Fallen Pound of Chocolate Soufflé Cake

(Flour-free)

From David Waltuck’s “Staff Meals from Chanterelle”

Adapted and updated by Blue Heron Kitchen

This cake is almost completely flour-free, save for dusting the pan with flour, so depending on what chocolate you're using, you can make it gluten-free. For dusting the pan, you can use gluten-free flour mix, some brown rice flour, or no flour at all. Try coating the pan with some granulated sugar as if you were making a sweet soufflé. 

This cake is about the easiest and most 'unassuming' flourless chocolate cakes I’ve made. You don't need a bain-marie (water bath) and it's minimalist in ingredients. I like that. It approaches perfection. There's no flavoring other than chocolate and butter. So, make sure you use excellent chocolate (try JacquesTorres’ baking disks - if you click on the link, you can find his stores, or order online).  Today, I combined JT's baking disks and Valrhona, semi-sweet chocolate. Whatever fine chocolate you choose, you'll need a full pound! And then, there’s the butter choice. 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. If there's a speck of yolk in the white, you'll be miserable. Your whites won't whip up. Take it one egg at a time. So, bring more than nine eggs to room temperature and if some of them don't separate perfectly, make some eggs or a frittata for dinner.

For an excellent cake, use excellent ingredients and an excellent technique. How you make this is important. Be careful and patient; and if it's not perfect this time, it will be better next time. 

Trucs: 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. Using Guittard "red" cocoa for dusting will achieve the finish in the above photo. I didn't add a second dusting of confectioner's sugar.

Follow these simple steps, and you’ll be a rock star, despite that all you did was melt chocolate and butter and whip up some eggs.

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 (Valrhona or Guittard are good choices), 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, about 20-30 minutes. The center will appear to be unbaked.  This is important: do not over-bake the cake or you will undo your folding and your cake will be dry and unremarkable (don't be afraid, be careful and concentrate. You're the boss.)

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 is all you need. You can serve ‘as is’, with a dollop of whipped cream, with some crème anglaise, or with a berry or two.

Serves 10-15 (or more)

Sugar-Free Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Sugar-Free (Chocolate dipped) Coconut Macaroons

(Passover Recipe!)

Adapted from David Lebovitz’ “Ready for Dessert” by Blue Heron Kitchen

For those seeking low carbohydrate and low glycemic desserts, I offer coconut macaroons, kosher for Passover, plain or dipped in chocolate! This dessert will be a welcome addition, sans weird chemicals, for people who don’t like or whose bodies can’t process sugar.

I’ve combined Erythritol and stevia, both ‘natural’ sweeteners. Almond flour replaces traditional flour (and it legalizes these for your Passover table!)

Here's the poop on Erythritol: according to Wikipedia: is 60–70% as sweet as table sugar yet it is almost noncaloric, does not affect blood sugar, does not cause tooth decay, and is partially absorbed by the body, excreted in urine and feces. It is less likely to cause gastric side effects than other sugar alcohols because of its unique digestion pathway. Under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling requirements, it has a caloric value of 0.2 kilocalories per gram (95% less than sugar and other carbohydrates), though nutritional labeling varies from country to country.

I bought my Erythritol from pureformulas.com. This site seems to have the best prices. Shipping was free and fast. I bought "NOW" brand. 

According to nutrition labeling: 1 tsp. contains zero calories and 4g of carbohydrates. That’s it. It’s about 70% as sweet as sugar, and there’s a ‘cold’ taste to it, so combining it with Stevia (I highly recommend you buy NuNaturals brand NuStevia White Stevia Powder, which you can buy online at Amazon.com or in Whole Foods) works out well in terms of the sweetness factor as well as ‘warming up’ the ‘cool’ factor. Stevia is a sweetener that is derived from a plant called Stevia.

A great place to purchase unsweetened coconut and almond meal is at your local Indian market. Apna Bazaar on Long Island is a great market. Any Patel Brothers in the New York area is also a great choice. In NYC, go down to 28^th and Lexington. Bob’s Red Mill is another great resource for both unsweetened coconut and almond flour. Large markets like Fairway, Stop and Shop and Whole Foods sell Bob's Red Mill. Or, buy from them directly or on Amazon.com.

This recipe is a first for me, and I’m excited to share it with you. Don't expect the gooey, sticky, glutenous canned macaroon product you find after you've sliced your finger to find the 10 settled balls at the bottom of the Streit's can. My hope is that this will bring sweet satisfaction and enjoyment to those who have been missing and searching for something sweet to finish off a Passover seder (a meal capable of throwing the healthiest individual into chemical imbalance) or to just savor the sweet combination of coconut and chocolate without jeopardizing or taxing ones health.

Have a ziesen* Pesach

* and isn't "sweet" is subjective anyway?

peace and love,

jane

Ingredients:

5 large egg whites, size large

1 ¼ c. pure Erythritol

¼ tsp. Kosher salt

2 ½ tsp. pure White Stevia powder (NuNaturals brand, if possible)

2 ½ c. dried, unsweetened shredded coconut

¼ c. almond meal (almond flour)

1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

optional for dipping:

2-3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped, plus additional Stevia for sweetening, to taste

½ tsp. coconut oil

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350º F. and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

In a large (4 quart) saucepan, mix all ingredients (EXCEPT THE OPTIONAL CHOCOLATE FOR DIPPING) together over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to ‘sizzle’.

Remove from heat and transfer to a mixing bowl.

When mixture is still warm, working quickly, form into mounds, about 1 ½ “ high. Work fairly quickly, because when the batter cools too much, it tends to dry out and is difficult to work with.

These will not spread, so you can place then fairly close together.

Form approximately 24 to 30 macaroons and bake them on two racks, rotating them top to bottom, front to back, half way through the bake, for about 20 minutes, until they are well browned.

Cool completely.

For optional melted chocolate:

Line one of the baking sheets with another piece of parchment paper or some waxed paper.

In the top of a double boiler, melt about 2 to 3 ounces of excellent quality unsweetened chocolate. Add ½ tsp. coconut oil and stevia powder, to taste (add it ¼ tsp at a time!)

Dip the bottom of each macaroon in the melted chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet. Place in fridge until chocolate is set.

These can be kept in an airtight container for a few days. Or, freeze them, in layers, between sheets of waxed paper. 

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

Adapted from Greyston Bakery Cookbook by Blue Heron Kitchen

            For those who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and are looking for a great new Irish Soda Bread recipe, I’m excited to share this one with you. Get some great butter. Kerrygold would be a perfect choice for this, but any fresh butter will do.

With any soda bread recipe, technique is critical to its success. I’ve ruined soda breads by doing too much with the batter. This bread is a low maintenance relationship. Barely mix, touch or knead it, and it will fill your house with perfume and be a light and airy as a yeasted dough. But beware, this bread is meant to be eaten the day it’s made. The following day, it’s great heated or even better as toast. Of course, you can freeze the loaf, but it’s so fast and easy to make, this is one you’ll want to put together, un deux trois!

Everyone has their own tradition: raisins, currants, sweet, not sweet, caraway, not caraway, glazed, not glazed. (If you like it sweet, prepare a glaze with some sifted powdered sugar, a little warm water, some vanilla extract, if you like, and a squeeze of lemon juice. It's not traditional, but many people enjoy it this way. A glaze will help to preserve the loaf ... some.)

I like currants and I like caraway, so in my home, this is my ultimate Irish Soda Bread. Omit the caraway seeds or exchange the currants for raisins. Follow your leprechaun.

Make sure your egg, butter and buttermilk are at room temperature. Cold will shock the rise. This loaf wants minimal handling and a brief encounter before you slash your traditional “X” and pop it into the oven.

Ingredients:

3 c. sifted (or lightly scooped) all-purpose, unbleached flour

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp. aluminum-free baking powder (try Rumford’s)

½ tsp. kosher salt

2 oz. (1/2 stick) lightly salted (or unsalted) butter, cut into ¼” cubes, softened

¾ c. currants (raisins, if you prefer, but currants are better)

1 Tbsp. caraway seeds

1 egg, size large, room temperature

1 c. buttermilk, room temperature, measured into a 2 c. or larger liquid measure cup

2 Tbsp. honey

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350º F. and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Oven rack to center.

Whisk together all dry ingredients.

With your fingers, work butter into the dry ingredients until it is evenly distributed and resembles coarse cornmeal. (It’s okay if there are some larger lumps. Less mixing is better.)

With a wooden spoon, stir in currants and caraway seeds.

Into the measuring cup with your buttermilk, crack the egg and add the honey. Mix wet ingredients together, using a fork or a small whisk.

Add wet to dry and mix until JUST moistened. DO NOT OVERMIX.

Turn onto a lightly floured board and form into a smooth, round ball. Remember, the less you mess, the lighter and more tender this loaf will be.

Shape into a fairly high, round ball and place on prepared baking sheet (you can butter the sheet if you don’t have parchment paper).

Using a sharp knife, slash a traditional “x”, vertically and horizontally, about 4 inches long and ½ inch deep.

Bake at 350º for about 45-55 minutes. Loaf is done when it is well-browned on both top and bottom. Don’t over bake,

Cool for about 20 minutes. Slice and serve with butter. (Kerrygold!)

This is best eaten the day it is made, but you’ll enjoy it warmed or toasted the day(s) after.

Irish soda bread is, for most, once a year, so double your recipe ... and your fun!

Erin go bragh, top 'o the morning, the rest of the day; and a Happy St. Patrick's Day to all.

peace and love,

jane