GRAND MARNIER CHOCOLATE CAKE: Bastille Day!

Tomorrow is Bastille Day, and it's also Grand Marnier Day, so I thought you might want to celebrate by baking this Grand Marnier Chocolate Cake. 

Grand Marnier is a combination of a premium blend of cognac and exotic oranges created in 1880 by Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle. Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle perfected the premium Grand Marnier blend in 1880 and at the time, his vision of combining the essence of wild tropical oranges from Haiti with premium cognac from France was seen as cutting edge and completely unexpected. The cognac found in Grand Marnier is made from Ugni Blanc grapes from five of the best crus within the Cognac region in France and is double-distilled in copper stills. The bitter, exotic orange called ‘Citrus Bigaradia’ sourced from the Caribbean, is a rare variety which offers an intense and unique flavor profile and aroma.

This recipe for Grand Marnier Chocolate Cake is adapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit! Of course, if you don't have time to bake a cake, you can always drink a glass of Grand Marnier! Be sure and check out the great advertising video for Grand Marnier "La Vie Grand Marnier." Scroll down.

Grand Marnier Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

Cake
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
6 large eggs, separated
2 Tbsp Grand Marnier
1 Tbsp finely grated orange peel
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Icing 
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
7 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, room temperature
2/3 cup whipping cream

Cake Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Butter 10-inch-diameter springform pan; line bottom with parchment paper round.
Stir chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Cool slightly.
Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl 2 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, Grand Marnier, orange peel, and vanilla. Stir in lukewarm chocolate. Add flour and salt; stir to blend.
Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions.
Transfer batter to prepared springform pan.
Bake cake until top is dry and cracked and tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 45 minutes.
Cool cake in pan on rack (top will fall slightly).
Can be made 1 day ahead.
Cool completely; cover and let stand at room temperature.

Icing Directions
Place chocolate and butter in medium metal bowl. Bring cream to boil in small saucepan. Pour hot cream over chocolate mixture; stir until mixture is melted and smooth.
Run thin knife around inside of cake pan; remove pan sides.
Invert cake onto 10-inch removable tart pan bottom or cardboard round.
Place on rack set in rimmed baking sheet.
Remove cake pan bottom and parchment.
Pour icing over cake and spread to cover top and sides (any icing that drips onto baking sheet can be reused).
Chill until glaze sets, about 30 minutes.

DO AHEAD: 

This cake can be made 1 day ahead.
Cover with cake dome and chill.
Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.
Cut into wedges and serve.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JULIA CHILD! Reine de Saba

Today would have been Julia Child's 111th birthday! How to celebrate?

In The Way to Cook, Julia Child wrote that Reine de Saba was the first French cake she had ever eaten and that she never forgot it. What could be more fitting, then, than Julia Child's own favorite Chocolate and Almond Cake-- Reine de Saba with Chocolate Butter Icing? The recipe below can be found in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 and The Way to Cook.

According to the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian where Julia's Kitchen is displayed: In the hundredth episode of the television series, The French Chef, Julia made the Reine de Saba, or Queen of Sheba cake. One of the tools she used for making this special cake with the grand name was an ordinary rubber spatula. Essential for folding the smooth and shiny beaten egg whites into the batter, Julia also noted that the rubber spatula was one of America’s great culinary contributions. She kept her spatulas in a ceramic crock on a shelf above her stove.

I must admit that I haven't made this cake in years, but it's not too difficult, and it's absolutely fabulous. It's kind of like a dense brownie with creamy chocolate frosting with almonds.

REINE DE SABA [Chocolate and Almond Cake] This extremely good chocolate cake is baked so that its center remains slightly underdone; overcooked, the cake loses its special creamy quality. It is covered with a chocolate-butter icing, and decorated with almonds. Because of its creamy center it needs no filling. It can be made by starting out with a beating of egg yolks and sugar, then proceeding with the rest of the ingredients. But because the chocolate and the almonds make a batter so stiff it is difficult to fold in the egg whites, we have chosen another method, that of creaming together the butter and sugar, and then incorporating the remaining items. - Mastering the Art of French Cooking

JULIA CHILD'S REINE DE SABA

Ingredients: 

For the cake:

4 ounces or squares semisweet chocolate melted with 2 Tablespoons rum or coffee
1/4 lb. or 1 stick softened butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
2/3 cup pulverized almonds
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup cake flour (scooped and leveled) turned into a sifter

For the icing:
2 ounces (2 squares) semisweet baking chocolate
2 Tb rum or coffee
5 to 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter 

Directions:

For the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Butter and flour the cake pan. Set the chocolate and rum or coffee 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. Measure out the rest of the ingredients.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture.
4. Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. To serve, use the chocolate-butter icing recipe below, then press a design of almonds over the icing.

For the Icing:
Place the chocolate and rum or coffee 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 the 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.

Reprinted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking

BON APPETIT!

GRAND MARNIER CHOCOLATE CAKE: Bastille Day!

Today is Bastille Day, and it's also Grand Marnier Day, so I thought you might want to celebrate by baking this Grand Marnier Chocolate Cake. 

Grand Marnier is a remarkable combination of a premium blend of cognac and exotic oranges created in 1880 by Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle. Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle perfected the premium Grand Marnier blend in 1880 and at the time, his vision of combining the essence of wild tropical oranges from Haiti with premium cognac from France was seen as cutting edge and completely unexpected. The cognac found in Grand Marnier is made from Ugni Blanc grapes from five of the best crus within the Cognac region in France and is double-distilled in copper stills. The bitter, exotic orange called ‘Citrus Bigaradia’ sourced from the Caribbean, is a rare variety which offers an intense and unique flavor profile and aroma.

This recipe for Grand Marnier Chocolate Cake is adapted slightly from a recipe in Bon Appetit! Of course, if you don't have time to bake a cake, you can always drink a glass of Grand Marnier! Be sure and check out the great advertising video for Grand Marnier "La Vie Grand Marnier." Scroll down.

Grand Marnier Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

Cake
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
6 large eggs, separated
2 Tbsp Grand Marnier
1 Tbsp finely grated orange peel
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Icing 
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
7 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, room temperature
2/3 cup whipping cream

Cake Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Butter 10-inch-diameter springform pan; line bottom with parchment paper round.
Stir chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Cool slightly.
Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl 2 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, Grand Marnier, orange peel, and vanilla. Stir in lukewarm chocolate. Add flour and salt; stir to blend.
Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions.
Transfer batter to prepared springform pan.
Bake cake until top is dry and cracked and tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 45 minutes.
Cool cake in pan on rack (top will fall slightly).
Can be made 1 day ahead.
Cool completely; cover and let stand at room temperature.

Icing Directions
Place chocolate and butter in medium metal bowl. Bring cream to boil in small saucepan. Pour hot cream over chocolate mixture; stir until mixture is melted and smooth.
Run thin knife around inside of cake pan; remove pan sides.
Invert cake onto 10-inch removable tart pan bottom or cardboard round.
Place on rack set in rimmed baking sheet.
Remove cake pan bottom and parchment.
Pour icing over cake and spread to cover top and sides (any icing that drips onto baking sheet can be reused).
Chill until glaze sets, about 30 minutes.
DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead.
Cover with cake dome and chill.
Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.
Cut into wedges and serve.

 

BLACK BOTTOM RASPBERRY CREAM PIE: National Raspberry Cream Pie Day!

Today is National Raspberry Cream Pie Day, and what's raspberry cream pie without chocolate? For this recipe, the cream portion of the pie is Chocolate Pudding!

This recipe is from Bon Appetit (July 2004) aka Epicurious for Black Bottom Raspberry Cream Pie. The "black bottom" is a layer of chocolate pudding.. and as a bonus there's a chocolate cookie crust. I'm all about chocolate. Be sure and chill the pie overnight before adding the topping.

As far as berries go, any great organic raspberry works. I love Driscoll's raspberries because they're always good. This is raspberry season, so pick up a few pints today and make this incredible pie to celebrate.

FYI: This recipe is also a great black bottom 'anything' recipe: bananas and other fruit go very well with it, too.

Black Bottom Raspberry Cream Pie 

Crust
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 3/4 cups crushed chocolate wafer cookies (about 30 cookies from one 9-ounce package)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 1/2 cups whole milk, divided
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
4 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Topping
3 1/2-pint containers raspberries
1 cup chilled whipping cream
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For crust:
Spray 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish with nonstick spray. 

Blend cookie crumbs, butter, and sugar in medium bowl. 

Press mixture evenly over bottom and up sides (not on rim) of prepared dish.

Chill crust 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake crust until set, about 10 minutes, then cool before filling.

For filling:
Combine sugar, cocoa, and cornstarch in heavy medium saucepan; whisk to blend well. 

Gradually add 1/4 cup milk, whisking until cornstarch dissolves. 

Whisk in remaining 2 1/4 cups milk, then egg yolks and egg. 

Stir over medium-high heat until pudding thickens and boils, about 8 minutes. 

Remove from heat. 

Add chocolate and butter; whisk until melted and smooth. 

Spread pudding in prepared crust. Press plastic wrap onto pudding to cover and chill pie overnight.

For topping:
Peel plastic wrap off pie. 

Cover chocolate layer with raspberries, pointed side up, pressing lightly into chocolate to adhere (some berries will be left over). 

Beat cream, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl until peaks form; spread over berries on pie. 

Arrange remaining berries atop cream. 

Chill pie at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.