Sweet and Salty Chocolate Cake with Almond Crisp
This marriage is standard in a lot of cuisines (chicken and waffles!), but recently, the dynamic duo of savoury-sweet has taken on new realms, with chefs pushing the boundaries of dessert (from Le Vin Papillon’s tomato-verbena-olive oil sorbet in Montreal to New York chef Dominique Ansel’s sweet-corn crepes with smoked toffee, lemon, brown sugar and […]
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (75 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp (20 g) cocoa powder, sifted
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup (105 g) sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) soy sauce
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) soy sauce
- 1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp tamari almonds, coarsely chopped
- 6 oz (170 g) dark chocolate, chopped
- 2/3 cup (150 ml) 35% heavy cream
- 1/4 cup (55 g) unsalted butter, softened
Instructions
- With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter the sides of a 6-inch (15 cm) springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, oil, soy sauce and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk until smooth. Spoon into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes. Unmould and let cool completely on a wire rack. Clean the ring of the springform pan.
This marriage is standard in a lot of cuisines (chicken and waffles!), but recently, the dynamic duo of savoury-sweet has taken on new realms, with chefs pushing the boundaries of dessert (from Le Vin Papillon’s tomato-verbena-olive oil sorbet in Montreal to New York chef Dominique Ansel’s sweet-corn crepes with smoked toffee, lemon, brown sugar and black pepper). Food companies are launching products like vegetable yogurts and we’re noticing a salty twist in traditionally sweet treats. You’ll never look at chocolate cake the same way after tasting our soy-sauce-infused creation, where the salty condiment is found in both the batter and the almond crisp topping. The result is a new flavour dimension: round, rich and deeply satisfying. Sound out of this world? It is.