Toulouse-Lautrec Chocolate Cake
Metric:
5 eggs
500 g dark chocolate (50-55%)
125 g butter
dash salt, spoonful of flour, spoonful of sugar
24 cm springform pan
US (original version):
4 eggs
1 pound dark chocolate
1 stick (1/2 C) butter
dash salt, spoonful of flour, spoonful of sugar
8" springform pan.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/400 F, and line your pan with parchment. oil it lightly and dust with cocoa powder (or flour- but the cocoa won't show up on the outside).
Put the butter and the chocolate over medium low heat, stirring often, until melted, but no warmer than it needs to be, and set it aside.
Meanwhile, take out 2 large bowls, and wipe one of them (the larger of the tow) out with a squirt of vinegar and separate the eggs- whites in the bowl cleaned with vinegar, yolks in the other.
Beat the yolks for a nice long time, until they are thick and lighter in color and when you lift the beaters the yolks will fall in a ribbon that stays a moment on the surface. Add the spoonful of flour, then fold the melted (but not hot- otherwise the yolks may curdle) chocolate/ butter mixture in.
Wash the beaters well, and beat the white until soft peaks form, adding the spoonful of sugar, then a little more- if we overbeat them they will get too sturdy, and have trouble blending with the chocolate mixture without breaking down too much.
Fold a third of the whites into the chocolate/yolk mixture, then the rest of the whites, using a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl and fold into the middle, turning the bowl a little each time. Make light work of it- as soon as there are no big streaks of white visible, it's ready for the pan. Put the batter into the waiting pan, scraping the sides of the bowl well, and put it in the oven.
Look at it in 15 minutes- if the surface looks dry- it's done. When you take it out of the oven it will be very high. Almost immediately it will sink in the middle and usually crack. It looks beautiful and rustic this way and it is a shame to cover it, but the hollow is so inviting for fresh fruit or whipped cram or chocolate curls (or all of them), or caramelized strawberries, or praline mousse... that I have rarely managed to restrain myself and served it plain.
Let it cool before removing from the pan- it's nearly liquid in the center when it comes out of the oven. I've put it in the freezer in a pinch and it was ready to serve after dinner.
This is the little black dress of cake, and the most reliable recipe I have ever tried.
It come to us from this wonderful lady:
1 stick (1/2 C) butter
dash salt, spoonful of flour, spoonful of sugar
8" springform pan.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/400 F, and line your pan with parchment. oil it lightly and dust with cocoa powder (or flour- but the cocoa won't show up on the outside).
Put the butter and the chocolate over medium low heat, stirring often, until melted, but no warmer than it needs to be, and set it aside.
Meanwhile, take out 2 large bowls, and wipe one of them (the larger of the tow) out with a squirt of vinegar and separate the eggs- whites in the bowl cleaned with vinegar, yolks in the other.
Beat the yolks for a nice long time, until they are thick and lighter in color and when you lift the beaters the yolks will fall in a ribbon that stays a moment on the surface. Add the spoonful of flour, then fold the melted (but not hot- otherwise the yolks may curdle) chocolate/ butter mixture in.
Wash the beaters well, and beat the white until soft peaks form, adding the spoonful of sugar, then a little more- if we overbeat them they will get too sturdy, and have trouble blending with the chocolate mixture without breaking down too much.
Fold a third of the whites into the chocolate/yolk mixture, then the rest of the whites, using a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl and fold into the middle, turning the bowl a little each time. Make light work of it- as soon as there are no big streaks of white visible, it's ready for the pan. Put the batter into the waiting pan, scraping the sides of the bowl well, and put it in the oven.
Look at it in 15 minutes- if the surface looks dry- it's done. When you take it out of the oven it will be very high. Almost immediately it will sink in the middle and usually crack. It looks beautiful and rustic this way and it is a shame to cover it, but the hollow is so inviting for fresh fruit or whipped cram or chocolate curls (or all of them), or caramelized strawberries, or praline mousse... that I have rarely managed to restrain myself and served it plain.
Let it cool before removing from the pan- it's nearly liquid in the center when it comes out of the oven. I've put it in the freezer in a pinch and it was ready to serve after dinner.
This is the little black dress of cake, and the most reliable recipe I have ever tried.
It come to us from this wonderful lady:
This is a really nice article about her (with a polka-dot cheesecake recipe):
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