Happy Holidays from NanoRoast!

Fa la la, it’s time to enjoy the holidays with friends and families, so we will be taking a break from roasting for a few days—22-27 December to be more exact. Instead, my family will be drinking a lot of very satisfying coffees and probably eating too much. Of course, we will pay for it in January…

I know our European-American traditions call for a lot of pie at our celebrations, but for those wanting an alternative, I will share our family’s favorite chocolate cake recipe as it was delivered to me by my mother before the earth’s crust cooled. Enjoy with a chocolaty dark roast coffee and you are in Nirvana, to mix a world-view metaphor. Happy Holidays!

Black Magic Cake

Combine together in mixing bowl:  1 3/4 c all purpose flour 2 c sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt. (Salt is a flavoring that enhances chocolaty taste in this recipe.)

Add in 1/2 c veg oil, 1/2 c yogurt or sour cream, 2 large eggs, 1 c milk, 1 c strong dark roast coffee, cooled to room temp, and 2 tsp vanilla extract. (I think a chocolaty Latin Blend or Mexico at a medium dark roast is about the best.)

Bake at 350F in a greased bundt pan for about 40 min or until toothpick inserted in middle of the ring comes out clean. Cool, frost/glaze with Cream Cheese Frosting. Alternately, for a dark chocolate overload, you can melt semisweet chocolate chips on top and then spread them out for a quasi-glaze.

Cream Cheese Frosting/Glaze:  Soften and whip about 3oz cream cheese, adding 1tsp vanilla extract, dash of salt and 2tbsp milk. Add confectioners sugar to achieve the consistency you want, adjusting with tsps of milk.

Enjoy!

susan