Flourless chocolate and hazelnut cake. Photo: Citrus and Candy.

Whether you call it a chocolate craving or a "dirty mood," like Karen from Citrus and Candy, there are some days (and nights) when nothing but a big piece of chocolate cake is going to sate the need for, well, a big piece of chocolate cake.

While many would simply hit the nearest bakery to quell such a specific sweet tooth, Karen decided -- long past midnight -- that she was going to bake this flourless chocolate-hazelnut version of the classic gâteau because ... why not? As if this were not enough, she topped it off with a similarly hued, liqueur-infused chocolate ganache -- just enough decadence to incite a craving of our own.

[Via Citrus and Candy]

Molten Chocolate Cake. Photo: The Skinny Chef

It's practically raining zucchini in the month of August, but there are only so many nights you can serve it sautéed. Since zucchini has a mild flavor and plenty of liquid, it's ideal for sweet recipes because it helps baked goods stay moist, like applesauce does.

Since seeing the mounds of butter and melted chocolate oozing across the screen in "Julie and Julia," I've been craving an indulgent chocolate dessert. So I made this rich, dark molten cake that's crusty on top and soft and melted in the center. Adding a little zucchini is a great way to skim back a little on the fat and sugar.

Get Jennifer's Molten Chocolate Cake recipe after the jump.

Ah, Friday. At long last. This calls for a celebration, and, of course, a celebration isn't a celebration without a cake. Preferably one that looks like this one, which was baked, frosted, sprinkled with lovely colors and then photographed by rachel is coconut&lime. Plucked from the Flickr Slashfood pool, it's the kind of cake that makes you feel like throwing a birthday party, even if your birthday isn't until next May. It's got that luscious, thick chocolate icing that's synonymous with the optimism of childhood, while the sprinkles could make even a full ashtray look appealing. It's a cake that could inspire even a non-baker to bake (or at least open a box of cake mix). It's a cake that could cure seasonal affects disorder. It's a cake, in other words, that's worthy of a celebration of its own, regardless of the day of the week.

[Via Flickr]

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

I love the variety of cakes that you all add to the Slashfood Flickr pool. We get birthday cakes and cupcakes, heart-shaped ones and ones decorated with animals sculpted from fondant. This particular cake uses deviled food cake, cream cheese and crushed Oreo cookies to achieve this fluffy effect. It looks like an easy one to assemble and would be perfect for those of you who struggle getting your frosting just right.

Thanks ginnerobot, for adding your photo to the pool!

Okay Sassy Radish, I have a bone to pick with you. Last I checked, you said you were cooking and eating more lightly for the holidays. You dished up a gorgeous looking stir-fry and I felt virtuous just looking at it. But now, you toss this cake, this amazing chocolate cake, with peanut butter cream cheese icing and chocolate ganache, into the Slashfood Flickr pool, leading us right back onto the path of culinary temptation. How's a food blogger supposed to cope?

I hope you can stomach one more sweet treat after the sugar orgy that is late December. This lovely chocolate cake (and don't you love the way the background pattern mimics the look of the sprinkles) comes from Jeannette of Everybody Likes Sandwiches. She baked this cake as a Christmas dessert and if you're up for it, you can get the recipe here.

As the resident cake baker in my circle of friends, I'm always trying to find something new and funky to make. I've been in a groove of no-cook fondant and marzipan figures, but this summer I got a challenge -- chocolate. Not being the biggest fan of chocolate cakes, I mostly stick to the many other flavors. However, my friend, she loves the dark and sinful treat. If she wanted chocolate, she was really going to get chocolate. Since she's also a skier, it would be served in a smooth, snowy package.

Death by Chocolate Cake, straight out of The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Chocolate, with white fondant, a marzipan skier, and some candles for wishing. Check out the gallery, peruse the recipe after the jump, and stay tuned for more information on the fondant and marzipan.

This time of year, I much prefer eating fruit-based desserts to ones involving chocolate or lots of cake. Give me a nice crisp or cobbler and I'm a happy girl. Despite those seasonal preferences, I saw this cake and immediately started salivating. There's no recipe link along with the picture, but I believe that it's the one from Nigella Lawson's gorgeous, slightly tongue-in-cheek cookbook, How to be a Domestic Goddess. It's a cake I've always intended to make, but have never gotten around to it. I think it's moving to the top of the list now, having seen this tasty reminder.

Thanks to Jonathan for adding this picture to the Slashfood Flickr pool!

Okay, I'm taking a big risk here. In addition to showing off my unattractive, massively egotistical side, I'm also going to put myself in danger of a little self-incrimination. Here goes:

When I'm sober and clear-headed, I'm a pretty decent cook, but when I'm seriously impaired, I am a culinary god. In all honesty, imagine Drunken Master with a baking sheet. I'm that good.

I've allowed my skills to deteriorate since I left grad school, but, once upon a time, my addled forays into the kitchen were widely regarded as moments of pure magic. Admittedly, impaired kitchen godhood wasn't a quick process: after mastering the beer-and-cabbage ramen dish that my friend Julie was famous for, I played with various crudite, cheese, and dip combinations before moving on to seriously impaired baking.

While I won't endorse BWI (baking while intoxicated) on the grounds that it is incredibly stupid, I have to admit that the biscotti that I produced at 3:00 in the morning with a houseful of goofy friends were truly amazing. Perfectly crisped, with just the slightest touch of anise, they were a great late-night snack, and the perfect accompaniment to the coffee that I would inevitably be guzzling the next morning.

Admittedly, my forays into the world of BWI were not without their dangers: piles of filthy bowls and measuring tools were common, as were flour-covered counters. More important, although I never burned a biscotti, there were a couple of times when it got pretty close. With that in mind, I was particularly impressed by Dizzy Dee's Five-Minute Chocolate Cake. A mix of six simple ingredients, the recipe uses a mug as both the mixing bowl and cooking vessel, which makes clean-up a lot easier. Also, the cake cooks in the microwave, so you don't have to worry about torching your dessert!

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• We know that Elvis was a fan of fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, but did you know that he was also fond of meatloaf? Well, according to this recipe for his cook's meatloaf recipe, he way.
• Forgo the tuna sandwich and stir up these Summer Shrimp-Salad Sandwiches instead.
• Streuseled Fruit can be made quickly in the microwave out of all the ripe summer fruit. Sounds like the perfect quick summer dessert (as long as you are cool with cooking in the microwave).

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• This week's recipes: Radish-Celery Salad, Beef Pho, and Flourless Chocolate Cake.

I've had so much sugar and carbs the past two weeks that I think I'm turning into a giant dessert. I feel so blah and bloated. Even my teeth have this weird feel to them, as if they're screaming eat a bowl of soup, will ya?!

So I'm not going to participate in National Whipped Cream Day, but you can feel free to do so (unless you don't want to break that New Year's diet you're on - you're still on that, right?). Here's a quick recipe for whipped cream from AllRecipes, and these recipes have whipped cream on top of them: Cranberry Chocolate Cake with Rummy Whipped Cream, Pumpkin Cake with Whipped Cream and Pecan Praline, and Cherry Chocolate Shortcakes with Kirsch Whipped Cream. Of course, Cool Whip is always good in a pinch (I know, it's whipped "topping" not cream). By the way, whatever happened to chocolate flavored Cool Whip? I used to love that. I'd freeze it and make a dessert out of just that.

And for those of you who do "other" things with whipped cream, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Chocolate and orange is a combination that you either love or hate. For some, the slight acidity of the citrus works really well with chocolate, both milk and dark, while others find the tastes to be dissonant. Fanny, from Food Beam, was a member of the latter camp until she decided to try making Bill Granger's Chocolate and Mandarin Cake. The cake is a nearly flourless chocolate cake, made rich with ground almonds and a bit of mandarin orange zest. There isn't enough zest to make the orange flavor overwhelming, although the bright flavor does come through the deeply flavored cake and is helped along by serving the cake with slices of mandarin. The only thing that Fanny doesn't share is what motivated her to go against her usual inclinations and try the recipe in the first place. Whatever her reason, it seems like it was a success.

Tall, rich and topped with a candle, this Chocolate Layer Cake from the Canadian Baker is enough to make me wonder if we should extend the tradition of adding candles to cakes to New Year's celebrations, in addition to our own birthdays. It's another birthday, in a way, for the earth - not to mention that it's kind of fun to eat cake, blow out candles and make a wish.

But getting back to the cake, it is a classic. The layers are moist, made with cocoa powder and buttermilk, and it is finished with a simple chocolate buttercream frosting. You can find the recipe here, but you might be able to find a cake just like this one at local bakery or a restaurant that specializes in classic comfort food. This type of cake is a great one to have in your recipe book because it can be brought out on so many occasions, from birthday (or New Year's) parties to Valentine's Dinners or casual family gatherings.

Around this time last year, a department store in Japan offered up a million dollar cake. This year's cake at the Takashimaya department store in Osaka is not quite as pricey, but is still nothing to sneeze at. The 14-inch high cake is studded with about 100 diamonds totaling 50 carats. The cake itself has a square chocolate base and a chocolate sculpture of some kind on top that makes it look like a showpiece - which, of course, it is.

The cake is priced at $848,600 or 100 million yen, but a spokesperson for the store said that the value of all the diamonds on the cake is much higher than its price tag. She also suggested that "it would be ideal if a man were to buy it as a present for his wife."

The cake has been on display for at least a few days now and will remain up through Christmas, even if it is sold before then.

[via spluch]