Not all chocolate cakes are created equal

With a friend in town, we were in search of some excellent dessert. Having been voted Palo Alto’s Best for over 15 consecutive years by Palo Alto Weekly, The Prolific Oven looked promising. Four locations in the South Bay also allowed for lots of options for a chocolate break, no matter where we explored.

I asked the counter barista to recommend the chocolatiest dessert, and a slice of their Chocolate on Chocolate Cake was served. Though this cake is the most popular on the menu, my chocolate palate was disappointed as it lacked the deep dark bitter sweet bite and rich texture I appreciate and have come to expect.

While the “American Style sour cream chocolate cake” was pleasant, it did not however pair well with the frosting. The cake on its own was fine, but the semi-sweet chocolate frosting had a waxy, “not quite real,” too-sweet taste that made me pause as I needed to try it a few times to figure out what was wrong. I actually scraped some of the frosting off the cake and left it on the plate. And if you know me, you know that leaving good chocolate on a plate is a sin! This however was not good chocolate.The heaviness of this pseudo-chocolate frosting overpowered the light, moist airiness of the cake. I was surprised to find that the cake is described as “rich” because for me it was everything but.

My friend however tried their Chocolate Mocha Cake. Though not my first choice in a chocolate cake, this cake does have an overall better taste than the Chocolate on Chocolate. Both desserts begin with the same “American Style sour cream chocolate cake,” but while it doesn’t pair with the Chocolate on Chocolate frosting, it is complemented by the cream cheese frosting in the Mocha Cake. Though there is a subtle coffee flavor in the frosting, a brown sugary flavor dominates which actually plays off of the subtle sour cream bite in the cake and cream cheese in the frosting to create an overall very good cake. While I liked the chopped chocolate on the edge, my friend, who chose wisely and whose cake I highjacked as mine bit the dust, did not, and let me polish it off.

Overall assessment: 2.5 cacao beans (out of 5).
With a few chocolate options, there are choices to be had, but for me, it will probably be German Chocolate or Chocolate Rum next time. However, if you’re looking for a good deep dark chocolate cake, keep looking – and definitely not here.

(review date: 2009_10-16)

Cake YES, but the drinking chocolate...

I was in Davis visiting a friend, and with a book and a little time to kill, I came across Ciocolat while looking for parking downtown. Known for its “extraordinary desserts,” this little French inspired cafe provides a homey, Old World charm, perfect for an afternoon of reading or quiet conversation.

And the Chocolate Decadence Cake doesn't disappoint either.

Made onsite, “in the back,” the clerk shared it was her recommendation as the most dense and intense chocolate dessert they sell (over the Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle cake). A half-inch layer of neutral dark chocolate cake supported a dense sweetly bittersweet ganache, which was sprinkled with unsweetened cocoa and delicately decorated with 3 chocolate covered coffee beans. Together, each component complemented the other. Individually, however, the cake was rather flavorless, the ganache a bit too sweet, and the unsweetened cocoa was bitter, though together the trio soared. Only the coffee beans were brilliant flying solo.

While overall the cake was good, the Mexican Hot Chocolate was unfortunately lousy – weak in flavor or a little “too mild” in the cinnamon taste as well as the chocolate bite. When I asked the barista about it after sampling, she made the excuse that they were running low on the powder they use, which she mixed with soy milk for me. Not a good excuse, but "c'est la vie!"

Overall assessment: 3.5 cacao beans (out of 5)
For a surprised happen chance discovery in Davis, a good piece of chocolate cake made it a good afternoon. But rather than drinking chocolate, next time I'll just settle for a glass of cold water.

(review date: 2009_09-10)