Pro chef Natasha Pickowicz and home cook Emily are swapping recipes and hitting the kitchen to make chocolate cake. We set Emily up with all the ingredients necessary to make Chef Natasha’s luxurious $449 chocolate cake recipe, sending only $18 worth of stuff back the other way. Will Natasha be able to bake up a storm from Emily’s humble ingredients? Will Emily be able to keep up with Natasha’s restaurant-quality recipe?
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 I've never cried before while doing this,
00:02 but it's really not working.
00:04 I've done a lot of weird things.
00:07 I didn't think this was gonna be the one.
00:09 (laughs)
00:11 - Hi, I'm Natasha.
00:13 I'm a professional chef,
00:15 and these are my $449 chocolate cake ingredients.
00:18 - Hello, I'm Emily.
00:22 I'm a home cook,
00:22 and these are my $18 chocolate cake ingredients.
00:26 - Let's go.
00:29 - Oh.
00:30 (laughs)
00:32 - Cocoa powder.
00:34 So this is all you need to make a delicious chocolate cake.
00:36 - Oh, okay.
00:38 (laughs)
00:39 Yeah, great.
00:41 What?
00:42 - So I was planning on making a fudgy chocolate
00:49 buckwheat cake with buttery chocolate mousse.
00:52 I had two types of chocolate,
00:53 one dark, one milk.
00:55 - There's a lot of real chocolate here.
00:56 - The dark chocolate was for the cake itself,
00:59 along with buckwheat flour, vanilla extract,
01:01 and just a hint of coffee.
01:03 - Coffee?
01:04 I like coffee.
01:05 - I had milk chocolate and coconut oil
01:07 to make something I call chocolate waves.
01:10 You'll see what I mean.
01:10 And I had a little brandy and some vanilla bean
01:13 to make a delicious buttery chocolate mousse.
01:16 - Ooh, vanilla bean.
01:17 Ho ho, these are very expensive.
01:19 - And all finished with fancy olive oil,
01:21 flaky sea salt.
01:23 - I thought this was gonna be spray oil, to be honest,
01:24 but it's olive oil.
01:25 - And some organic roses.
01:27 Yes, for eating.
01:28 - I got flowers and brandy and chocolate.
01:31 This is like a date.
01:32 - Basically, it was gonna be the most delicious
01:33 chocolate cake of all time in the whole universe forever.
01:37 - Yeah, it'll be fine, it'll be fine.
01:38 (laughs)
01:40 What are the flowers for exactly?
01:41 - With Emily's recipe, I have much simpler ingredients,
01:44 things you'll find in your pantry and in the grocery store.
01:48 But with a little technique, we can make them even better.
01:51 If I had to guess, I think this would be about $17?
01:56 $18?
01:58 - Wow, I was so close.
01:59 - If I had to guess how much this would all cost,
02:02 I would guess $312.
02:04 $149?
02:06 I'm shopping at the right grocery store.
02:08 Here I have Chef Natasha's recipe book.
02:13 Some pretty basic instructions.
02:15 And there's a little cake offering me a rose.
02:17 Thanks, buddy.
02:18 Looks like I should start with the simple syrup.
02:20 - So we're starting with the syrup
02:22 because that's gonna be the thing
02:23 that creates the structure in the final chocolate cake.
02:26 Over low heat, you wanna melt out the sugar
02:28 in a little bit of water.
02:29 - Two spoons of coffee.
02:32 Two tablespoons of coffee.
02:34 What is a measurement, really?
02:36 - So we're actually kind of brewing a cup of coffee
02:39 in our pan as our simple syrup.
02:41 What it's gonna do is bring out that extra chocolate flavor.
02:44 You're gonna add in the chocolate.
02:46 This is the 70% Valrhona dark chocolate.
02:49 It's super rich and it's not sweet.
02:51 So we're gonna get great chocolate flavor.
02:53 - All right, I think that this is looking shiny
02:55 and beautiful, so I think I shall take it off the heat
02:57 and add my vanilla.
02:59 - Okay, so Emily was planning on making a pretty simple
03:02 kinda one-bowl chocolate cake situation with frosting.
03:05 - The kinda cake you could make on a late weeknight
03:08 when you're like, "I need cake now."
03:10 - But I'm gonna do something a little different.
03:12 So I'm gonna be making a four-layer brown butter
03:16 chocolate-frosted cake with a salty cocoa glaze.
03:20 So first I'm going to mix all my dry ingredients together.
03:24 And Emily's picked out this cocoa powder,
03:26 and this is actually the sole chocolate element
03:29 in the whole cake.
03:29 And then we have baking powder and baking soda.
03:32 Whisk all these things together.
03:34 I'm gonna start with two large eggs.
03:37 We have some just room temperature water,
03:40 little bit of vegetable oil.
03:42 I have some buttermilk here.
03:43 It's going to add richness, but also kind of a crucial
03:46 acidity or tang to it.
03:48 So we have our imitation vanilla extract.
03:50 Adding the sugar last, and then my dry.
03:53 Baking powder and baking soda can really clump.
03:56 And if you don't sift these clumps out,
03:59 they'll actually stay intact in the batter
04:00 and taste really metallic and really gross.
04:02 So you wanna make sure that we're sifting this.
04:04 So you can see lots of clumps here, but that's okay.
04:07 I don't wanna really smooth batter
04:08 because that actually is gonna overwork the gluten
04:11 in the flour and make the cake really tough.
04:14 Okay, that looks perfect.
04:16 - To continue making my batter,
04:17 I need to whisk together eggs and sugar.
04:19 Right now, this is nice, but it's gonna be batter.
04:21 - We're gonna use the whole egg
04:23 because we also want the richness from the yolks.
04:26 - I thought you were...
04:29 - Was unlocked before, for the record.
04:31 - My eggs are in there, and now I'm adding my sugar.
04:33 - Without the addition of like a chemical leavener,
04:35 like a baking powder or baking soda,
04:38 all of the height that we're getting from the cake
04:39 is coming from the air that we're sort of blowing
04:42 into the eggs while they're being whipped.
04:44 What we wanna see is the volume of the height of the eggs
04:48 should double in the bowl.
04:49 - So the next thing I'm gonna do is fold in this stuff
04:53 a third at a time to this stuff.
04:56 - Emily, be sure not to whisk the mixture together
04:59 or stir it.
05:00 You wanna actually bring up from the bottom,
05:02 folding it into the eggs.
05:04 If you stir or whisk the mixture together,
05:07 you'll deflate it and the cake will come out short and gummy.
05:11 - All right, just about there.
05:13 So the last thing we're gonna do
05:14 before the cake goes in the oven
05:15 is sift a little bit of buckwheat flour on top.
05:18 It's gonna give the cake a delicious crumb
05:20 and kind of a chew.
05:21 It's also going to provide incredible nutty, earthy flavor.
05:26 - Now, sifting is something I've never fully understood,
05:29 but I believe in it, like fairies and the economy.
05:33 And salt.
05:34 - And now what you're gonna do is steam the cake,
05:37 and that helps the cake cook more slowly and evenly
05:40 all the way through.
05:41 - Steam cake.
05:42 - All right, steam cake.
05:44 - Make sure you have that buttered springform cake pan
05:47 ready to go.
05:48 - You know, it's got like little cracks and stuff,
05:50 so it's better to make sure it's super safe from the water.
05:53 I have boiling-ish water.
05:55 I'm gonna make a little bath for you, baby.
05:58 - The environment of an oven is extremely dry and hot,
06:01 and what we're doing by adding a little bit of hot water
06:04 is it's gonna create steam.
06:06 The center of the cake and everything around it
06:08 is gonna be so moist and tender.
06:12 It's just gonna be a better way of cooking the cake,
06:14 because it's gonna go in the oven for almost two hours.
06:17 - Oven's preheated to 300.
06:18 Let's open it up and pop this sucker in there.
06:21 - So to make these cakes easy to remove,
06:23 I'm gonna add a little vegetable oil.
06:26 Tuck these parchment rounds right in the center.
06:29 Beautiful, chocolatey cake batter.
06:31 I preheated the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
06:37 They're gonna bake between 30 and 35 minutes.
06:40 Don't worry, I'm not putting crushed red pepper
06:42 and bay leaves into my cake.
06:43 These are for forming my chocolate waves.
06:46 - So this is going to be a decorative element.
06:48 We're going to first melt out the milk chocolate
06:51 with a little bit of coconut oil.
06:53 So this is kind of my hack for when you don't wanna deal
06:56 with tempering chocolate.
06:57 The trick is to add an oil with a lot of saturated fat.
07:01 - I'm gonna put this in the top secret
07:02 Epicurious microwave that's down there.
07:04 I shouldn't have told you.
07:05 That's right, there's a microwave down here.
07:07 - And that's gonna help you give the chocolate
07:10 a great shine and snap when we set it in the fridge
07:13 or even the freezer.
07:14 - I hear what you're asking, Emily.
07:15 Have you ever done anything like this before?
07:17 And the answer is no.
07:19 Now I'm setting up my waves and then I'm making a transfer.
07:23 - You're gonna use that height to drape your parchment
07:27 on top of that, creating this sort of wave shape.
07:30 - Everything's fine, don't worry about it.
07:33 Just give me a second.
07:34 You need them to not roll around.
07:37 Stop panicking.
07:38 (playful music)
07:41 Okay.
07:42 (laughs)
07:45 Suck it, gravity.
07:46 I had so much fun, I'm gonna go again.
07:48 Everything is perfect.
07:51 - It doesn't have to be too perfect
07:53 'cause we're gonna break them into smaller pieces
07:55 and it's gonna look really cool.
07:56 - Oh no, it's worse.
07:57 It's definitely worse.
07:58 We're resetting.
07:59 We're just gonna sneak 'em under there.
08:01 (beep)
08:04 it.
08:05 (laughs)
08:06 Close enough.
08:07 (laughs)
08:08 Come on, buddy.
08:09 - Now I'm gonna be making my salty cocoa glaze.
08:13 It's gonna kind of glue the cake layers together.
08:16 And here, the star ingredient again
08:17 is gonna be the cocoa powder.
08:19 Have some white sugar.
08:21 We're gonna melt this out in the syrup.
08:23 Kosher salt because we want it to kind of be salty sweet.
08:26 Imitation vanilla extract.
08:28 It's so much cheaper than the real thing
08:31 because really what it is is just an alcohol
08:33 that has sort of the added perfume
08:35 of imitation vanilla added into it.
08:38 And water is gonna pull it all together.
08:40 I wanna reduce the water just enough
08:42 so that the texture of the syrup is thick and viscous
08:46 and doesn't run out of the sides of my cake.
08:48 So all this has to do is cool
08:50 and then my salty cocoa glaze is ready to go.
08:53 - It's been an hour and 40 minutes
08:54 and it's time to take my cake out of the oven.
08:56 - You want to let the cake cool in the water bath
08:58 so instead of ripping it out of its environment,
09:00 you're sort of letting it come down in a more controlled way.
09:03 Well, I had some buttermilk left over
09:04 from mixing the cake so I think I'm gonna make
09:06 a chocolate buttermilk cake soak.
09:08 I have buttermilk, some imitation vanilla extract,
09:11 a little bit of powdered sugar, our star ingredient,
09:14 lots of this cocoa powder.
09:16 A cake soak is a way to add even more flavor
09:19 and moisture to a layer cake.
09:21 - All right, so the first thing I'm gonna do
09:23 is just run my offset spatula around the edges of my cake.
09:27 - So we still have to get the cake off of the bottom
09:33 of the springform pan.
09:34 Take a plate, put it on top of the cake
09:38 and then in a really swift motion,
09:41 you're gonna sort of invert the cake
09:43 onto that cutting board or that plate.
09:45 - All right, we're flipping the whole thing.
09:46 Let's just do it.
09:48 Cake!
09:49 - So I think I'm gonna pull these cakes from the oven.
09:52 Okay, so you can see that the cake is sort of pulling away
09:56 from the edges of the pan a little bit.
09:58 I'm looking good.
09:59 I'm just gonna let the cakes cool completely
10:01 before I assemble them.
10:03 - Next, I'm gonna get started on my buttery chocolate mousse.
10:06 To do that, the first thing I need to do
10:07 is make some whipped cream.
10:09 I'm gonna start low and then take it high.
10:11 More power!
10:13 Yeah, that's pretty picky.
10:15 All right, I'm gonna pop this sucker in the fridge.
10:19 - And this is where we're gonna add
10:20 one of our secret ingredients, a whole vanilla bean.
10:24 You wanna split it down the center
10:26 and then use the back of your knife
10:27 to kind of pull out as much of the caviar
10:30 and goo on the inside.
10:32 You're really getting this intensity of flavor
10:35 without adding additional liquid or volume.
10:39 - It is like caviar.
10:41 I feel like I've got like $100 of vanilla
10:42 stuck to my fingers.
10:43 All right, I'm just gonna give this a rough chop.
10:47 Ta-da!
10:48 Back to the bowl.
10:49 - Normally when you make a chocolate mousse,
10:52 it can get kind of fiddly
10:53 because you're melting out the chocolate over heat.
10:56 I wanted to eliminate all of that
10:58 with another simple syrup
10:59 that we're gonna make on the stove.
11:00 - All right, this is looking good.
11:02 - Everything else except for your whipped cream
11:03 is in the blender.
11:04 - Chocolate, salt, cocoa powder, eggs, brandy, butter.
11:09 That's Julia Child.
11:11 [laughs]
11:11 Sorry.
11:12 [blender whirring]
11:14 - The motor and the blade of the blender
11:17 combined with the boiling hot syrup
11:20 is going to one, melt the chocolate,
11:23 two, also cook that raw egg protein.
11:26 - All right, I think that looks pretty good.
11:27 - So the last thing you'll do is fold in whipped cream
11:31 into this chocolate blender mixture.
11:33 - I'd say that's just about smooth and combined.
11:36 Time to put everything together.
11:37 - I am going to cut these cakes in half.
11:42 It doesn't even bother me
11:43 that this isn't even perfectly even or level
11:46 because the way that I build cakes in the pan,
11:49 it kind of is gonna come out looking perfectly flattened
11:51 and even every time.
11:53 So now I have four layers.
11:55 Let the cake assembly commence.
11:56 - So we're gonna put the mousse on top of the cake,
11:59 but it needs a support to kind of create
12:02 those sharp, beautiful, professional-looking edges.
12:05 - I have not done anything like this before.
12:07 - I like to use what's called an acetate collar.
12:10 - So I'm looking to create a tight fit around the cake here.
12:13 I think that's about as good as it's gonna get.
12:17 - Once you have that ring in place,
12:19 all you do is just pour the mousse on top.
12:22 - I feel like there's probably like lessons
12:24 for how to hold this and maneuver that I haven't taken.
12:28 - And you wanna just like spread it
12:29 so you have a nice, even surface.
12:31 - All right, cake moussed.
12:34 - So once you have your mousse piled on top of the cake,
12:37 supported by the acetate collar,
12:39 it goes back in the fridge so the mousse has a chance to set.
12:43 - I'll start with the first round here.
12:44 I'm gonna add the soak.
12:46 I'm not trying to drench the cake.
12:48 I'm just adding another layer of great flavor.
12:50 - If you forgot about the cake in the oven
12:52 and it overbaked and it felt a little dry,
12:54 you can actually rehydrate your cake layers
12:57 with a little bit of soak and no one will be able to tell.
12:59 - Now I'm gonna add a third of a cup
13:01 of this salty cocoa glaze.
13:04 And this is gonna be the glue
13:05 that I add more cake layers on top of.
13:08 Between these creamy moussey cake layers,
13:10 adding a dry dusting of cocoa powder.
13:13 It's barely discernible, but it just adds
13:15 this like sophisticated finish to Squishy Bite.
13:18 The speed that the cake absorbs the soak is quite slow.
13:22 So the cake is better on day two than it is on day one.
13:25 The thing about a layer cake is that
13:26 you almost wanna age it.
13:27 The longer it sits, the better
13:29 and more cohesive it's gonna be.
13:31 The last layer, the top, is actually the bottom.
13:34 And then it's gonna get the rest of this soak.
13:37 It's so snug in this cake pan.
13:38 When you pop out the cake later,
13:40 you get these really even, clean sides,
13:43 which you don't always get when you are just building
13:45 a cake straight up and it's listing to the side
13:48 or filling's oozing out.
13:49 This will contain everything.
13:51 And at this point, I could put it in the freezer
13:53 or I could put it in the fridge
13:55 and it can kinda hang out for a day or overnight.
13:57 As it rests, it's gonna come together
13:59 in this like delicious way and be more sturdy,
14:01 which is gonna make it easier for me
14:03 to apply the buttercream.
14:05 All right, my cake is out.
14:06 Now I just have to release it.
14:10 What you can do if you wanna kinda clean up
14:11 any of the edges is take again that offset spatula.
14:16 You can run it under hot water
14:18 and then just run the spatula around
14:21 the edges of the cake and that'll clean it up.
14:23 Okay, well, before I make that worse, I'm gonna stop.
14:26 The last thing I have to do is make the frosting.
14:28 I have some butter here from Emily's recipe,
14:30 but I'm going to make brown butter with it.
14:33 So brown butter is what happens when you caramelize
14:36 the milk solids in butter.
14:38 So it's gonna add like a nutty, complex depth
14:42 to kind of a basic frosting.
14:44 You have this tighter network of bubbles,
14:47 almost like a honeycomb look.
14:49 So I think we're getting close.
14:52 You can see these milk solids have toasted.
14:55 It's like a beautiful caramel color.
14:57 Once your butter is browned,
14:58 and it smells absolutely incredible,
15:01 add the cocoa powder all at once,
15:02 and we're just gonna whisk it all up.
15:04 We're bringing this cocoa powder back to life in this butter.
15:07 So I have my ice bath waiting for me.
15:09 Once the solids are browned sufficiently,
15:12 you want to arrest the process.
15:13 You don't wanna burn it.
15:15 So now we're gonna take this cocoa paste
15:17 and turn it into the most delicious frosting ever.
15:20 Get all of this cocoa butter
15:22 right into the bowl of the mixer,
15:24 and then just on low,
15:27 get it prepared for the powdered sugar.
15:30 And this is actually really important.
15:33 If the powdered sugar is clumpy at all,
15:35 like this is a little bit,
15:36 it's really hard to smooth out those clumps
15:38 if you don't sift it first when you're making frosting.
15:40 I just don't want this frosting to be too sweet,
15:44 so I'm only using two cups.
15:46 I find that sugar actually tends to mute flavors of things
15:50 instead of enhance them if you use too much.
15:52 We'll add the imitation vanilla extract
15:55 and the kosher salt,
15:56 and then we'll end with the buttermilk.
15:58 It feels like super whipped, super fluffy.
16:02 It's almost like mousse-like in texture.
16:04 Okay, so I think I'm at the perfect point for this frosting,
16:07 and now it's time to finish the cake.
16:10 All right, it's time to decorate my cake.
16:12 So I have my waves here,
16:14 and I'm just gonna try and break them into shards.
16:16 I'm trying to imagine
16:17 what this might have been supposed to look like,
16:20 and then I'm moving towards a vision in my mind
16:22 that may or may not deliver on that.
16:24 Salt is an amazing ingredient
16:26 in that it draws out the flavors that you have in it.
16:29 It enhances them and makes it feel more bold and more alive.
16:32 Emily, you're gonna be using organic roses,
16:34 not the kind that you might buy at a supermarket or a deli
16:38 that are used for display,
16:39 because those are often sprayed with pesticides,
16:42 they have chemicals on them.
16:43 They're definitely not for eating.
16:45 If you can find organic roses, those are safe to eat.
16:48 - Before I start, kiwi, this is for you.
16:52 - It's gonna add so much
16:53 in terms of a natural, organic element.
16:56 It's gonna add an interesting flavor and texture as well,
16:59 and it's just gonna make it feel really luxurious
17:02 and decadent and beautiful.
17:04 - Is this what Chef Natasha envisioned?
17:07 Almost certainly not.
17:08 - Okay, home stretch.
17:10 I have my cake assembled, I have my frosting,
17:12 and I have my trusty turntable.
17:15 So now we're going to unmold the cake.
17:18 I'm going to invert it onto this cardboard cake round,
17:21 and I'm gonna add all this frosting on top of it.
17:23 This turntable is like an essential layer cake tool for me.
17:27 You can hold your hand in place and move it,
17:30 and that's how you get those really clean,
17:32 kind of swoopy lines.
17:34 I'm just gonna hit this with a little bit of powdered sugar
17:36 and cocoa powder.
17:37 It just adds such a kind of a professional final look.
17:41 These are fig leaves from my backyard.
17:43 Obviously, Emily didn't give me these things,
17:46 but I feel like you could also root around your own home
17:50 and be inspired by unconventional things
17:53 to decorate your cakes.
17:54 And this is my four-layer brown butter chocolate-frosted cake
17:58 with salty cocoa glaze.
18:01 I really hope Emily likes it,
18:02 and I can't wait to see what she does with my recipe.
18:05 - And this is my take on Chef Natasha's chocolate cake.
18:08 I hope she likes it.
18:11 (dramatic music)
18:13 - Hi! - Hello!
18:14 - It's so nice to see you!
18:15 (laughing)
18:16 I'm really excited to see what you've done
18:17 with my ingredients.
18:19 Oh! (laughing)
18:20 - Wow! - Look at it!
18:22 This is amazing.
18:23 Should we try it?
18:25 - Let's do it. - Okay.
18:26 Oh my God.
18:29 (laughing)
18:30 That's so good.
18:31 It's like moist and super chocolatey.
18:32 - I feel like cake has to be seasoned
18:34 just like you would season a savory dish,
18:36 so I go hard with the kosher salt.
18:39 I feel like salt is something that can bring out
18:41 kind of cheaper ingredients.
18:44 - Yeah, totally. - And just make the taste
18:45 more vibrant.
18:46 - That makes so much sense.
18:47 Yeah, I feel like you really took the extremely simple cake
18:49 that I would've made and turned it into
18:52 something really cool and gourmet and delicious.
18:54 - I gotta try what you made.
18:55 - Okay, I'm nervous, but I am thrilled.
18:57 - Okay, okay.
18:58 I mean, it looks super beautiful.
19:00 - I worked really hard.
19:01 I'm just a home cook.
19:02 I'm so sorry in advance.
19:03 (laughing)
19:04 - No, I mean, I think I can tell
19:06 that you did those nice, clean knife cuts
19:07 because the cross section looks super tidy.
19:09 Had you ever made a cake like that before?
19:11 - No, I've never steamed a cake before.
19:13 Yeah, there were a lot of new skills that I learned today,
19:17 but that's a positive thing, you know?
19:18 - Amazing.
19:19 - Let's get in there.
19:20 - Okay.
19:21 Mm. - Mm.
19:23 - Wow. - Yeah, that's delicious.
19:24 - It's so creamy and smooth.
19:27 It's almost like a truffle.
19:29 - Yeah, right? - Like a cake form.
19:30 Yeah. - Yeah.
19:31 It's delicious.
19:32 It's like the salt and the olive oil
19:34 really adds even more interest
19:37 in tasty stuff. - Yeah.
19:38 Yeah, you want that added fat on the palate.
19:40 It's just so great with chocolate.
19:41 - Yeah, totally.
19:42 I feel like I learned a lot today,
19:43 so thank you for this lesson.
19:46 (laughing)
19:47 - Absolutely.
19:48 You killed it.
19:49 It was great.
19:50 - Thank you so much.
19:50 - Thank you, it was so fun.
19:52 - Now I gotta find your slice of cake again
19:54 so I can eat the rest of it.
19:55 (laughing)
19:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]