It is always a risk when you make a dessert for the first time. I have had my share of recipe disasters and of making recipes not living up to the claim of being the best they every ate, best they ever made. But there was something about Evelyn Sharpe's recipe, one created back in 1969 that me think it really would live up to the claims by others as a cake to make your cavities ache and the best chocolate cake they had ever eaten. And if by some chance I messed up the perfection of chocolate decadence, I always had the Panna Cotta as my back-up plan (aka Plan B).
Four eggs, 10 tablespoons of unsalted butter, a tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of flour, a pinch of sea salt, a pinch of espresso powder, and a pound of chocolate create a cake I will simply describe as wicked. After reading the impressions of others who have made Evelyn Sharpe's cake I decided to add a pinch of sea salt rather than change out the unsalted butter to salted butter. As if a pound of chocolate is not enough to create an intensely chocolatey cake, I decided to ramp up the chocolate just a bit by adding a pinch of espresso powder. I can't explain why just a hint of espresso has the effect of further enhancing the chocolate without imparting a coffee flavor, however, I can tell you that it was Ina Garten who shared this 'secret' years ago. It is one of her best non-kept secrets.
Sharpe's recipe called for one pound of semi-sweet chocolate with no specificity as to the percentage of cocao. In 1969 the number of semi-sweet options accessible to home cooks may have been limited.Today the choices range from 42% all the way up to 72% (often called bittersweet). As the percentage of the cocao increases the less sweet the chocolate it. Considering there was only one tablespoon of sugar in the recipe, I followed the advice of another food blogger and went with chocolate containing 55% cocao. This turned out to be great advice and an even better disaster avoidance strategy.
Personally I am not a big fan of melting chocolate in the microwave (at least not at the moment), as I much prefer the melting over simmering water double boiler method (works perfectly every time). Once the chocolate has melted, the bowl of chocolate is removed from the heat. The unsalted butter (cut into pieces), flour, sugar, pinch of sea salt and pinch of espresso powder are stirred in until the butter melts and the mixture looks smooth and shiny.
The yolks from four large eggs are lightly beaten and then slowly whisked into the chocolate mixture (the chocolate mixture will still be warm so whisking in the egg yolks slowly prevents them from cooking).
The four egg whites are whipped until they begin to hold their shape but should still look moist (not dry). The lightly whipped egg whites are carefully and quickly folded into the chocolate mixture until no streaks of egg whites remain.
The entire mixture is poured into a parchment paper lined 9 inch springform pan. Using a springform versus a cake pan makes it so much easier to remove the baked cake and allows for a even more beautiful presentation. The cake is baked for 15 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven. Keep the cake in the oven but turn off the oven and leave the oven door ajar until it cools.
As the cake cooks it will deflate. If you are not serving the cake immediately run a sharp knife along the edge of the cake and cover with plastic wrap. The cake can be served warm, at room temperature or even chilled. If chilled it will take on a more fudge-like quality. The French Chocolate Cake is intensely rich and will make any chocoholic very, very happy. A sliver of the cake served with a side of freshly whipped sweetened heavy cream will be appreciated by both the most extreme chocoholics and chocolate lovers alike. On a warm day I would serve slivers of this cake sitting on a bed of melted high quality vanilla ice cream (the semi-homemade version of creme anglaise and another one of the Barefoot Contessa's thankfully not-well kept secrets.)
If I needed any validation that this cake was wicked good it would have been by the lack of even a crumb left on the everyones's plates. And maybe I accomplished the goal of having a memorable meal for a group of fabulous, beautiful, smart, fun, funny women I feel fortunate to have as friends.
If there was ever a reason to love French cooking, the French Chocolate Cake is all the reason you need. I can hardly wait to have a reason to make this cake again. And the next time I make this cake for a gathering, I don't think I need to make two desserts. No, I take that back. I know I don't need to make two desserts as this is cake not requiring one to have a Plan B ready and waiting. This cake may have finally taught me the concept of (dessert) restraint, as this really is a cake that lives up to all of its' hype.
French Chocolate Cake (inspired by Evelyn Sharpe's French Chocolate Cake recipe)
Ingredients
1 pound bittersweet chocolate (55% cacao)
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 10 pieces
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of espresso powder
1 slightly heaping tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
4 large eggs, separated
Sweetened Whipped cream and/or melted high quality vanilla ice cream, for serving
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a 9 inch springform pan (spray and line with parchment paper)
2. Melt chocolate on top of a double boiler.
3. Remove melted chocolate from heat and stir in the butter, flour, sugar, sea salt and espresso powder.
4. Lightly beat egg yolks and gradually whisk into the chocolate mixture.
5. Beat egg whites until you have very soft peaks and they begin to take form (be careful not to over beat or allow them to get to the dry stage).
6. Quickly fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn off heat, open oven door so it is ajar and allow cake to cool in oven.
8. Serve with freshly whipped sweetened heavy cream or on a puddle of melted high quality vanilla ice cream. Note: When cutting the cake, run a long thin knife under very hot water and then slice into slivers as this is a very rich cake.
Each of the women at the dinner table were school superintendents. We may have initially been drawn together years ago because we were part of the small minority of women superintendents and each of us had had the common sometimes 'lonely at the top' experience that go with being a school superintendent. We are now all retired from these positions, yet we have stayed together for a very different reason. We all like each other. And as much as our jobs consumed us, our conversations with one another were never dominated by them, then and now.
Individually our paths going into and out of these positions were more different than they were the same. Yet, we each possess some of the same qualities, the kind of qualities that contribute to forming and sustaining friendships. Even though not all of us have seen or been in touch with one another on as regular of a basis, we have that amazing ability to just pick up where we left off. For me, those are the best kinds of friendships, the most enduring ones. Circumstances may have been responsible for bringing us together, but it is our friendship with one another that is now keeping us together.
