Bakehouse’s Hot Cocoa Cake Kicks It Up Another Notch!

Cultured butter and Nicaraguan cacao make culinary magic

Avant-garde composer John Cage once shared, “Ideas are one thing and what happens is another. For me the surprise of what happens is the real joy.” That is, in fact, a lovely restatement of how I feel about the Bakehouse’s Hot Cocoa Cake. It’s even better than before now that we’ve started putting Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter into the culinary mix. Each bite, for me, is indeed joyous, for the beauty of the flavor itself and for seeing the idea come to such compelling fruition.

A year or so ago—in the kind of conversations we are always having here at Zingerman’s as we imagine ways to make what we bake, cook, and sell better still—the butter certainly seemed like a good idea for the cake. The thought itself was energizing, absolutely intriguing. I was hopeful, but of course, the evidence is not in the idea but in the eating. And as John Cage suggested it would, the real joy appeared many months later when I tasted the cake! It’s even more impactful than I’d imagined. 

The last time I wrote about this great Bakehouse cake was to announce that we had made it even better by switching over to the French Broad Chocolate single-origin Nicaragua chocolate. This was about two years ago. Carefully sourced and crafted by my friend Jael Skeffington and the FBC team in Asheville, the chocolate is darker, better quality, and, without question, more compelling! The flavor is cleaner, less sweet, more coherently cocoa-y! Zach Milner—busboy turned longtime Roadhouse dining room manager who’s also served as a Staff Partner for the past year—ate some when we made the switch, and his enthusiasm was palpable: “Wow! With the new chocolate, the Hot Cocoa Cake is now my favorite Bakehouse coffee cake! You really can taste the difference!”

The chocolate song we’re singing remains the same when we make this cake with Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter. The butter, as I’ve been noting for weeks now, is making three dozen or so ZCoB staples significantly better than they already were. All of them tasted great and were big sellers before we upgraded the butter. 

If you’re not already aware, the cultured butter is made the way great butter would have been made in the 1830s, when the house and barn at Cornman Farms were being built. Up until the end of the 19th century, the cream from fresh milk would have been allowed to slowly rise to the top. It would then be skimmed and saved for at least a couple of days, until the farm family had enough of it to make butter with. In the process, the natural bacterial cultures would ripen, enhancing the flavor in the cream. The process is similar to how cheese and yogurt develop, and the results are truly remarkable. Pretty much everyone who eats it loves it. People adore it on the Roadhouse bread service and in the Buttermilk Biscuits, Butterscotch Pudding, grits, mashed potatoes, and more. In October, the Bakehouse followed suit. This butter is now in the scones, Sour Cream Coffee Cake, croissants, Patti Pockets, and pie crusts. You really can taste the difference. 

The Hot Cocoa Cake is truly delicious. It’s still Zach Milner’s favorite. Here’s what he says: 

What was already a really marvelously luscious chocolate from French Broad has now been joined with some truly special butter. Like all the coffee cakes, I thought it was moist before, but now, with the cultured butter in it, it basically melts in your mouth. Amazing texture and creaminess mixed with that chocolate … you really can’t beat it. It’s my go-to with a cup of Holiday Blend coffee.

You can order the Hot Cocoa Cake whole at the Bakeshop, Roadhouse, or Deli. Or have it shipped from Mail Order. FYI, it’s part of the lineup our great Coffee Cake Club offers. And you can get it by the slice at the Bakeshop and Roadshow!

Care for a coffee cake?