For the Love Of Cake — One Squirrel’s Quest

Yesterday was by far the most eventful day I’ve had over the past few months. Since I’ve mostly stayed home since mid-March (due to the COVID-19 pandemic – just including that for the future when I go back to read this and think, “why did stay home so much?”)…anyway, since I’ve been at home so much lately, life has been pretty uneventful. Yesterday was an exception.

It started out so peaceful. I slept in, ate a bit of breakfast, and started baking this glorious Flourless Chocolate-Chili Cake from Benjamina Ebuehi’s cookbook The New Way To Cake. I popped it in the oven, cleaned up as it baked, then while it cooled I went to the other room to do a bit of yoga. Such a calm, peaceful Sunday. *Sigh*

Enter Mr. Squirrel

Then, after yoga, I walked back into the kitchen and to my surprise, there was a SQUIRREL in the window – INSIDE the house! He had chewed a hole through my second-floor apartment’s window screen to get to my cake! Luckily, the little bugger only got a quick taste of the cake before I found him.

I proceeded to scream bloody murder, and the squirrel freaked out and started running around my apartment. I started chasing him, but of course he was too quick for me and I couldn’t manage to direct him toward the door where he could escape. So I closed every other door in my apartment and barricaded the entrance to my dining room, trapping Mr. Squirrel in the living room. He was hiding under a chair and wouldn’t come out, so I tried luring him out by leaving a trail of cashews through the living room and down the stairs leading to the front door that I had propped open. No luck.

Finally, I had to run at the chair yelling at the top of my lungs to scare him out of hiding. This time his only way out was down the stairs (stopping to grab a few cashews on his way) and out the door. Adieu, Mr. Squirrel.

The Flourless Chocolate-Chili Cake

Now that I was rid of Mr. Squirrel, I could attend to the cake. Thankfully, he didn’t get much of it at all (there was a fair amount of cayenne pepper in it, so I imagine he didn’t enjoy it as much as he thought he would!). Once the cake was fully cool, I cut out the section Mr. Squirrel snacked on and enjoyed the rest with friends (yes, I told them about the squirrel before they ate it). Side note: after this ordeal I learned that squirrels are the only woodland creature that doesn’t carry rabies. Good to know, right?

Anyway, despite Mr. Squirrel’s attempts, that cake was AMAZING. Deeply chocolatey with a kick of chili, the texture a cross between a moist brownie and a giant truffle, it was absolute heaven…especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. YUM.

I unfortunately can’t share the recipe with you, as it isn’t my own and I don’t have permission to share it. BUT, I’ll leave you with a couple of resources. First, the Flourless Chocolate-Chili Cake comes from this cookbook:

If you’re in the market for a new baking cookbook, I can’t recommend this one enough. It’s full of amazing flavor combinations (my next one will be her Elderflower and Roasted Strawberry Layer Cake) and a variety of different types of layer cakes, cupcakes, loaf cakes, bundt cakes…ALL THE CAKES.

If you’re not ready to invest in a new cookbook, I’d recommend Benjamina’s blog – Carrot and Crumb. This chocolate cake isn’t on her blog, but so many other delicious-looking desserts are, and I’m certain you’ll find one you love.

So that’s the story of the most delicious chocolate cake and the squirrel who couldn’t resist it. In his defense, that cake was pretty irresistible.