I have been wanting to make this dessert for several months now. We had dinner with some friends a while back and she made a chocolate pudding cake in a cast iron pan. It was heavenly. She told me what she did and I went home, convinced I would make it within the week and remember everything she told me. But then, life happened, like it so often does. I'd dream about the cake every once in a while, but just never found the time or energy to make it happen...until yesterday afternoon. But even then, it wasn't without it's unexpected surprises.

I began baking in the late afternoon (forgetting completely what she told me she did), giving myself plenty of time to figure out the dessert and dinner all in one evening without it getting too late (which is a big deal for me these days; we often eat at 7:30, sometimes 8:00). The kids gobbled up their dinners eagerly anticipating the cake and ice cream that would follow. I mixed the cream ceremoniously, letting them taste a spoonful to whet their appetites. I then told them they'd have a bit of time to play while I cleaned up the kitchen. I pictured us all gathering in a pristine kitchen eating cake together. I was unprepared when I walked into the hallway 3 minutes later to watch as my 2-year-old did a face plant on the hardwood floor in the hallway. I anticipated the cry, but what I didn't anticipate was the blood that started oozing from her chin. A quick look told me this was not something a kiss and a Bandaid could heal. Her chin had a serious gash. All thoughts of clean kitchens and desserts were abandoned and we hurried to the van to make the 30-minute trek to the emergency room, for the second time in 4 days.

You see, on Friday my 9-year-old was in bed and in tears with abdominal pain. I would have passed it off as gas except that he had the same thing a week prior and both times ran a low-grade fever and wanted to just sleep. After talking on the phone to the advice nurse, I began picturing a festering appendix and we rushed to the ER. After blood tests, urine tests, x-rays, and an IV, they sent us home saying it must just be constipation.

So as we headed to the emergency room again, I was beginning to feel like a pro. They even put us in the same room we had been in 4 days prior. Room 31. Little Miss Clara was a champ. A look of fear and a few, "No, Mommy, I'm ready to go home!" comments later, she stoically laid on the hospital bed as the doctor stitched her chin closed.

The thing that gets me is that when both of my children reported to their grandparents after the ordeals were over, their comment was, "That was fun!" Time with Mommy, graham crackers, Popsicles (with sugar and chemicals!) and purple latex gloves (yes, Ethan asked if he could bring 4 home for his siblings). Apparently we need to get out more.

When Clara and I returned home at midnight, the cake was cold and partially eaten. The cream was like a block of ice. I ate a piece at about 1:30 a.m. after partially cleaning the kitchen, just enough so I could have a space to make breakfast the next morning. Though not the picture of family delight I had anticipated, it was very, very good. Perhaps the late night made me delusional, but I had some again this afternoon to verify and yes, it was amazing. Would have been more fun to eat slowly and peacefully with my family, but then again, I would have had nothing to tell you expect, "This cake is great!"

So I offer you an incredibly long blog post and a super-yummy gluten-free dessert (you can use gluten grains if you prefer; coconut or almond flour would work as a grain-free option). Hopefully when you make it, you will have very little adventure and simply a yummy dessert.

Cake


3/4 cup millet flour
3/4 cup oat flour (or flours of your choice)
1/3 cup sugar (coconut or Sucanat; could also do honey and maple syrup)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, divided
1/3 cup milk (I used coconut)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ripe mashed banana (the banana flavor is very mild)


Chocolate Pudding Sauce


1 1/2 cups coffee
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup melted butter


Coconut Cream


1 can full fat coconut milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Put 1/4 cup butter in a Cast Iron Pan (mine is about 9"). If you don't have a cast iron pan, you could use an 8-inch glass pan. But if you do have cast iron, use it. It creates a wonderful texture and flavor. Preheat oven to350 degrees. Put pan in the oven and let it preheat with the oven while the butter melts. If the butter begins to turn brown, remove the pan from the oven until you are ready to put the batter in it.


While the oven is preheating, prepare the Cake and pudding. For the cake, combine the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another (use the remaining 1/4 cup butter, melted). Mix the two together.


For the pudding, combine all the ingredients.


Spread the cake batter into the hot skillet over the melted butter. Pour the pudding over the top. It will look like a sloppy wet mess, but amazingness happens as it bakes. The cake turns into cake and the pudding sinks to the bottom and gets thick. And those buttery edges? Oh, those buttery edges! Bake for 25-30 minutes.


For the Cream, dump the can of coconut milk into a bowl and mix with the maple syrup and vanilla extract. Put it in the freezer and whisk every 20 or so minutes to create whatever thickness you like. If something happens and you need to abandon your cream for, say, 4 hours and you return to find it a hard brick, put it in the fridge to soften for 45 minutes to an hour and you'll be able to scoop it like ice cream.






May your cake experience be extremely boring.