23. My Favourite Insulin Spike (chocolate cake)

I'm aware I've used the expression "cake day" incorrectly here.

What's your favourite insulin spike? I love a good pie or crumble or gelato (and believe me, I loved me a good gelato this weekend. . . pistachio, to be exact), but I just can't get past chocolate cake. Although I take issue with the precision and general fussiness of baking, a moist, luscious chocolate cake is worth it in the end, and pretty fun to decorate, too.

On Saturday, I thirded a well-reviewed recipe on AllRecipes.com, substituting strong brewed coffee for boiling water, and baked it in my (well greased!) 2.5 qt. glass mixing bowl (seen here). The depth of the bowl caused the baking time to nearly double, but the cake ended up the perfect size and shape. And because chocolate cake without strawberry filling is no chocolate cake worth eating (okay, that's a lie), I boiled a half-pound of sliced strawberries with a few spoons of sugar and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (I would double this next time) until thickened and cooled it slightly before adding a little bit of my own version of a French Meringue Buttercream:

3 egg whites (I had a carton of pasteurized egg whites for meringue experimentation.)

pinch salt

2/3 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup butter, softened and cubed

Whisk whites with salt until very foamy. Add sugar gradually until the whites are at the stiff peaks stage. Add vanilla. Add butter gradually until incorporated. It will look a little barfy for a minute, but keep whipping and it will come together. 

The cake was crazy moist and chocolatey, the filling added just enough interest to break up the choconotony, and the icing was perfectly light. Next time: I might add even more coffee and balsamic, and I'd be just as happy with a classic 7-minute or whipped cream-based frosting.

I highly recommend celebrating nothing with chocolate cake on a rainy day.