smell happens to me without fail every time I get a cold. Its happened for the last 20 years (even before COVID-19 was around and no, I’ve never had COVID). When I was a teenager, I’d lose my sense of taste and smell completely when I was in the initial acute stages of illness, then it would come back in a couple of weeks or so as I was getting better.

Fast forward 20 or so years, and each time I get sick like this my sense of taste and smell takes longer and longer to return. The previous record was about 10-12 weeks. But this time I’ve just past four months since I was initially sick and it’s still not back. To add insult to injury, I’ve just this week come down with another cold! At this stage I don’t expect to be able to taste or smell until into 2025.

I can get a hint of very strong smells and flavours - vinegars (I have been adding capers preserved in vinegar into a lot of things lately!), chilli and fresh ginger, strong cleaning products and the like. Mostly my recognition of these things is based on the feeling of the flavour or smell when it hits my taste buds or nose, and the recognition of knowing what I am eating or having eaten or smelt it before. Anything new or any subtle flavours, I have no idea what I am eating and can’t tell the smell is there.

In a rather cruel twist of irony, being sick again means I’ve had to postpone an appointment with an ENT to try and work out why this is happening!

So with all that in mind, making a cake I couldn't eat myself wasn’t such a big deal right now. I’ve had quite a few people taste test this one for me, and I’ve made changes based on their feedback. I’ve also been able to predict what changes might be needed based on how the cake cooked, how long it was in the oven, and the texture of the cake crumb.

The initial test made in a 20cm round tin, took quite a while in the oven so I was already thinking the cake may be a little dry. Based on that and the feedback from my taste testers, I have made changes to the recipe to ensure the best chocolate cake eating experience!

Baking Beyond the Paywall: The edited and tested recipe for Grandma’s Chocolate Cake is below for paid subscribers.

Paid subscribers to Extra Food Chat with Kath can also comment on this post, and ask me questions about the recipe (or anything else really!). The entire recipe archive is also available to paid subscribers - check out what’s been shared so far with paid subscribers here.