We heard various murmurings as the judges considered the first chocolate mushroom cake ever entered in our recipe contest. There was a little hesitation. Then, a sigh was heard. Followed by another sigh and someone declared, "This is really quite good."
We have to whole-hardheartedly agree with this assessment, and are grateful to have obtained Jamie's permission to print the recipe. As is our practice, we asked Jamie how she'd developed this unusual dessert, and here's her answer:
I am not a wild mushroomer, but a friend of mine from Canada who winters here in Texas is. She got me hooked on them. I love playing with writing new recipes and putting my twist on old standbys in my free time. When I saw your contest I thought it would be fun to come up with a dessert. I am a mushroom lover and have many more conventional mushroom recipes but thought they would go perfectly with chocolate. I luckily have a wonderful group of friends who don't mind doing the taste testing. I waited until they told me how much they liked it before I told them the secret ingredient was mushrooms. Everyone was pleasantly surprised! The mushrooms really give a depth of flavor to the cake.
We're always looking for a new way to include
mushrooms in our lives and Jamie's cake recipe
is a welcome addition to our collection.
Chocolate Mushroom Bundt Cake
Cake:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon orange zest
3 cups very finely chopped white button mushrooms
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup walnuts
Cream Cheese Glaze:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons milk
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 10 inch bundt pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating between each one. Then add vanilla and zest and beat 1 minute.
- Alternately stir the dry ingredients, yogurt and mushrooms to the butter mixture. Fold in nuts.
- Spoon batter into bundt pan and bake in preheated oven for 40 - 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack for 15 minutes and turn out on rack to finish cooling.
- Glaze: Once cake has cooled completely, beat cream cheese in mixing bowl until fluffy. Add sugar and continue beating. Add orange juice and milk. Drizzle over cooled cake.
- Serves 12.