Reine de Saba avec Glaçage au Chocolat: Chocolate Almond Cake

We love chocolate, coffee and cakes so this amazing recipe by Julia Child is a treat for us all. Today is the first day when we Baking Partners are posting our first venture and being Julia Child's birthday  Swati has chosen this beautiful recipe. Thanks Swati!

If truth be told before I started blogging my world revolved around Sanjeev Kapoor and Tarla Dalal’s recipes. Then I discovered new amazing chefs like Anjum Anand, Nigella Lawson to name a few.

 But there is no end to learning. When I first heard the name Julia Child I was not too curious but about the same time Swati sent this amazing recipe for baking partners I googled for Julia Child.

 The write-up on her is totally impressive and the video that I saw and I was sold.

So there are something you tamper with but when you are told that it’s a light cake and that the “Cake won’t set at the center, it is shaky, sides will set, and tooth pick comes out clean, where as in the center it will be oily.” The wise leave it alone.

 

I am definitely that... Wise. J So there was a big no fooling around sign board in fact I chased out my kids out of the kitchen! The elder one took off thankfully and the younger one was in and out.

So here is this delicious cake chocolate almond cake from Julia Child for Baking Partners.

The original cake is for an 8 inch round cake pan 2 ½ inch deep. Swati has calculated and included 9 inch cake pan recipe for which I was thankful.

Reine de Saba avec Glaçage au Chocolat: Chocolate Almond Cake

Recipe Source

Excerpted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Copyright © 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

 Ingredients for 9 inch cake pan

 127.57 grams   of semi-sweet chocolate melted

 2   tablespoon + ¼ teaspoon coffee

127 grams softened butter

150.8 grams granulated sugar

3 eggs ( Yolk and white separated)
Pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon + ½ teaspoon  of  granulated sugar
73.12g pulverized  (ground) almonds
1/4 tsp. almond extract

¼ tsp vanilla essence
64grams cake flour (scooped and leveled, turned into a sifter)

For chocolate icing

  63.7 g semisweet chocolate
2 Tb + 1 teaspoon coffee
6 to 7 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Method:

1.     Preheat oven to 180º C.

2.    Butter and flour the cake pan.

3.    In a steel bowl mix chocolate and rum/ coffee (should have used the decoction) and place it over another bowl with boiling water, chocolate will melt after 5 minutes.

4.     Cream the butter and sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture.

5.     Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.

6.      Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed.

7.     Sprinkle 1 tblsp and 1 tsp sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.

8.     With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in the ground almonds, and almond extract.

9.     Immediately stir in one-fourth (¼) of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter.

10.Delicately fold in a third (1/3rd) of the remaining whites and when partially blended, sift on one-third (1/3rd) of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly.

11.Turn the batter into the cake pan, smoothen out the batter and push the batter to the sides.

12. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for 25minutes. Bake cake until it puffed and gently set in center and tooth pick inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20-25minutes. (I needed almost 17 minutes).

13. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

14.Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse cake on the rack.

15.Allow it to cool for an hour or two (mine was left overnight); it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.

16.To serve, use the chocolate-butter icing recipe below.

How to make Icing

1.     Fill a bowl with a tray of ice cubes. Set aside.

2.     Place the chocolate and   coffee (I used decoction here used 2 tsp water) in a double boiler of almost simmering water.

3.      Remove pans from heat and let chocolate melt for 5 minutes or so, until perfectly smooth.

4.    Lift chocolate pan out of the hot water, and beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time.

5.     Then beat over the ice and water until chocolate mixture has cooled to spreading consistency. (Mine could have done with more beating).

6.     At once spread it over your cake with spatula or knife.

7.    Place cake on platter.

8.    Scrape icing onto top center. Spread the icing evenly and thinly over top and sides of cake.

 Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and store at room temperature.

Verdict:

 Though I was on pins and needles when I was making this cake(you will notice right away there is no baking powder in the cake) and promised myself I will never put myself into the same place again I will definitely try it out again and again. As for my family they left one small square bit and told me to eat it, very generously! (they must have realized I  had not tasted it)!! 

The highlighted text are my own notes for future bakes. 

Also since my chocolate looked runny I sprinkled/ sieved icing sugar on it. This is how it looked.

Substitute for cake flour: While measuring the cake flour, add 1 tablespoon of corn flour/corn starch and then fill the rest of cup with all purpose flour.


Sending to 
Summee's

Bon Vivant #7 - Baked Goodies

Linking to Bake Fest hosted by FOODOMANIA  started by Vardhini

I love baking #7 by Radhika.

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