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!

CREAMSICLE WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES: National Creamsicle Day

Today is National Creamsicle Day. I haven't had a Creamsicle in years, but I did occasionally buy one from the Good Humor Truck when my cousin Herbie was a Good Humor Man in the summers.  Pretty exciting for us kids! When we heard the Good Humor bell, we all went running.

What exactly is a Creamsicle? A Creamsicle is a frozen dessert with a vanilla ice cream core and a fruit sherbet coating. The classic Creamsicle flavor combination is orange and vanilla. Officially, the term “Creamsicle” is a registered brand name owned by Unilever, and similar products cannot be labeled as Creamsicles. However, the original Creamsicle® is such a perennial best-seller that the term is often used generically, and the branding rights may eventually be lost due to trademark dilution. 

But since this is a chocolate blog, I thought I'd post a recipe for Creamsicle White Chocolate Chip Cookies. These cookies are soft and moist. With the addition of orange zest and orange extract, you'll taste the tartness of the citrus as it combines with the sweetness of the white chocolate chips. These cookies definitely have the flavors of a Creamsicle.

Creamsicle White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp orange extract
2 Tbsp orange zest
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips (I like Guittard)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg, vanilla, and orange extract until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and white chocolate chips.
Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Do not flatten cookies.
Put in refrigerator for 30 minutes (do not skip this step). This will prevent spread, and that's important to these cookies which are soft and puffy.
Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Do not overbake! Cookies will be fat.
Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely.

Cartoon of the Day: Ice Cream

ZUCCHINI BROWNIES: How to use up your summer Zucchini harvest

If you planted zucchini in your garden, you're now probably wondering what to do with your harvest. Zucchini has a reputation for multiplying beyond one's plan, often hiding underneath the leaves. Yes, you can wrap your zucchini in blankets, put them in a basket, and leave them on the church steps, as I heard Erica Jong and Marge Piercy suggest many years ago, but you'll still have a lot to dispose of. Zucchini and Chocolate.. now there's a great and healthy combination.

I've posted zucchini muffin, bread, and cake recipes, but here's a recipe for Zucchini Brownies. You can never go wrong with brownies. I like my brownies, fudgy, so I really like this recipe. You can add frosting on top, too, for more chocolate, but I don't. These brownies are moist and delicious without. This recipe is adapted from www.crazyforcrust.com. You'll want to have a look at her video and definitely read her tip below, especially if you don't want cake-like brownies. And, you might want to make her frosting recipe.

ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup DARK cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini
3-4 tablespoons water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional-but I usually add them)

*Note There are no eggs, and this will seem more like cookie-dough when you're preparing it, but it will work!

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 9×13″ baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together oil, sugar, and vanilla until well combined. Add dry ingredients and stir. Fold in zucchini. Let sit forfew minutes so batter can absorb the moisture from the zucchini. If your mixture is still powdery, add up to 5 tablespoons water (start with 1 tablespoon and work up from there, stirring well after each addition). Batter will be very thick but shouldn’t be powdery. (depends on how wet your zucchini is!) Add walnuts. Use your hands to work water in instead of  spoon. Dough is super thick. Do not add too much water! 
Spread in prepared pan.
Bake 25-30 minutes until brownies spring back when gently touched.

*Note Don't add too much water or your brownies will be cake-like (unless that's what you want)! The batter is thick and needs help spreading in the pan. If batter is liquidy or thin, you will have a more cake-like brownie.