Mastering The Art of Chocolate

This weekend I have a very special birthday engagement to attend. Our dear friend Ashley is turning 24 and we'll be celebrating her big day in style tomorrow night with a night on the town. For this very special friend of ours, I thought I'd try my hand at baking a cake from scratch. But Betty Crocker makes a delicious cake mix that tastes homemade! you say. However, a little extra love goes into making a cake from scratch, so that's what I did.

A couple of crazy things I did when baking this cake:
1. I made the meringue by hand. (I seriously needed that KitchenAid mixer tonight).My right bicep got some serious work.
2. I cooked on my desk and counter because I have so little room in my kitchen (eek!)
3. I only have one mixing bowl, so I had to move my contents around between the mixing bowl and smaller bowls. (Oy!)

Ok, so what I made tonight was a recipe out of Mastering The Art of French Cooking. In fact, it was the very first time I used my new cookbook. Her recipe calls for rum or coffee mixed in with the ganache but I opted not to use them, to keep the chocolate and almond flavor simple and authentic.

Reine de Saba (Chocolate and Almond Cake)

Ingredients:
4 oz semi sweet chocolate
1/4 lb. softened butter
2/3 c. granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
pinch of salt
1 tbsp vanilla or almond extract
1tb. granulated sugar (for the meringue)
1/3 c. pulverized almonds
1/2 c. cake flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F

Butter and flour the cake pan. Set the chocolate in a small pan, cover, and place (off heat) in a larger pan of almost simmering water; let melt while you proceed with the recipe. (* My chocolate melted very quickly so I opted to melt it after I made the Meringue*)

Measure out the rest of the ingredients. Cream the butter and sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture. Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.

Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed. (*This part took about 8 mins by hand and my right bicep will be far more defined than my left one tomorrow. I chose to melt my chocolate after this step was completed.*)

With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in almonds, and almond extract. Immediately stir one fourth of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Delicately fold in a third of the remaining whites and when partially blended, sift on one third of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all egg whites and flour are incorporated.

Turn the batter into the cake pan, pushing the batter up to its rim with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, and 2-1/2 to 3 inches around the circumference are set so that a needle plunged into that area comes out clean; the center should move slightly if the pan is shaken, and a needle comes out oily.

Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse cake on the rack. Allow it to cool for an hour or two; it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.

Icing:
2 oz. semi sweet chocolate melted.
6 oz. softened butter

Place the chocolate in the small pan, cover, and set in the larger pan of almost simmering water. Remove pans from heat and let chocolate melt for 5 minutes or so, until perfectly smooth. Lift chocolate pan out of the hot water, and beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time. Then beat over a bowl of ice and water until chocolate mixture has cooled to spreading consistency. At once spread it over your cake with spatula or knife, and press a design of almonds over the icing.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASH!