The day after my wedding in San Francisco (this past July), I wanted to end my wedding diet the right way. So my first stop for breakfast (before the flight back to New Orleans) was Tartine Bakery, where I have had many a delicious eclair and buttery pain au chocolat in the past. However, I wasn't in an eclair or croissant-y mood at that moment. When I entered Tartine Bakery, it was clear that the towering slice of devils food cake had my name written all over it. Therefore, I gladly obliged my urges and ordered the chocolate.
Tartine Bakery's devils food cake is made with ultra-rich, and ultra-decadent Valrhona dark chocolate and ample amounts of real butter. The thick, brownie-like cake layers are alternated with oozing caramel and solid chocolate ganache. The ganache is a meal in an of itself. It is thick like refrigerated peanut butter, and so chocolately, that it tastes more intensely bittersweet than a dark chocolate bar, swallowed up whole in one huge mouthful. Best of all, the exposed top and side surfaces of the cake are generously dusted with cocoa powder--yes, even more chocolate. One bite of the cake, and you will immediately realize this cake is truly a chocolate lover's fantasy come true.
Diet ruined? Mission accomplished.
Haha! I'd say that's a helluva way to end a diet. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'd never remain thin if a bakery like that had been around! Look at those eclairs and the cake....Oh!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great picture! The texture looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteI think my eyeballs just went into insulin shock.
ReplyDeletethat slice of chocolate delight is a brazen hussy if I've ever seen one... I always try to start my week off virtuous, and there you go, pulling me off track...
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to your future missions if they all end like this!
ReplyDeleteYeah for food porn!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you had a slice of cake after you had a wedding cake the night before!? Did you feel like you were cheating on your wedding cake? You could always say the Devil's Food Cake made you do it. LOL
ReplyDeleteOMG! This makes me curse my diet! I can almost smell the chocolate!!
ReplyDeleteI don't have much of a sweet tooth for desserts, so I would probably pass out from chocolate shock after a few bites. Looks insanely rich!
ReplyDeletereally weird but i can SMELL this cake emanating from the screen!
ReplyDeleteam a true dessert+choc fiend here.
just finished reading foodhoe's posts and i thought i was 'over' eating in the *bay area* but am not.
this choc cake has me at the edge.... ;-)
Ah, guilty pleasures. What would food be without them?
ReplyDeleteGreat pics. My personal favorite in the city is Bay Bread out in the Fillmore. Great desserts AND just a couple of blocks way from one of the two Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's in Northern California. (After moving back up here, I'm going through some withdrawal).
BTW, did you hear, Robert Steinberg, co-founder of Scharffenberger, passed away this week. I'm sure you did the factory tour while you lived out here. Absolutely love baking with that chocolate.
Yours in food,
-DC
Oh My ... does that cake look wonderful ... great pictures, too
ReplyDeleteDenise
http://WineFoodPairing.blogspot.com
Looks like the beautiful patisseries in Paris! Lucky to have such a place!
ReplyDeleteStacey Snacks
Wow! Those pastries and cakes look amazing! I would have to visit that place every day!
ReplyDeleteThe cake looks soo good!
ReplyDeleteDo you have the Tartine cookbook? I love that cookbook and have had some really wonderful baked goods from it!
Now that you are so far away from SF, you'll need to make your own temptations!
You know, Wandering Chopsticks, Amritac, TastyNewEngland, ChubbyPanda, FoodHoe, Madam Chow, Agent713, Deborah Dowd, Marie, Taste Memory, Denise Clarke, Stacey Snacks, and Meg, the cake tasted EXACTLY like how it looked, and thus it was definitely chocolately, decadent, and uber-rich and buttery!
ReplyDeleteThe wedding cake was light and airy, so I needed to counteract that Chef Ben!
I did hear about how Mr. Steinberg passed away Dancing Chef, but I actually did not ever go on the tour. I will have to do that when I am back in the Bay Area. Maybe, we could do it together!
I wish that I was as diligent as you Melinda, I just eat, I don't bake! But I love the idea of using the Tartine Cookbook to recreate their amazing desserts!