Recipe By : Alice Medrich
Serving Size : 10 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Chocolate Desserts
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
16 oz Chocolate --
- semisweet or bittersweet
5 lg Eggs -- separated
1/4 ts Cream of tartar
4 c Heavy cream
1 Raspberry sauce
1 Orange sauce
5 oz Sweet butter
1 tb Flour
3 tb Sugar -- up to 4 tb
1 Sauce bijou cranberry or
- raspberry
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line 8x2" round cake pan with parchment or
waxed paper.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a small bowl placed in a barely
simmering water bath over low heat, stirring occasionally until
smooth. Or, microwave on medium (50%) for about 3 minutes and
30 seconds. Stir until completely melted and smooth. Whisk in egg
yolks and flour. Set aside.
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar in a clean, dry mixing bowl at
medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in 1 tb
sugar, beating at high speed, until stiff but not dry. Fold about
1/4th of egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it.
Quickly fold in remaining whites. Turn mixture into prepared pan.
Bake for exactly 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool in pan. Cake will rise somewhat,
especially around edges, but will still seem undercooked. As it
cools, it will sink in the center. This is correct! Let the dessert
cool completely in the pan on a rack. Cover and chill for several
hours in the refrigerator.
Run a knife or small spatula around the edge to release it from
pan. Warm the bottom of the pan on a stove burner on low heat for
just a few seconds; invert it onto a plate to unmold. Peel the
parchment liner from bottom and invert again onto serving plate or
corrugated cake circle, if you plan to frost it with whipped cream.
The cake circle will be 1/2" bigger than the dessert all around.
The dessert will be right side up and higher around the edges than
in the middle. It may be made to this point up to 4 days in
advance. Wrap well and refrigerate until needed, or freeze for up
to 3 months.
To Serve Simply:
Remove from refrigerator at least one hour in advance. Cut in
wedges and pass lightly sweetened whipped cream and sauces
separately.
To Serve More Formally:
Whip cream with remaining 3 tb sugar and mask cake thickly with
about 3/4ths of it. Instructions in back of book say to use a
turntable. Cover cake with whipped cream, smooth top, then hold
spatula at an angle to sides and rotate turntable to smooth. Scrape
the remaining whipped cream into pastry bag and pipe large rosettes
or swirls around the top edge of the cake.
