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A New Love: Jacques Pépin's Fast Food
Talking Him Into It - Feeding The Guy
Another Change, and Two Summer Shortcakes
« May Magazine Reviews | Main | I'm siiiiiiiiiiiiiiinging in the rain... »
Another weekend, another adventure with my new favorite book, Susan Hermann Loomis' On Rue Tatin. My friend Lily, who is equally enamored of the book, agreed to join me in a night of French food and film, and we cooked for a bunch of friends, making recipes exclusively from the book. The Apples Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Leeks were as much of a hit as the first time I made them, the Apple Roquefort, and Walnut Salad was lovely, the Braised Chicken in White Wine and Mustard was a huge success, and the Tiny Baked Potatoes with Cream were fantastic (when the store was out of chives, Lily opted for dill, and the result was wonderful). But the real treat of the night, at least in my mind, was Mamy Jacqueline's Chocolate Cake. I worried about the texture when I was making it, since the dense mix of chocolate, sugar, egg yolks and flour didn't seem like the ideal texture to fold into whipped egg whites, and I worried when I poured the batter into the pan and it seemed to barely cover the bottom (and I was even using a 9" pan instead of 9.5"). But when the cake was served, all my fears were put to rest. The cake was a lovely, thin treat of dense chocolate that was homey and sophisticated all at once, and as soon as people had finished their first slices they immediately asked if they could have more. This cake is going to take a place of honor in my repetoire as the adult's answer to the chocolate layer cakes of our youths - when I have kids it will not be something I make for their birthdays, but it is definitely something I will make for mine.
Mamy Jacqueline's Chocolate Cake
3/4 cup cake flour
Sea salt
7 ounces bitter chocolate (like Lindt 70%)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
Confectioners' sugar
1. Butter and flour a 9.5 inch rounk cake pan. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Sift the flour and a generous pinch of salt onto a piece of parchment paper.
3. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double broiler over medium-high heat. Transfer the chocolate to a medium-size bowl and whisk in the butter until the mixture is smooth. Vigorously whisk in all but 1 tablespoon of the sugar, then add the egg yolks and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture 1 tablespoon at a time until well combined.
4. In a large bowl whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are foamy and begin to thicken. Add the remaining tablespoon of sugar and continue whisking until they form soft peaks. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then turn it into the prepared baking pan and bake in the center of the oven until the cake springs back, 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool to lukewarm in the pan, then turn it out onto a rack to cool thoroughly. To serve, sprinkle it with confectioners' sugar.
6 to 8 servings
Posted by georgia to Kitchen and Cooking , Reviews on April 23, 2006 11:06 PM | permalink | Email this post
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Sniff.
Next time you have "On Rue Tatin" night can I come? I love that book. Just love it! And I want to eat all that glorious food too.
I'll wash dishes ... scrub floors ... whatever ...
Seriously, I'm so glad you got to do this with your friends. That's what life is all about. Good friends and good food!
Posted by: Ivonne at April 24, 2006 01:25 AM
