When I read the khymos.org blog, I stumbled over a sauerkraut chocolate cake and thought that is nuts. What an absurd kind of an idea. But on the other hand, I was also intrigued by it and decided to try it at some time. All of the friends I talked to about it made funny faces - probably partially in disgust. That was more or less the same thing I did. Since I didn’t wholly
trust the idea, I searched Google and found some more recipes. All what the people wrote was how surprised they were and that you couldn’t really taste the sauerkraut on its own.
The theory behind all this and why it works, has something to do with similarities on a molacular basis. Chocolate as well as sauerkraut share the same volatile aroma molecules and for that reason, the two make a good pairing. This concept was first appreciated by François Benz. He was also the first to introduce a creation of pork liver and jasmine on one of the first workshops on molecular gastronomy. And from what you read - it worked. Since then Hervé This and Heston Blumenthal are doing a lot of experimentation in that field of work. The latter one also uses the results of his search for interesting flavor pairings in recipes of his restaurant The Fat Duck.
The recipe is more or less the one khymos.org used
- 170g butter
- 300g sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 pack of vanilla sugar
- 150ml cold coffee
- 100ml water
- 250g all purpose flour
- 50g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon soda
- 1/2 Tablespoon salt
- 300g chopped Sauerkraut (pressed)
Step 1:
Mix all the ingredients except the sauerkraut in a bowl and prepare a smooth batter. After that stir in the sauerkraut.
Step 2:
Put it in the oven for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180° Celsius). When a toothpick comes out clean, take the cake out of the oven and let it cool.
