It’s time for chocolate.
Seems like it should be time for chocolate. I realized that it’s been since August (AUGUST!) since I made anything chocolate. Remember when I made that chocolate bread pudding? God that was good. Have you made it yet? Stop what you’re doing and make it now. You’ll thank me later. Maybe you’ll thank me so much you’ll send me something pretty.
Anyway, chocolate time it is, and it just so happens to fit into Vietnam. While I can’t find any indication that chocolate is super prevalent there, what does seem to be everywhere is sticky rice. Sticky rice makes its way into this dish in the form of sticky rice flour (aka glutinous rice flour, which, ironically does not actually contain gluten). While sticky rice cakes are typically savory, nothing wrong with a little sweetness every now and then.
I’ve used this flour a few times before, both times with success. Since Lettuce is unfortunately gluten intolerant, I keep meaning to experiment with this as a gluten-free solution to baked goods, of which she is quite fond, so that she can enjoy them despite her unfortunate situation. Making this Bánh Chocolate Bột Nếp forced me what I’ve been meaning to do for the last year. And, I’m happy to say, I give it a thumbs up. Pay attention, Lettuce.
The recipe I found proved to be a little tricky since it was all metric. I don’t have a food scale in my kitchen (and am actually shocked that I haven’t caved and bought one over a year into this), and using my superior math skills to convert everything, the proportions seemed off. Therefore, I tweaked it in a way that made sense, and at the end, all was well and it tasted quite nice. It didn’t taste much different than regular chocolate cake would, but is maybe a bit more spongy. Which really, when we’re talking chocolate, is a-ok.
Ingredients
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
1 cup glutinous rice flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
3. Place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Microwave the milk until just below scalding and pour over the chocolate chips. Stir until they are melted and smooth.
4. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. Combine well.
5. Add the flour and baking soda. Stir until all is combined.
6. Pour into a greased 9” cake pan and baked in the middle rack until a tester comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.
7. Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then invert on a rack to finish cooling.
8. Serve with whipped cream. Duh.
