Sunday 21 November 2010

Giving thanks, yet again, for chocolate (the story)

One evening last week, I found myself craving something chocolatey. How unusual.  :‍-‍)

Flipping through my clipping pile, one recipe leapt out and practically grabbed me by the tonsils. Mmm, a chocolate pumpkin cake. Perfect.

slice of chocolate pumpkin cake

In no time, I was head-to-toe in multigrain flour, happy as could be. Baking, baking, doo dee-doo, baking, baking. Having a lovely time. Dreaming, I was, of little but slicing into that yummy combo.
Ooh, fresh pumpkin. Rich chocolate. Pumpkin, chocolate. Chocolate, pumpkin.

And what better way to salute the upcoming Thanksgiving, I drooled. (I'm not American, but what the hey? Celebrating two Thanksgivings ain't a crime.)

Then, elbows-deep in batter, and almost by accident, I scanned the ingredient list one last time. Huh? Where's the pumpkin in this danged recipe?

Talk about harsh reality. Four-fifths through with my baking, I discovered that the "pumpkin" was in title only; not one scrap of actual pumpkin appeared in the ingredient list. (The point, apparently, was to join two Bundt-cake halves to make a pumpkin shape, then slather it in orange-colored icing.)

Noooooooooo...

But by this time, I was in too deep. Heck, I was determined. There shall be pumpkin in this here recipe.

Gritting teeth, I combed my cupboards, and ended up adding tinned pumpkin and pumpkin seeds to my batter. Had to perform some real emergency surgery on that recipe, I tell you, pull out some real miracles to salvage the thing. I was worried it would turn out to be one big accident.

But hurray for happy endings. My version was delish, a clear improvement over the original.

I'll publish the recipe for my Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf tomorrow.

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