Myfrenchkitchen

Baked for a friend’s brithday. He adores rich, heavy chocolate cakes. So I baked him one. The one day it was still under the cloche on the dresser, the next morning it was gone. We had eaten the birthday cake at midnight. So I had to bake another one.

Decadent chocolate cake

250 ml ( 1 cup)plain flour
125 ml (1/2 cup) cacao powder
62,5 ml (1/4 cup) jam of your choice ( I prefer apricot)
250 ml (1 cup) castor sugar
125 g (about 4 1/2oz ) butter
4 large eggs, seperated
extra jam of your choice, heated for easier brushing
125 g ( about 4 1/2 oz) dark chocolate
125 ml (1/2 cup) thick cream
a knob of butter

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Line and a 20 cm round cake tin with baking powder and butter.
Sift the cacao and flour together in a mixing bowl.
Combine the sugar, jam and butter and melt over low heat(on the stove or in the microwave), stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth.
Add the melted sugar mixture into the flour, add the eggs yolks and mix well.
Beat the egg whites in a bowl until soft peaks form. Fold into the cake mixture.
Pour into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 40 minutes or until a testing skewer pulls out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Leave to cool and turn out onto a wire rack.
Ganache topping: Combine the chocolate and cream and heat over low heat (on tove or in the microwave, stirring often) until melted. Take off the heat and whisk in the knob of butter until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
To assemble: Cut the cake horizontally into two or three layers using a long serrated knife, depending on your desire. Brush each layer with some heated jam of your choice, assemble and brush the top and sides with jam as well. While still on a wire rack, pour the ganache topping over the cake and smooth the top and sides with a spatula. Allow to set before decorating and transferring to a plate.
Chocolate shavings: melt dark chocolate over low heat and pour onto a cool, flat surface. Place into the refigerator to become hard. Using a sharp knife scrape at an angle of about 45 degrees over the chocolate spread away from you. You can use an ice cream scoop for thicker and biffer curls. Refrigerate the shavings between baking paper until needed.
Use for decoration on your chocolate cake and finish off with a touch of silver leaf or gold leaf.

a medium cake

Commentaires

Yummy…

That cake looks so good right now… and I love the picture. It looks like those two angels are about to dive in and take a nice big bite!!!!

Posté par Marinell, 23-07-2007 à 15:14

–>Oh Ronell, what a heavenly picture of a chocolate cake that is! I am going to have to try that sometime. Btw, I have tagged you for a meme – details on my blog today. Pls don’t feel obliged though 🙂

Posté par Jeanne, 23-07-2007 à 19:25

–

–>Thanks MArinell..yip, I never saw that and you’re right, they look like they’re just making up their mind!
Thanks Jeanne…also for the tag. Why not!? will have a look at your blog, thanks.
Ronell

Poached eggs in a red wine sauce

This is probably a dish more fit for winter, but I love a poached egg and I love a red wine sauce, which we use frequently for a multitude of dishes, so we often enjoy this meal, winter or summer. It can be served as a starter or main course, consider even using some quail eggs if used for a starter.

It’s origins lie in Burgundy, a heartwarming rustic meal, to be served with some crusty bread and accompanied with the wine you’ve used in your sauce. I don’t give any specifications for the wine, but I’m leaving you with my motto: If you can’t drink the wine, you can’t cook with it either!

There are as many versions of this recipe as there are for all the classic recipes , so here is mine, worked out in the cooking class a few years ago with my good friend Lisa, who now cooks and entertains in Chicago. She had weak knees when it comes to Oeufs en meurette …and a good croissant! The eggs we could make, the croissants we simply bought at our favorite boulangerie.

Poached eggs in red wine sauce

(Oeufs en meurette)

1/2 cup of chopped bacon
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into dice
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
1 branch of celery, chopped
a sprig of thyme and rosemary
2 bay leaves
some olive olive oil and butter for sauteeing
500 ml of a full bodied red wine
1 tablespoon fo butter
1 tablespoon of flour
4 eggs at room temperature
a tablespoon of white wine vinegar
a clove of garlic
a baguette
salt and freshly ground pepper

Sauce: In a saucepan, add the olive oil en butter and saute the bacon with the carrots, shallots, celery, garlic, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves until the shallots are just transparent, don’t brown. Add the red wine and simmer until reduced by 1/2.
Blend the butter and flour to a paste(beurre manié).
Strain the wine and bring it back to a simmer.
Whisk the beurre manié into the sauce, little by little, while continuing whisking until the sauce has thickened to the consistency of cream. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
Eggs: Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add the tablespoon of vinegar. Carefully break the egg one at a time into a cup and slide gently into the boiling water, to prevent baking. Poach the eggs for 2 minutes, or until the whites are opaque. Gently lift the eggs from the water, dry on a plate covered with kitchen towel and cut off the fringes of the egg white.
While the eggs are poaching, rub 4 slices of baguette with the clove of garlic and grill/toast under the grill.
To serve: Place a slice of toast on each plate, top with a poached egg and carefully spoon the red wine sauce around the egg.
Finish off with some salt and freshly ground pepper and decorate with a sprig of herb. Serve immediately with some more bread on the side.

Serves 4 people