Friday, April 27, 2012

Chocolate Soufflé Cake


Fallen Pound of Chocolate Soufflé Cake
(Flourless)
From David Waltuck’s “Staff Meals from Chanterelle”
Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen


This cake is almost completely flour-free, save for dusting the pan with flour. If you don’t use wheat, choose an alternative to flour, such as matzo cake meal (next Passover), or some rice flour (if you’re Sephardic or you're allergic to wheat). 

I used flour.

This cake is about the easiest and most 'unassuming' flourless chocolate cake I’ve made. I like that. It approaches perfection. There's no flavoring other than chocolate and butter. So, make sure you use excellent chocolate (try Jacques Torres’ baking disks, Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, Guittard, or your favorite chocolate). You'll need a pound of chocolate! And then, there’s the butter situation. You'll be using half a pound of butter. I use European style butter – Plugra. Whatever butter you use, be sure that it’s fresh. Taste it. If you wouldn't spread it on toast, don’t use it. Nine eggs. Size large, room temperature, separated. Make sure that your whites are without yolks.

For an excellent cake, use excellent ingredients and an excellent technique.

Your excellent technique: Make sure that no steam enters your melting chocolate. Take care that the melted chocolate and butter cools to room temperature. Achieve ‘ribbons’ with the yolks. Don’t beat the whites past ‘soft peak’ or they’ll dry out too much. Fold, but don’t ‘mix’ to assure that the batter is ‘lifted’.  Bake in the center of the oven. DON’T OVERBAKE.

Follow these simple steps, and you’ll be a rock star, even though all you did was melt chocolate and butter and beat some eggs.


Here’s the recipe for one 9-inch cake:

Ingredients:
1 pound best quality semi-sweet to dark chocolate
½ pound (two sticks), unsalted butter (European 83% butterfat recommended)
9 large eggs, room temperature, separated
¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Cocoa powder (I use Scharffen Berger, Valrhona or Guittard), for dusting the cake
Confectioners’ "10X" sugar, for dusting the cake

Procedure:
1.    Preheat oven to 300º F. Lightly butter and flour (see above note regarding flour, if this is Passover, you can use matzo cake meal) a 9-inch springform pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.
2.    Combine chocolate and butter in a bowl placed on top of a pot of barely simmering water. Melt, stirring occasionally. Be CAREFUL that NO STEAM enters the chocolate/butter mixture. When just about completely melted, remove bowl from the simmering pot and stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to room temperature. Don't rush. Bring it to room temperature.
3.    Combine egg yolks and ¾ cup of the sugar in the bowl of and electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix for about 4-5 minutes, until when the paddle is lifted, ribbons fall from the paddle.
4.    In another bowl (or, if you don’t have another bowl, transfer this mixture to a LARGE bowl and THOROUGHLY wash this bowl and attach the whisk to the electric mixer), whisk the egg whites with the 1 additional tablespoon of sugar until soft peaks are made when you lift the whites with the whisk. This should take about 3 or 4 minutes.
5.    Now you’re ready to fold!
6.    Fold 1/3 of the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg yolks. When fully incorporated, fold 1/3 of beaten egg whites, until fully incorporated. Repeat this procedure twice more, until you’ve completely folding all ingredients together, ending with the egg whites.
7.    Carefully pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Don’t ‘pat it down’ much. Bake until the edges are firm and center is somewhat ‘puffy’, but still soft. The center will appear to be unbaked.  
8.    Cool on a rack, then release the springform.
9.    Dust with a layer of cocoa powder, followed by a layer of 10X (that’s industry talk for confectioner’s sugar), a second layer of cocoa and a final layer of 10X.
1.    Serve at room temperature. A thin slice will suffice (especially if there are 40 people at the table). You can serve ‘as is’, with a dollop of whipped cream, with some crème anglaise, or with a berry or two.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Passover "Mandel Bread"

As if you don't have this recipe (it's the Jewish equivalent to the "NY Times Plum Torte" that Craig Claiborne sighed and published every year.) I think it was first published in The Jewish Press. I credit it to my mother. Thanks, Mom!

I just learned that the pork roast and Molly Kugel seder I'm making dessert for this year has increased to over 40 guests. We'll have to slug it out over the single 9" flourless chocolate cake (wait for the post .. it's a winner!); and I do have about 12 dozen macaroons - many varieties!

But, it's time to pull out the matzo cake meal - akin pouring a little more water in the soup pot for the dessert table. As long as there's Rick's chrain, delicious pork, Molly's kugel and plenty of wine, I'll be content. And I'll enjoy watching everyone devour these desserts.

Oh... check the macaroon page for another variation, a macaroon that I dedicate to my friend, teacher and mentor, Suvir Saran, a self-proclaimed "Jindu", I call it a "Suviroon"!

peace and love,
jane



Passover Mandel Bread
(from Mom)
Blue Heron Kitchen



CREAM TOGETHER:           2 cups sugar
                                                ½ pound butter or margarine

ADD:                                       6 eggs, size large, one at a time, beating well after each egg

SIFT TOGETHER:                 2 ¾ c. matzo cake meal
                                                ½ tsp. kosher salt
                                                ¾ c. potato starch

Fold dry ingredients into egg, butter, sugar mixture

ADD:   1 cup chopped nuts and 6 oz. chocolate chips or chopped bar chocolate (or omit the nuts, as I do and just add 12 oz. of chocolate chips)

Form into 4 - 2” wide [about ½-3/4” high] loaves [two loaves per cookie sheet – width, not length] and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mix.

Bake on cookie sheets at 350 degrees for 45 minutes [less], slice while warm into 1/2” pieces.

Yield:  4 loaves

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Passover Meringoons (Nutty Macaroons!)


Meringue meets Macaroon
for Passover
“Meringoons”
Blue Heron Kitchen

Hazelnut Meringoons

The original recipe, from Joan Nathan’s “Jewish Cooking in America”, is called “Mississippi Praline Macaroons”. Passover begins at sundown tomorrow; and there’s no time to research what makes a macaroon a macaroon. These are not ones you’ll find at Ladurée, nor are they anything like the previous published recipes.

They’re nutty and delicious. And they’re dairy-free.

I add cream of tartar, but you don’t have to. Those who are not ‘strict’ during this holiday use it. But those who adhere to the rules, don’t. So, don’t use it. But be very careful that no trace of egg yolk gets into your egg white. Do make sure that your bowl and beater are both without a trace of fat or oil. If there’s a speck of fat, you won’t achieve lift-off.

Ingredients:
3  size ‘large” egg whites (room temperature)
1 cup dark brown sugar (be sure it’s fresh and moist and lump-free)
1 cup roughly chopped hazelnuts OR pecans OR nuts that you adore, plus additional whole or half nuts (2 ½ dozen) for the tops of each cookie
(truc: toast them first to release oils. Hazelnuts: you’ll need to toast and then rub them in a tea towel to remove the outer skins.)
pinch of salt
¼ tsp. cream of tartar (optional)

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 275º F. and line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

1.     Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add pinch of salt and, if using, cream of tartar. 
2.     Continue beating, gradually adding the dark brown sugar, one teaspoon at a time, until the whites are very stiff. (They will look shiny)
3.     Fold in the chopped nuts by hand.
4.     Using a teaspoon, or a 1 ½ inch round scoop, drop the batter with about and inch between each cookie. Press each cookie down, flattening it (slightly … don’t smash it all the way down!), and then place a whole hazelnut or a half a pecan on the top of each cookie.
5.     Bake in preheated 275º F. oven for about 20-30 minutes, depending on size of cookies, how much you’ve flattened them, and how accurate your oven temperature is. The cookies should be slightly firm but still shiny. They will firm up as they cool. Be careful they don’t get brown or really dried. This will render them, as my Grandpa would have said, “boint”.

Hope you find the Afikomen!
Peace, love and zei gezunt!!
jane

Yield: approximately 2 ½ dozen (parve!)

With Metta, from My Little Blue Heron's Kitchen

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread or Muffins

Print This Page Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread Adapted from glutenfreepalate.com by My Little Blue Heron This one’s a winner. It’s crazy easy to...

My Little Blue Heron's Arsenal