Grandmother’s Chocolate Cake (Grossmutter’s Schoggi Kuchen)
For our second post, we will show you how to make one of the best, simplest chocolate cakes man has ever known. Grossmutter’s Schoggi Kuchen! This translates to Grandmother’s Chocolate Cake, and it is one of the most popular cakes in Switzerland. You can find them mass produced in every supermarket.
When we lived in Switzerland, we used to get ours from the Swiss supermarket chain Migros. And let me just say, I love Migros. Almost all of their markets have a fresh food area where you can get all kinds of cakes, breads, even full prepared dinners. But it was their Grossmutter’s Schoggi Kuchen that my mother often had waiting for me when I came home from school. This is because it wasn’t overly sweet, was halfway between a bread and cake, and it was as simple as ripping open the plastic packaging and taking a slice. Here is a picture of what it looked like:
As you can see, this cake is is baked in a loaf. But what you don’t see is that it has almonds in it. Also, it is usually quite moist in the center.
This recipe of ours tries to re-create the taste and texture of those Migros chocolate cakes (and make a few improvements). It uses whipped egg whites as well as baking powder in it to make it somewhat fluffier than other recipes you might have seen, and to achieve the moistness in the center.
We came up with this recipe ourselves, so it took us three tries to actually get it right!
Ennis says: “We had to eat a lot of chocolate cake to make this post, but I’m not complaining! I hope we work on a new chocolate cake everyday.”
I bet you would! But now it’s time to show everyone how to make their own Grossmutter’s Schoggi Kuchen, so they can enjoy it as much as we do. Bereit? Let’s get started!
Preheat the oven to 350˚.
Combine the sugar, and butter in a bowl. The butter should be soft enough to easily push your finger through it, but it should not be melted.
Mix them until they are light and creamy, using either a hand-held or stand mixer. Set aside.
Place the chocolate, water, vanilla, and coffee in a small pot. Slowly melt the chocolate over low heat, making sure it does not burn.
Once it is melted, add the milk. Let cool.
Pour the chocolate into the butter mixture and combine.
Now add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing in the first one thoroughly before adding the next.
KOCH KLUG! The egg yolks should be at room temperature.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, almonds, baking powder, and salt. The almonds should be very finely ground, almost like flour. Stir until everything is evenly distributed. Set this aside.
In another bowl, use a hand-held mixer to whip the egg whites until frothy and opaque.
LECKER ALERT! You have to be sure the egg whites are completely clean, meaning no shells, and no fats or grease in the bowl. Otherwise they will NOT whip properly. You know it’s done right when you can quickly pull the mixer from the egg whites and they hold a stiff peaks as in the image below.
Now fold the flour-nut mixture and egg whites into the chocolate mixture, alternating between the flour and egg whites, starting and ending with the flour.
LECKER ALERT! Make sure you DO NOT OVER MIX because that will create a dense, dry cake.
Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan, and bake for about 45 minutes.
It is important that you DO NOT over bake this cake. When you insert a toothpick into the cake at 45 minutes, it will not come out clean. That is because, just like every chocolate dessert, the chocolate melts in the oven, which makes the cake more liquid while baking. Once it is cooled down though, it will become solid.
Once it is finished baking, let it cool until you can safely handle it. Then remove it from the pan and let it cool some more on a wire rack.
This cake is best eaten when warm, but you can wrap it in wax paper and keep it for another day.
Enjoy!
— Kristie & Ennis
The Double Lecker Team
Grandmother’s Chocolate Cake (Grossmutter’s Schoggi Kuchen)
Equipment
- Hand-held and/or stand mixer (optional)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter
- 5.5 oz. dark chocolate (72% cocoa)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp instant coffee
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ cup finely ground almonds (should be almost like flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 egg whites (must be completely clean or they will not whip properly)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and prepare a standard loaf pan.
- Combine the sugar, and butter in a bowl. The butter should be soft enough to easily push your finger through it, but it should not be melted. Mix until light and creamy, using either a hand-held or stand mixer. Set aside.
- Place the chocolate, water, vanilla, and coffee in a small pot. Slowly melt the chocolate over low heat, making sure it does not burn. Once it is melted, add the milk. Let cool.
- Pour the chocolate into the butter mixture and combine. Now add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing the first one thoroughly before adding the next. The egg yolks should be at room temperature. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, almonds, baking powder, and salt. The almonds have to be very finely ground, almost like flour. Stir until everything is evenly distributed. Set this aside as well.
- In another bowl, use a hand-held mixer to whip the egg whites until frothy and opaque. You know it’s done when you can quickly pull the mixer from the egg whites and they hold stiff peaks.
- Now fold the flour-nut mixture and egg whites into the chocolate mixture, alternating between the flour and egg whites, starting and ending with the flour.
- Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan, and bake for about 45 minutes. It is important that you DO NOT over bake this cake. When you insert a toothpick into the cake at 45 minutes, it will not come out clean. That is because, just like every chocolate dessert, the chocolate melts in the oven, which makes the cake more liquid while baking. Once it is cooled down though, it will become solid.
- Once it is finished baking, let it cool until you can safely handle it. Then remove it from the pan and let it cool some more on a wire rack. This cake is best eaten when warm, but you can wrap it in wax paper and keep it for another day.