My friend David Lebovitz has a wonderful food blog that focuses mostly on desserts & chocolate. As a former chocolatier and chef myself, I identify with David’s passion for chocolate.
This month David was chosen to host an event called Sugar High Friday that originally started at Domestic Goddess blog. The event is an opportunity for people to bake their favorite dessert recipe or try a new one and post it. This month the theme was Chocolate by Brand, where you have to tell what brand of chocolate you used and why. It was a perfect excuse for me to make a chocolate cake recipe I’ve been dying to try from Suzy Palatin, a friend of Pierre and Frederick Hermé’s. It’s a deceptively easy recipe with simple ingredients, yet the result is a sublime not too rich chocolate sensation. I used Poulain Noir 76% de Cacao because the packaging said: dark, serious, no fooling around chocolate. If you make it, please let me know how it came out. Enjoy!
The Hermé’s serve the cake with whipped cream, or Vanilla Crème Anglaise. Sometimes they make the cake with raspberries, putting a thin layer of batter over the bottom of the pan, tossing over fresh raspberries, then covering the berries with batter.
8 3/4 ounces (250 grams) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona Guanaja, finely chopped –I used Poulain Noir 76% de Cacao
2 1/4 sticks (9 ounces; 250 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-cup (200 grams) sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (70 grams) all-purpose flour
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees Celsius). Butter a 9-inch (24-cm) round cake pan that is at least 2 inches (5 cm) high, line the bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper, and dust the inside of the pan with flour; tap out the excess and set the pan aside.
2. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over - not touching - simmering water and heat until the chocolate is melted; or melt the chocolate in a microwave oven. Set the chocolate aside to cool; it should feel only just want to the touch when you mix it with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Pour the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for about 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently, until the butter is creamy and the sugar well blended into it. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each addition. Reduce the mixer speed to low, pour in the cooled chocolate, and mix until it is incorporated. With the mixer still on low, add the flour and mix only until it disappears into the batter. Alternatively, you can fold in the last of the flour with a rubber spatula. You'll have a thick, smooth, satiny batter that look like an old-fashioned chocolate frosting.
4. Scrape the batter into the pan, smooth the top, and slide the pan into the oven. Bake for 26-29 minutes, or until cake rises slightly and the top has lost its sheen. The top may crack a bit and the cake may not look entirely set in the center; when you test a cake by inserting a slender knife into the center, the knife will come out slightly streaked with batter, which is what you want. Transfer the cake to a rack to cool.
5. When the cake has cooled, chill it in the refrigerator for an hour or two to make it easy to unmold. Turn the cake out, remove the parchment, and invert the cake onto a serving platter so it is right side up. Allow the cake to come to room temperature before slicing and serving.
Makes 8-10 servings
KEEPING: the cake can be wrapped in plastic and kept at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or frozen for up to a month.
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Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com
Outstanding recette, Richard! Just what a chocoholic comme moi needs on a chilly winter Monday!
Posted by: Louis la Vache | January 22, 2007 at 05:31 PM
Trois mots: Oh. Mon. Dieu.
Posted by: Mimi | January 23, 2007 at 03:15 AM
Richard
It was such a pleasure to meet you and vincent with Diane the other night . We stayed out there for two hours ! Time passes on and on .I am at the office but will send you the photos tonight . Take care and I will see you on Saturday night .
Posted by: Earl Pickens | January 23, 2007 at 09:37 AM
Luscious. I see you and I had the exact same thoughts on chocolate selection. I. LOVE. THAT. CHOCOLATE.
:) Will have to make this! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: mrbunsrocks | January 23, 2007 at 05:06 PM
Outstanding, Richard! Louis made it using the Valrhona Chocolate. Louis adapted the recette by filling the layers with a crème pâtissiere lightly flavored with almond extract. Louis then topped the gâteau with chocolate ganache and garnished it with toasted sliced almonds.
Louis will post the results on his regular blog and on his recette blog before the end of the week.
Posted by: Louis la Vache | January 24, 2007 at 10:31 AM
Very nice chocolate cake. Thanks for sharing Richard.
Posted by: Pinky's Plumbing | March 28, 2013 at 11:18 AM