Reine de Saba avec Glaçage au Chocolat (Almond Chocolate Cake) ~ A piece of Julia !!!

This post is tribute to the culinary legend Julia Child, who is known for her skills in French cooking. Being a French speaking Indian I found the cake to be complicated than talking in French ;-) but thank God for the amazing grace, I pulled it off.

Well I also did a little research of Julia and this post has a piece of her too…. Now don’t get scrolling :P

What I like about the cake?

-          Its caffeine high – rich in chocolate & coffee

-          I love the fact that it has almond meal

-          Its just one layer cake so no need to double quantity

-          Icing is very simple and makes you literally slurp! slurp! slurp!

-          It’s a best cake recipe for any special occasion – Christmas – Perfect!!!

I planned to bake the cake a few days ahead of her centenary birthday and it just vanished before I could post it here. I tried to in-corporate Julia’s method in baking the cake and icing. Followed my own creativity in decorating it with almond praline which added an extra crunch factor to the cake.

Recipe Source ~ Julia Child

Ingredients

For Cake (8” pan)

4 ounce/ 113.4 grams   of semi-sweet chocolate melted with 2  tablespoon  of rum/ coffee

¼  lb/ 1 stick/ 113g softened butter

2/3 / 134g cup granulated sugar

3 Eggs  ( Yolks and White Separated)

Pinch of salt

1 Tbs of granulated sugar

1/3 cup/ 65g pulverized (ground) almonds

½ tsp almond extract

½ cup/ 57g cake flour (scooped and leveled, turned into a sifter)

Chocolate Icing

2 ounces (2 squares)/ 56.7 g semisweet baking chocolate

2 Tb rum or coffee

5 to 6 Tb unsalted butter

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the cake pan. Set the chocolate and rum or coffee in a small pan, cover, and place (off heat) in a larger pan of almost simmering water; let melt while you proceed with the recipe. Measure out the rest of the ingredients
• Cream the butter and sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture. Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.
• Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.
• With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in the almonds, and almond extract. Immediately stir in one-fourth of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Delicately fold in a third of the remaining whites and when partially blended, sift on one-third of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all egg whites and flour are incorporated.
• Turn the batter into the cake pan, pushing the batter up to its rim with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for 25 minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, and 2 1/2 to 3 inches around the circumference are set so that a needle plunged into that area comes out clean; the centre should move slightly if the pan is shaken, and a needle comes out oily.
• Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse cake on the rack. Allow it to cool for an hour or two; it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced
• To serve, use the chocolate-butter icing recipe below

Glacage au Chocolat (Chocolate-butter Icing)

- 2 ounces (2 squares) semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 2 Tb rum or coffee
- 5 to 6 Tb unsalted butter
- A bowl filled with a tray of ice cubes and water to cover them

Place the chocolate and rum or coffee in a small pan, cover, and set in a larger pan of almost simmering water. Remove pans from heat and let chocolate melt for 5 minutes or so, until perfectly smooth. Lift chocolate pan out of the hot water, and beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time. Then beat over the ice and water until chocolate mixture has cooled to spreading consistency. At once spread it over your cake with spatula or knife. Then press a design of almonds over the icing.

For the Almond Praline

Recipe (adapted)~ Ria

- 2 to 3 spoons of almonds, chopped coarsely 
- 1 tsp butter
- 3-4 tsp sugar

Melt sugar in a non stick pan in medium flame, once it turns golden brown add the butter and nuts. Give it a good mix and then spread it over a parchment paper. Let it cool down completely. Now put it into a zip lock and hit it hard with a rolling pin (dough roller). You could also give a 1 second whisk to half of it in a food processor/ mixie but do not let it get to powdery. Garnish over cake and enjoy the crunch!

Linking this recipe to Priya Suresh aks Valentine's Day Recipe Event