Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Armagnac Cake

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Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Armagnac Cake

March 3, 2009 by Amy

I made this chocolate armagnac cake on my own, before joining Tuesdays with Dorie, because the story behind it was so compelling. Dorie Greenspan worked at a restaurant that served the same chocolate cake night after night, so she improvised and created this unusual, but lovely concoction. She was fired for “creative insubordination.”

Because I’ve made this cake before, I decided to practice a tiny bit of creative insubordination myself. The cake is beautiful and delicious and very dense. But this time I decided to create individual chocolate cakes in 8-ounce ramekins and then bake them in a water bath. I was hoping the cakes would be a little less dense than the original, just a touch softer and lighter in body. Plus, as I’ve said before, I love things warm from the oven, and this allows me to coat each little cake in a warm glaze.

This was a mostly successful experiment. The final result was soft and creamy and light, but all of that creaminess was studded with the bits of prune and almond, making for a bit too much attention to their chewy, crunchy texture. In the more dense version, they offer a happy bite. In my light version, they’re more of a distraction. So this ramekin/water bath approach is probably best used on a straight chocolate batter, without the added texture. Still, it was fun to play around.

Visit And Then I Do the Dishes for the recipe. And don’t be deterred by the prunes. They add depth and complexity to the chocolate. (This is coming from someone who shudders at those chocolate cake recipes that include mystery ingredients like tomato soup and beets and such.) So, trust me on this one.

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Posted in dessert recipes | Tagged chocolate armagnac cake, chocolate cake, recipe, Tuesdays with Dorie | 12 Comments

12 Responses

on March 3, 2009 at 5:34 am | Reply pinkstripes

I love your little cake. How did you like it? How did it compare to the original?
on March 3, 2009 at 5:38 am | Reply Megan

Whatever you did to it, makes it look better than the original. Seriously.
on March 3, 2009 at 11:41 am | Reply Farah

It looks fabulously rich and chocolaty (one of the reasons why i didn’t make it)! Great job
on March 3, 2009 at 1:58 pm | Reply Amy

pinkstripes,

You’re right — I never said whether I liked this new version better. Last night, I just couldn’t decide. It must have been all that chocolate and armagnac. But I’m thinking more clearly this morning and I’ve updated the post with the final verdict. Gavel down. Done!
on March 3, 2009 at 2:08 pm | Reply Amanda

Cool that you experimented with this! I loved the cake, but too many dishes! LOL
on March 3, 2009 at 2:35 pm | Reply juju73

Your cake looks so lovely. I love the lone almond pressed into the glaze!
on March 3, 2009 at 6:52 pm | Reply jenjw4

I totally agree about the prunes. They really were great in the chocolate, and I hate things such as raisinettes and really am not a fan of dried fruit, in general.
on March 3, 2009 at 7:22 pm | Reply chocolatechic

Looks wonderful.

I put mine in ramekins too.
on March 4, 2009 at 1:20 am | Reply Lynette

Your cake looks great. Thanks for sharing great pictures.
on March 5, 2009 at 2:52 pm | Reply Teanna

I love that you were able to play around with this! It is absolutely beautiful!
on March 7, 2009 at 3:27 am | Reply teaandscones

Cake looks really rich and fudgey. Great job on this one.
on March 7, 2009 at 4:41 pm | Reply Victoria

Thanks for thinking about texture. The water bath was a great thought. P.S. “Dried plum” is the new “prune.” Apparently we don’t shy away from the former.