Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (22 page)

4 eggs (graded large or extra-large), separated

⅔ cup milk

½ teaspoon almond extract

Generous pinch of salt

Optional: confectioners sugar (to be used after the cake is baked)

Adjust rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Use a 9-inch Bundt pan (called Mini-Bundt—10-cup capacity) or a 9 × 3½-inch tube pan. Or you can use a 10-inch Bundt pan, but the cake will not be as high. (In the 9-inch Bundt pan the cake will rise high and make a cute, fat little cake that is adorable.) Butter the pan (even if it is a non-stick pan), dust it thoroughly with fine, dry bread crumbs and invert over paper to shake out excess crumbs. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl dissolve the coffee in the boiling water. Add the cocoa and stir until smooth; remove small lumps by stirring and pressing against the lumps with a rubber spatula. Set aside to cool slightly.

Sift the flour with the baking powder and set aside.

Mix the grated lemon rind with the lemon juice and set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Mix in the vanilla and 1¼ cups (reserve ¼ cup) of the sugar. Beat to mix thoroughly. Then add the yolks all at once and beat well. On low speed add the sifted dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat only until each addition is incorporated.

Remove 2 cups of the batter and transfer it to a medium or large bowl. This will be the white batter. Stir in the lemon rind and juice and set aside.

To the batter remaining in the mixer bowl add the almond extract and cocoa mixture and mix until smooth. Set aside.

In the small bowl of the electric mixer, with clean beaters, add the salt to the egg whites and beat until they hold a soft peak. On moderate speed gradually add the reserved ¼ cup of sugar, then increase
the speed to high and beat until the whites hold a shape—but they must not be too stiff or dry; stop beating just before they are stiff.

Stir about ½ cup of the meringue into each of the batters to lighten them a bit. Then alternately fold a generous ½ cup into each of the batters until it is all used.

You will have more chocolate batter than white. Use a tablespoon for spooning the chocolate and a teaspoon for the white. Place about five well rounded tablespoons of the chocolate batter in the bottom of the pan, leaving a small space between the spoonfuls. Then place a well-rounded teaspoonful of the white batter in each empty space. Use large spoonfuls; they will make a bolder dramatic pattern. For the second layer, place white on chocolate and vice versa. Continue until you have used all of both batters. (Do not cut through as with most marble cakes.)

Briskly rotate the pan first in one direction and then the other to level the top.

Bake for about 1 hour or until a cake tester gently inserted into the middle of the cake comes out dry. If the top of the cake becomes too dark cover it loosely with aluminum foil.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes. Then cover it with a rack and invert the pan and the rack. Remove the pan and let the cake cool upside down. If you have baked it in a smooth tube pan cover it with another rack and invert again to let the cake cool right side up.

This does not need any icing. If you wish, sprinkle a bit of confectioners sugar over the top, shaking it through a fine strainer held over the cake.

Cut in thin slices, two or three to a serving.

NOTE
:
Equivalent amounts of orange rind and orange juice may be substituted for the lemon rind and lemon juice.

Chocolate Angel Food Cake

8 TO 12
P
ORTIONS

This is a light, airy, moist beauty that stands 4 inches high. It can be made with thawed egg whites which have been left over from other desserts and frozen. Angel Food may be made a day before it is to be served or early in the day to be served that night. But don’t freeze Angel Food—freezing toughens it. This is quite quick and easy, but you must be careful with all the folding in.

1 cup less 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour

1½ cups sifted confectioners sugar

½ cup less 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process)

1 tablespoon dry powdered (not granular) instant coffee or espresso

1½ cups egg whites (from 10 to 12 eggs), at room temperature (they should be removed from the refrigerator at least 1 hour ahead)

½ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons cream of tartar

1 cup granulated sugar

Adjust rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees. You will need an angel-food tube pan measuring 10 inches across the top and 4 inches in depth. (The tube and the bottom of the pan are in one piece; the side rim is a separate piece. The pan should be aluminum, not Teflon.) Do not butter or line the pan.

Sift together three times the flour, confectioners sugar, cocoa, and dry powdered instant coffee. (Even
if you are using a triple-sifter—three layers of wire mesh—which I think is the best kind, sift three times.) Set aside.

Place the egg whites and the salt in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Beat briefly until foamy. Place the cream of tartar in a small, fine strainer and, while beating, strain the cream of tartar onto the whites. Continue to beat at high speed until the whites hold a firm shape or are stiff but not dry; test by lifting a large portion of the beaten whites with a rubber spatula—they should mound high on the spatula without sliding off.

Now the granulated sugar and then the sifted flour mixture will be folded into the whites. It is important not to dump the dry ingredients into one spot; they should be sprinkled lightly all over the top of the whites. If you use a wider bowl you will have more surface to sprinkle over. (I use one that measures 13 inches across the top.) Or the folding may be done on a large, deep turkey platter. So, now, if you have a wider, larger bowl or a turkey platter, transfer the whites to it.

Place the granulated sugar in a strainer or a sifter, or sprinkle it on carefully with a large spoon, using about ¼ cup at a time and distributing it lightly all over the surface. After each addition, very gently fold the sugar in, using the largest size rubber spatula you can find.

After all the sugar is folded in, place the sifted flour mixture in the strainer or sifter and sift about ¼ cup of it all over the surface. Fold it in. Continue until all of the flour mixture has been folded in.

At no time should you fold in, or handle the mixture, any more than necessary.

Pour the mixture evenly into the ungreased pan. With a long, narrow metal spatula, or a table knife, cut through the mixture in widening circles to cut through any large air bubbles. Smooth the top. (The pan will be slightly more than one-half full.)

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the cake just barely springs back when lightly pressed with a fingertip.

Now the pan has to be inverted to “hang” until the cake is cool. Even if the pan has three little legs for this purpose, they don’t really raise the cake enough. Place the tube of the inverted pan over a narrow-necked bottle, or an upside-down metal funnel.

Let the cake “hang” until cool—at least 1 hour.

Then turn the pan right side up. With a knife that has a firm, sharp blade about 6 inches long, cut around the outside edge of the cake, pressing the blade firmly against the pan, and then cut around the tube in the middle. Push up the bottom of the pan to remove the sides. Insert the knife between the bottom of the cake and the pan; press the blade firmly against the pan and cut all around to release the cake.

Place a cake plate over the cake and invert the plate and the cake. Lift off the bottom of the pan. Leave the cake upside down. Cover it, top and sides, with plastic wrap.

It is best to let Angel Food stand at room temperature for several hours or overnight before serving.

Angel Food may be served as is, or with confectioners sugar sprinkled through a fine strainer over the top. Or it may be completely covered with whipped cream. Or serve it with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Or serve it with fresh fruit and whipped cream (raspberries, either fresh or frozen, thawed and drained—or bananas, sliced just before serving and sprinkled with kirsch). Or try canned black bing cherries, plain or brandied, drained.

Or to make this plain cake a special occasion dessert, cover it with the following 7-Minute Icing. It is best to ice the cake early in the day for that night.

7-MINUTE ICING

½ cup egg whites (from 3 to 4 eggs; you may use whites which have been left over from other desserts and frozen, but thaw completely before using)

1½ cups granulated sugar

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon cold water

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

⅛ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Place everything except the vanilla in the top of a large double boiler; it must have at least an 8- to 10-cup capacity. Place over hot water on moderate heat. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed for 4 to 5 minutes until the mixture stands in peaks when the beaters are raised. Or beat with an egg beater for about 7 minutes.

Immediately, in order to stop the cooking, transfer the mixture to the large bowl of the electric mixer. Add the vanilla and beat at high speed very briefly only until the mixture is smooth and barely firm enough to spread. Do not overbeat or the icing will become too stiff. Use immediately!

With a long, narrow metal spatula spread a very thin layer of the icing over the entire cake, including the center hole made by the tube, in order to seal any loose crumbs. Then spread the remaining icing to make a thick layer over the sides first and then the top. The icing may be spread smooth (which is easiest to do by using a long, narrow metal spatula and working on a cake-decorating turntable), or pull it up into peaks and/or stripes by using the back of a large spoon. Either way, do it quickly; if you work over the icing too much it will lose its fine shiny quality.

To serve, cut the cake gently with a serrated bread knife, using a sawing motion—do not press down on the cake or it will squash. Or cut with a special tool called a cake rake, which is meant for cutting Angel Food. Or use two long-pronged forks, back to back, to separate into portions.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

16
G
ENEROUS
P
ORTIONS

This fantastically dramatic cake is over 4 inches high, as light as a cloud, moist, and very dark. (It is made with salad oil, not butter.)

½ cup strained unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process)

1 tablespoon dry instant coffee

¾ cup boiling water

1¾ cups sifted cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1¾ cups granulated sugar

7 eggs (graded large), separated, plus 1 egg white (you should have 1 generous cup of whites)

½ cup tasteless salad oil (such as Mazola or Wesson oil)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Adjust rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. You will need a 10 × 4-inch angel-food tube pan with a loose rim, the bottom and tube being in one piece. Do not butter or line the pan.

Place the cocoa and coffee in a small mixing bowl. Add the boiling water and stir well to dissolve; stir until completely smooth and then set aside to cool to room temperature.

Sift together into a large mixing bowl (I use an 8-quart stainless steel bowl) the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. With a rubber spatula make a well in the middle. Pour the egg yolks, salad oil, vanilla, and cooled chocolate mixture into the well. Stir slowly and then briskly with a rather large wire whisk until the mixture is smooth.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat until the whites hold a firm shape; they must be firm, but do not beat until stiff or dry.