“Dessert proved to be a fattened brown bread of some sort with a smooth topping in a deeper brown. It smelled heavenly but she raised a brow, curious as to the food’s origins.”

Jura’s dinner with Beshar was one of my favorite chapters to write. The chapter brings a shocking revelation to the plot and features description from their four course meal. Today I’ve chosen to share with you my version of Beshar’s chocolate cake. It should be noted this cake and the fictional recipe are actually accredited to Yemekk, Beshar’s paid chef, though the dessert is a favorite of the Tenth.

For this recipe, you will need:

2 1/4 C cake flour 1/2 C coffee

2 1/2 C granulated sugar 1/4 C vegetable oil

1/2 C brown sugar 1 1/2 C buttermilk

1 C cocoa powder 1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking soda 1/4 C sour cream

1 tsp baking powder 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

2 tbs butter

3 ounces of pure Friisan chocolate. If you can’t make it to Friis, any good baking chocolate will do. (I use Ghiradelli)

SO this cake is fairly easy to make. Of course I cheated and used my stand-up mixer (advances I’m sure Yemekk would drool over) but this recipe can easily be mixed by hand if you want to go for the authentic experience. First off, ask your Torch to preheat your oven to 350 and then grease/flour three 9in baking rounds. Grab your mixing bowl and dump in your flour, sugars, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder and give them a good mix. While those ingredients mix, set aside all your dairy. Melt your butter and your chocolate and mix with your coffee. Add buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to your dry ingredients. Then add your coffee mixture and sour cream. Mix until smooth, this might take 3-4 minutes. Distribute the batter evenly between your three prepared pans. Bake for thirty minutes. Let the cakes cool on a wire rack and slice the tops to make them even for stacking. Use your favorite chocolate buttercream recipe and enjoy!