Valentine’s Day is just around the corner!
I can’t wait to share this delicious Chocolate Gateau, also known as gâteau au chocolat (ガトーショコラ) that I made over the weekend. Indulge yourself with this rich, dense, yet moist, melt-in-your mouth chocolate cake. It’s utterly divine!
Speaking of Valentine’s Day, I thought I should share how we celebrate this day in Japan as it’s a bit different from the U.S. Valentine’s Day was first introduced to Japan in 1936 by the confectionery company Morozoff. Other confectionery companies started promoting this holiday in the 1950s.
In Japan, it is only the women who give gifts (mainly chocolates, like Nama Chocolate) to men as an expression of love, courtesy, or social obligation. This custom was originated from the translation error of a chocolate company (according to wiki). Unlike western countries, gifts like greeting cards, candies, flowers, or dinner dates are uncommon on Valentine’s Day in Japan.
In Japan, many women feel obligated to give chocolates to male bosses and co-workers. This tradition is known as “Giri-Choko” (義理チョコ), meaning obligation (giri) chocolate (choko). In addition to “Giri Choko”, chocolates are also given to family and others.
- The chocolate that women give to their loved one is called “Honmei Choko” (本命チョコ).
- Chocolates for friends (including girl friends) are called “Tomo Choko” (友チョコ).
- Chocolates for family are called “Fami Choko” (ファミチョコ).
When I was living in Japan, a lot of female school children and young adults chose this day to tell the boy/man about their affection. Even girls who were usually too shy to express their feelings took advantage of Valentine’s Day as a great opportunity to express their love (does it sound like I’m talking about my experience? Maybe!). If you are familiar with Japanese culture, dramas and mangas, I’m sure you have seen the “declaring love” (kokuhaku 告白) scene on Valentine’s Day.
By the way, while the rest of the world moves on to the next holiday, Valentine’s Day won’t be over yet in Japan. A month later, March 14th is “White Day”, a day when men are supposed to return gifts to women. White Day was first introduced in late 1970s by the National Confectionery Industry Association (according to wiki). Men return gifts like jewelery, white chocolate, candies, and cookies.
Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day or not, this moist, dark, and crumbly Chocolate Gateau with a nice cocoa punch will make everyone happy. If you prefer a more chocolatey flavor, you can apply fudgy frosting or chocolate ganache. I like my cake to be simple and less sweet so I decorate the cake with fresh raspberries and powdered sugar on top. After refrigerating the cake for one day, I microwaved a slice for 20 seconds and served it with vanilla ice cream. The result was just fabulous: warm moist chocolate cake with the delicate chilled flavor of vanilla.
Hope you and your loved ones enjoy this cake!
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- 90 g unsalted butter (7 Tbsp or 3.2 oz)
- ½ Tbsp unsalted butter (for greasing)
- 30 g all-purpose flour (plain flour) (¼ cup; plus more for dusting; If you're using a cup measurement, please follow this method to measure. Otherwise, the amount of flour tends to be more than you need.)
- 75 g unsweetened cocoa powder (2.6 oz or 1 cup - 1 Tbsp)
- 150 g semi-sweet chocolate (5.4 oz; preferably good quality)
- 4 large eggs (cold, I decided to reduce an egg after taking the ingredient picture which shows 5 eggs)
- pinch kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- 180 g sugar (6.3 oz or ⅔ cup + ¼ cup)
- 60 g heavy (whipping) cream (60 ml)
- Raspberry (for garnish)
- confectioners’ sugar/powder sugar (for garnish)
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Gather all the ingredients.
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190C). Butter an 8-inch baking pan, dust the inside of the pan with flour, and tap out the excess.
- Line the bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper, dust the paper with flour and tap out the excess. Set aside.
- Combine the flour and cocoa powder and sift, set aside.
- Chop chocolates into small pieces and set aside.
- Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (140F/60C) and add the chocolate. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted.
- Add the coarsely chopped butter and let it melted completely. Transfer the bowl to the counter and let the mixture cool.
- Separate the cold eggs, putting the whites in a mixer bowl or other large bowl and the yolks in a small bowl.
- While the chocolate is cooling, place the egg whites in a clean bowl with a pinch of salt. Working with the whisk attachment of the mixer, beat the egg whites until they are foamy and start adding half of the sugar (3oz/90g) in 2-3 separate additions.
- Continue to beat on high speed until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved (about 5 min total). To test for stiff peaks, the peaks should stand straight up when you lift up the beaters. The whites should not slide around. Transfer the meringue into a bowl and wash the mixing bowl for next step.
- In the clean mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and the rest of sugar (3oz/90g) until creamy and stir in the heavy whipping cream.
- With a rubber spatula stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.
- Then add the flour and cocoa powder into the mixture.
- Using the spatula, stir about 1/3 of the meringue in to the batter, then gently fold in the rest until the color is uniform.
- Pour the batter into the pan and give the pan several sharp taps on the counter to bring up any air bubbles that may be trapped in the batter.
- Bake at 375 degrees F (190C) for 10 minutes and then lower the setting to 340 degrees F (170F) and bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick pulls out moist crumbs when inserted near the center of the cake. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the cake rest for 15 minutes.
- Run a knife along the edges of the cake and carefully turn the cake over onto a rack and remove the pan and the parchment paper. Invert the cake onto a serving platter before serving. As the cake cools, it may deflate a bit. Decorate with raspberry and dust the powder sugar before serving.
Adapted from Cookpad.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Hi Nami!
Looks like I can’t resist to your dessert recipes! (I would like to try your other dishes but sometimes I can’t find some ingredients here)
I’ve made this chocolate cake too. No words to describe it!
This cake is a good reason to get up at the morning to do breakfast 😀
I’ve also added a chocolate ganache and a little touch of white chocolate to decorate.
As usual I leave the link to the picture, I appreciate that you share them on your fb page!
http://14th-division.deviantart.com/art/Chocolate-cake-453805212
Hi Shiva! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I definitely love your addition of chocolate ganache (drool!). 🙂
Hey Nami, my friend is having a party tomorrow and I was wondering if a 9 inch pan would work. Would it just make a flatter cake?
Hi Steven! As you see in my photos my cake is also flatter with 8 inch. So yours will be even flatter… I think for a chocolate cake,the taller it is, the prettier it looks, at least for me….. What do you think? You can surely use 9 inch too. 🙂
Hi nami! what’s the best substitute for the heavy whipping cream? Can I use whipping cream? There is no heavy whipping cream available in our area. :/
Hi Dess! Whipping cream or heavy cream works. Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Hi Nami,
I don’t have an 8 inch pan. Do you think it’s better to use a 9 inch pan or a 6 inch pan? (That’s all I have) 🙁
Thank you!
Hi Chisa! Definitely 6 inch! Mine comes out a little flat. Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Oh my ,this Chocolate Gateau was the best I’ve ever made and tasted in my whole life,though my meringue did not form stiff peaks where by mistake I added the entire sugar to the egg whites,with my little girl playing havoc in the kitchen. I still ended up with a rich creamy chocolate texture and nice crisp crust.
I hope it’s suppose to be the same.
Thank you Nami for Sharing your lovely recipe. I can’t wait to try out your Japanese cheese cake Souffle.
Luv
Hi Vania! So happy to hear you liked this cake! I don’t’ think your little mistake created any issue for the outcome. Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Good luck with the Souffle Cheesecake (this one, meringue is very important!;) ).
I love this recipe! I’m looking forward to making this, possibly for Valentine’s Day. For the eggs, you reduced it to 3? Thank you!
Hi Yzabelle! Thanks for checking! I actually meant 4 eggs. In the photo, it shows 5 eggs, but I ended up using 4 eggs. I updated my recipe with clearer instruction. Thank you! 🙂
i like your recipe, i like your way write very detailed and easy form to study cook me. thank you very much
Hi Alit! Thank you! I’m so happy to hear that. I think, English is my 2nd language which is why my writing is simple instead of writing complicated long sentences. 😀
Hi tried making cake but it was not cooked in the Centre and was burned on the sides can u pls tell me where I went wrong .. I am using Panasonic NE M263 microwave oven .. And regarding preheat my oven doesn’t have that option so I preheated for 190deg for 2o mins and then used the same temp for baking .. But the cake was really yummy where it was baked properly ????.. Tried many of your receipes it was really helpful as my kids enjoy Japanese food .. Thnx
Hi Preetha! It’s really hard to tell what went wrong without me looking at how you make it and what product you used. I’m so sorry. The time (you said 20 minutes) for preheating sounds good. Usually 15-20 minutes. How big was your cake? Next time insert the toothpick or skewer in the center of the cake to make sure it’s all the way cooked through before taking it out of the oven (Step 15). 🙂
Hello, I tried doing this with my 4 year old. We had lots of fun! His favorite part was licking the pan where we melted the chocolate. I however, didn’t have enough cocoa powder so I added instant coffee instead. It doesn’t look pretty, but it tastes well. A little too sweet for my taste even when I cut down on the sugar. Maybe I’ll just use half of the sugar next time.
Hi Kessia! Your 4 year old will be a great baker! How fun to bake with your son! Thank you so much for your feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami! Can I use a 6 inch baking pan? How should I alter the baking time?
Hi Jenny! Yes, you can make it in 6 inch baking pan, but if your pan is not a tall pan, you will need more than one pan. I haven’t tried it with 6 inch before so I can’t give you exact baking time. But make sure to insert the skewer in the center of the cake and check doneness around 25-35 mins.
Can you also share with us a recipe using white or dark chocolate? Thank you!
I’ll put on my list. 🙂 Thank you Trixia!
Hi Nami! Love your website! I have used so many recipes and it’s always been a success! Thanks for sharing!
I was wondering about this chocolate cake recipe whether I’d get similar results without the heavy whipping cream… I try to avoid using such ingredient because I find it on the heavy side… but I’m hoping to either do without or find a lighter substitute?! Thanks in advance!
Hi Huyen! Thank you for trying my recipes and I’m so happy to hear they came out well. Thank you!!
I think you can use lighter substitute of dairy (milk) or non-dairy products…. I haven’t tried it, so it’s hard to say. Heavy cream gives richness and moist. Hope other ingredient will work as well! 🙂
Hi Huyen. So did you tried the recipe without heavy cream? I had runned out of heavy cream and thinking if I can use any substitution.
Hi Nami! I had followed your chocolate gataeu recipe for a few times and everytimes it turns out super nice with moist and smooth texture. However, recently I baked it using my new oven, but the cake turned out to be dry and hard. Do you have any idea how should I do it? Shall I reduce the temperature of baking or reduce the time of baking?
Hi Jenny! Each oven is different, and when you get a new oven, you might want to check the oven temperature. It might have a hot spot and might be too strong (higher temp than it is displayed), etc. It sounds like you over-baked or temp was high – it might be resolved by reducing the time. But I recommend checking the temp first. 🙂
can i use sour cream instead if heavy cream? if yes, is it equal measurement as the heavy cream? i stumbled upon your site while browsing about japanese cheesecake that i made (1st attempt) this afternoon. i notice that u use double boiler instead of mixer for the cheese nd etc, does it have any effect or something?ilbe making your gateau tomorrow, cross my fingers. i love your blog, very informative and detailed. i love japan and the people!:)
Hi Shan! I’ve never tried it with sour cream so I can’t tell how it is but hope it worked out if you’ve tried. Sorry for my late response – I was traveling over the weekend and returned yesterday. 🙁
thank you so much for the reply. its worth the wait. im new to baking and go over your site and i love how you detailed out the procedure, very comprehensive. one last question, does it have thesame effect between melting the cream cheese over the boiler
and creaming it with
mixer? the texture or whatever it is still thesame?
Hi Shan! I’m a bit confused. Do you mean cream cheese or sour cream? You mentioned about using sour cream instead of whipping cream. Or is this for another recipe? I think the effect will be different. There is always a scientific reason why we do things in baking, I think. I’m not an expert in baking, so I rather follow basics and I am not confident (yet) to change things around as I have no idea how the outcome will be…. xD
i apologize for the confusion. what i am trying to say is that when making cheesecake, u melt the cream cheese and heavy cream over a double boiler. is the outcome still thesame if u dont use a boiler to melt and use the mixer instead? though melting it over double boiler is more faster but wondering if it has thesame outcome.. thank you so much for the reply:)
No problem! Thanks for clarifying. Yes, you can do it without double boiler. You will need to keep the ingredients at room temperature to make it smooth cream faster though. You just need to be prepared ahead. 🙂
Had cravings for chocolate cake after looking at your picture. Decided to make the cake this morning.
Outcome: taste is as per discribed – very rich, moist and full of chocolate flavour (even though I used only a Hershey’s semi sweet chips – which is the best that I could get in India). I used a 6” cake pan so my baking time is almost 100mins.
The updated recipe is accurate, so thank you for being diligent in ensuring that the recipe is corrected.
Hello Cynthia! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your wonderful review of this recipe. I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this cake! Thank you for letting me know your bake time for 6″ cake pan as well. 🙂 xo