Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (10 page)

7½ ounces (1½ cups) unblanched almonds

5 eggs (graded large), separated, plus 2 egg yolks

¾ cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

Adjust rack one-third up from bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter a 9 × 3-inch spring-form pan or a one-piece 9 × 2½- or 9 × 3-inch cake pan, line the bottom with baking-pan liner paper or wax paper cut to fit, butter the paper, dust all over with fine, dry bread crumbs, invert to shake out excess, and set the pan aside.

The chocolate and almonds must be finely ground. First chop the chocolate coarsely and then grind it with the almonds in a food processor fitted with the steel blade or grind in a blender. Or this may be ground in a nut grinder. Set aside.

Place the 7 egg yolks in the small bowl of an electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until the yolks are pale lemon-colored but not until thick.

Add the ground chocolate and then the ground almonds and beat until mixed. Transfer to a larger mixing bowl.

Add the salt to the 5 egg whites and beat (with clean beaters) until they hold a definite shape but not until they are stiff or dry.

Add the beaten whites to the chocolate mixture and fold together only until incorporated.

Turn into the prepared pan and rotate a bit briskly first in one direction, then the other, to level the batter.

Bake for about 65 minutes until the top barely springs back when lightly pressed with a fingertip.

Remove from the oven and immediately, with a small, sharp knife, cut around the sides to release. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cover with a rack and invert cake pan and rack, remove the pan, peel off the paper slowly and carefully, cover with another rack and invert again, leaving the cake right side up to cool on the rack.

The cake will be cut to make two layers. (It is a delicate and fragile cake so if you freeze it first it will be easier to cut and safer to handle).

Meanwhile, prepare the buttercream.

BUTTERCREAM

This takes a lot of beating and some chilling and more beating to dissolve the sugar and achieve its silken, smooth texture.

3 ounces (¾ stick) sweet butter

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs (graded large)

3 ounces (3 squares) unsweetened chocolate

In the small bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter with the vanilla. Add the sugar and beat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat at high speed for a few minutes after each addition.

Meanwhile, place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Cover until partially melted, then uncover and stir until completely melted.

Add the warm melted chocolate to the buttercream and beat again for several minutes.

Now, place the bowl of buttercream and the beaters in the freezer or the refrigerator until the mixture is quite firm.

When you are ready to fill and ice the cake, prepare a cake plate by placing four strips of wax paper around the outer edges.

Using a serrated bread knife cut the cake horizontally to make two even layers.

Place the bottom layer of the cake, cut side up, on the plate, checking to see that the wax paper touches the cake all around. If you have a cake-decorating turntable or a lazy Susan, place the cake plate on it.

To finish the buttercream, remove it from the freezer or refrigerator and beat again for several minutes. It should be beaten until it is soft enough to spread easily, light in color, and as smooth as honey. Don’t be afraid of overbeating now.

Spread about one-third of the buttercream over the bottom layer, cover with the top layer, placing it
cut side down, and spread the remaining buttercream smoothly over the sides and top.

Remove the wax paper strips by pulling each one out toward a narrow end.

Serve at room temperature.

NOTE
:
When this was served on the Orient Express, the top was covered with toasted sliced almonds and confectioners sugar and the rim was decorated elaborately with mocha buttercream. I don’t think it needs any decoration but it lends itself to almost anything you might like to design for it—chocolate leaves, cones, curls, etc. Or cover the top with chocolate shavings and sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Or form a circle of whole toasted blanched almonds around the rim.

Petit Gâteau au Chocolat

6
P
ORTIONS

This is special! Small, dark, rich—a precious little gem. It should be made for a special occasion for few people. It is not too much for two or three, or it may be cut into eight small wedges.

You will need a 6-inch round spring-form pan. Generally they are 3 inches deep. The cake will be only 1½ inches deep, but if the pan is deeper it doesn’t hurt. (There are 6-inch spring-form pans available at specialty kitchen equipment stores or wholesale bakery supply stores.)

The cake may be made early in the day or it may be made ahead of time and frozen, even with the icing.

4 ounces (4 squares) semisweet chocolate

½ cup granulated sugar

3 ounces (¾ stick) sweet butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour (yes, only 2 tablespoons)

3 eggs (graded large), separated

Pinch of salt

Adjust rack one-third up from bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 6-inch spring-form pan, line the bottom with a round of baking-pan liner paper or wax paper cut to fit, butter the paper, dust the pan and paper with flour. Invert the pan over a piece of paper and tap lightly to shake out excess flour. Set the prepared pan aside.

Place the chocolate in the top of a large double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Cover until melted. Remove the top of the double boiler from the hot water and let stand, uncovered, for 2 or 3 minutes. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Then add to the chocolate in the following order, the butter, the remaining sugar, the flour, and then the egg yolks, stirring after each addition until incorporated.

In the small bowl of an electric mixer add the salt to the egg whites and beat until the whites hold a soft shape. Gradually add the reserved 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat only until the whites hold a definite shape.

The chocolate mixture will be stiff. First add about ½ cup of the beaten whites and stir them in. Then gradually, in about four small additions, fold in the remaining whites, handling as little as possible.

Turn into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 35 minutes. (The cake will seem soft but it will firm as it cools.)

Let the cake stand in the pan until it cools to tepid. Gently remove the sides of the spring form.
Cover with a rack and invert, remove the bottom of the pan and the paper, cover with another rack and invert again, leaving the cake right side up. Let stand until completely cool.

The glaze has to stand for about half an hour before it is used, so prepare it now or when the cake is completely cool.

Place four strips of wax paper around the edges of a small cake plate. Place the cake on the plate, right side up (the top will be slightly domed), checking to see that the wax papers touch the cake all around. If you have a cake-decorating turntable or a lazy Susan, place the cake plate on it.

FRENCH CHOCOLATE GLAZE

This is very dark, as smooth as velvet, and as shiny as satin.

3 ounces semisweet chocolate

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 ounce (2 tablespoons) sweet butter, at room temperature

Optional: unsalted green pistachio nuts, chopped (to be used on top of the glaze)

Break up or coarsely chop the chocolate and place it in the top of a small double boiler. Add the sugar and water. Place over hot water on moderate heat. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the hot water. Add the butter and stir until smooth.

Let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until the mixture starts to thicken slightly—it will probably take half an hour or a bit longer. (If the glaze is used too soon it will be so thin that too much of it will run off the sides of the cake.)

When the glaze is slightly thickened, pour it slowly over the top of the cake. If it has thickened enough, and if you pour it slowly enough, it will cover the top of the cake in a smooth layer and just a very little bit will run down the sides. Use a small metal spatula to smooth the sides (that should be a thinner layer than the top).

Remove the wax paper strips by pulling each one out toward a narrow end.

OPTIONAL
:
Sprinkle the middle of the top with about 1 teaspoon of chopped, unsalted green pistachio nuts or decorate as you wish.

Let the cake stand for at least an hour or two for the glaze to set slightly. (To freeze the cake after it is glazed, let it stand until the glaze is set, freeze it, and then wrap it. Thaw wrapped at room temperature.)

WHIPPED CREAM

1 cup heavy cream

¼ cup strained confectioners sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, whip the above ingredients until the cream holds a shape. If the cream is whipped ahead of time and refrigerated, stir it briefly with a wire whisk before using.

Place a spoonful of the whipped cream alongside each portion of cake.

Chocolate Carrot Torte

12
P
ORTIONS

This is an elegant single layer European-type torte with a shiny chocolate glaze. Delicious! It has a moist, rather firm, and slightly coarse texture. No one will identify the carrots but they do make the cake moist and juicy.

4 ounces semisweet chocolate (see Note)

7½ ounces (1½ cups) almonds, blanched or unblanched

3 medium-size carrots (to make 1 cup grated, pressed firmly into the cup)

5 eggs (graded large or extra-large), separated

¾ cup granulated sugar

⅓ cup fine, dry bread crumbs

Optional: finely grated rind of 1 deep-colored orange

Pinch of salt

Adjust rack one-third up from bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 × 2½- or 3-inch spring-form pan. Line the bottom with a round of wax paper or baking-pan liner paper cut to fit. Butter the paper. Dust the inside lightly with fine, dry bread crumbs (these crumbs are in addition to those called for in the recipe); invert over paper and tap lightly to shake out excess crumbs. Set the prepared pan aside.

Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Cover until partially melted, then uncover and stir until completely melted and smooth. Remove the top of the double boiler and set aside, uncovered, to cool.

The nuts must be ground to a fine powder. This may be done in a food processor, a blender, or a nut grinder. Set the ground nuts aside.

There is no need to peel the carrots. Just wash them well, cut off both ends, and grate fine on a standing metal grater. Set the grated carrots aside.

Place the egg yolks and ½ cup (reserve remaining ¼ cup) of the sugar in the small bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at high speed for 2 or 3 minutes until the yolks are pale lemon-colored and creamy. On low speed add the cooled chocolate and beat only to mix well. Remove from the mixer and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Stir in the bread crumbs, carrots, ground almonds, and optional orange rind.

Then, in the small bowl of the electric mixer (the bowl and beaters must be clean), add the salt to the egg whites and beat until they hold a very soft shape. On moderate speed gradually add the reserved ¼ cup sugar. Then beat briefly on high speed only until the whites hold a shape when a bit of them is lifted with a spatula—they must not be stiff or dry.

In four or five additions, small at first, add the beaten whites to the chocolate mixture. Gently fold them in. Don’t handle any more than necessary; if a few bits of white remain on the surface, smooth over them with the rubber spatula to incorporate them without any more folding in than necessary.