For better or worse, occasionally a concept gets stuck in my brain, and like a puppy with a new chew toy, I can't seem to let go of it until I have almost shaken the life out of it. This is the case at the moment with that most chic of French cakes, Le Chocolat sans farine. These cakes contain elements guaranteed to terrorize the novice baker- chocolate to melt without seizing, no leavening except beaten eggs, and huge self-doubt about when the cake is baked enough. With three strikes like that, as well as a long personal history of pancake flat unleavened cakes of all persuasions, venturing down the flourless cake path seemed pretty foolhardy, especially when you factor in the cost of messing up two-thirds of a pound of chocolate.
BUT, recent success with several chocolate mousse products encouraged me forward, as did two events just crying out for a French chocolate cake- Passover (no flour allowed!!) and a vintage wine dinner with 1970 Fonseca port to accompany the dessert and the admonition from Dr. Hal that the cake had to be chocolate, but not too sweet.
After serious study of the infinite variety of chocolate cake options- butter or cream? semi-sweet, bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate? coffee? liqueur? steamed or baked? I selected David Lebovitz's "Racines Cake" from Ready for Dessert. Mr. Lebovitz introduces this cake with what I believe is an apocryphal tale of discovering the recipe written on the wall of the mens room in Racine's, a Parisian restaurant, ordering it off the menu for dessert, and finding it so delicious that he went back to the bathroom with pen and paper to copy down the recipe. Don't you agree that I have the right to be a little skeptical, I mean have you ever seen a recipe written on the wall of a restaurant bathroom?? Even (or especially) in Paris?
But the cake's various hurdles- making faux expresso with my drip coffee cone, beating the yolks until they are "light and creamy," folding the melted chocolate and butter into the yolks instead of the yolks into the chocolate as the recipe stated, messing up about 3 eggs trying to separate them, using an 8" pan instead of the 9" which was specified - were overcome and the results, baked just to a tender but non-collapsible firmness were truly "magnifique!" Try to locate the cocoa nibs for topping the cake- they make a really nice crunchy contrast to the cake's smooth creaminess.
Our vintage wine dinner hostess contributed a delicious cherry sorbet flavored with hints of citrus and almond that was a wonderful accompaniment, as was Dr. Hal's precious port. (He may disagree, in fact I'm sure that he does, but in my book the port accompanies the dessert, not vice-versa.)
In the coming weeks I will experiment with more cakes of this genre, building up to an attempt to overcome one of my biggest cake baking disasters, Julia Child's "Reine de Saba." Stay tuned.
Racines Cake
(adapted from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz)
8" or 9" springform pan
Cocoa powder for dusting the pan
10 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup salted butter, plus 2 Tb to butter the cake pan
1 Tb freshly brewed expresso (I made super strong drip coffee)
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/4 cup, plus 2 Tb sugar
2 Tb cocoa nibs (Scharffenberger makes them)
Powdered sugar, optional, for dusting the cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Adjust one rack to the upper half of the oven. Butter the bottom and sides of the springform pan and lightly dust it with cocoa, shaking out the excess.
Melt the chocolate and butter, along with the expresso in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water. When the chocolate has melted, remove the top pan from the heat, stir to smooth out the butter and chocolate, add the vanilla, and let it cool down for a minute or two.
While the chocolate is melting, whip the egg yolks and sugar in a stand mixer bowl with the whip attachment at medium-high speed until the mixture just starts to "form the ribbon." (When it seems that the eggs might be thickened enough, with the mixer off, lift the beater out of egg mixture and see if it is thick enough to make a ribbon as it lazily drips back into the bowl- that's the ribbon.)
Gently fold the beaten egg yolks into the cooled chocolate mixture.
Egg White ALERT!! Egg whites will not "mount" properly if the bowl, beater, or spatula are anything but immaculately clean and dry. If you only have one whip beater for your mixer, be sure to wash and dry it thoroughly before beating the egg whites. If you only have one mixer bowl, make sure that it is also clean and dry after folding the egg yolks into the chocolate.
In a second clean and dry mixer bowl, use a cleaned and dried whip attachment to whip the egg whites on low speed until they begin to hold their shape. Add the remaining 2 Tb of sugar and whisk the egg whites on high speed until they hold soft peaks.
Stir one-fourth of the egg white into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the rest of the beaten egg whites. Fold only until there are no visible streaks of egg white. Do not overfold!
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and then sprinkle the top with the cocoa ribs. Bake the cake until it feels like it is just barely set in the center, about 25 minutes.It should not feel too firm.
Let the cake cool in the pan, covered with a clean dishtowel, on a rack, until it is completely cool.
Run a knife around the sides of the cake to loosen, then release the sides of the pan and dust the cake with powdered sugar if you like.
Serves 6-8. This cake is best served the day that it is made, but will keep for up to two days at room temperature.
To really gild the lily, add a scoop of cherry almond sorbetto to each slice of cake, and enjoy with a 1970 port if you happen to have one kicking around in your wine collection.
Cherry Almond Sorbetto
So easy, and SO GOOD!
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (from 1 large navel orange)
1 lb frozen pitted dark cherries (Bing)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
Combine all the ingredients in food processor or blender and run until almost smooth, just leaving some of the fruit texture.
Transfer the mixture to a freezer container, cover & freeze for at least 4 hours or up to 4 days.
