Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (23 page)

Add the beaten whites all at once to the bowl with the chocolate mixture and fold together carefully only until the mixtures are blended.

Turn into the cake pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 55 minutes at 325 degrees. Then increase the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer until the top springs back when lightly pressed with a fingertip.

Now the cake must cool upside down in the pan. Even though the pan has little feet to raise it from the counter top, they do not raise it high enough. To raise the pan even more, turn it upside down over an inverted funnel, or over the neck of a small bottle, and let it hang until completely cool.

Then turn the pan right side up. To cut the cake out of the pan use a knife with a sharp,
very firm
(not flexible) 6-inch blade. Insert the knife at the outer rim of the cake, cutting all the way to the bottom of the pan. Cut around the cake, pressing the blade very firmly against the pan. Now lift the pan and with your hands push up on the bottom of the pan to remove the sides. Then cut around the tube in the middle and then cut around the bottom of the cake, pressing the blade firmly against the pan to release the cake completely.

Cover it with a flat platter and invert. Remove the bottom of the pan. Again cover the inverted cake with a flat platter and turn again, leaving the cake right side up. The top will be dome-shaped and it should be cut flat. Use a long, thin, sharp knife. Cover with a serving platter, centered carefully, and invert once again, leaving the cake upside down—the way it will be served.

OPTIONAL
:
This cake may be covered with the following soft, rich, and creamy icing.

Before icing the cake, prepare a large, flat cake plate or serving board by placing four strips of wax paper around the outer edges of the plate.

Place the cake on the plate, checking carefully to see that the papers touch the cake all around. If you have a cake-decorating turntable or a lazy Susan, place the cake on it. Prepare the icing.

CHOCOLATE ICING

12 ounces semisweet chocolate (you can use morsels or any other semisweet)

6 ounces (1½ sticks) sweet butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs (graded large)

If you use bars of chocolate, break them up. If you use morsels or 1-ounce squares, use them as they are. Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over warm water on low heat. Cover and let stand until partially melted. Uncover and stir until completely melted and smooth. Remove the top of the double boiler and let stand, stirring occasionally, until completely cool.

In the small bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Add the vanilla and 1 egg. Then add about one-third of the cooled chocolate. Alternately add the remaining eggs and chocolate. Then beat at high
speed for a minute or two until the icing lightens in color and is very smooth.

With a long, narrow metal spatula spread the icing on the sides of the cake and then on top. With a small, narrow metal spatula or with a table knife spread the icing around the hole in the middle of the cake. There will be a generous amount of icing and it should make a thick layer all over. It may be spread smooth or it may be formed into swirls and peaks.

Remove the wax paper strips by pulling each one out toward a narrow end of the paper.

Chocolate Gingerbread

16
P
ORTIONS

This is a thick, soft, moist, spicy, old-fashioned dark chocolate cake. It is quite plain. Marvelous between meals with milk or coffee, or with whipped cream as a dessert. Or anytime with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

2½ cups sifted all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

2 ounces (2 squares) unsweetened chocolate

½ pound (2 sticks) sweet butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup boiling water or hot prepared coffee

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup light molasses

4 eggs (graded large or extra-large)

Optional: ⅓ cup finely chopped candied or preserved ginger

Adjust rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a shallow 9 × 13-inch baking pan; dust it with fine, dry bread crumbs and invert it over paper to shake out excess crumbs. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and all-spice, and set aside.

Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on low heat. Cover until the chocolate is melted. Then remove the top of the double boiler and set it aside, uncovered, to cool slightly.

Place the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Add the boiling water or hot coffee and mix until the butter is melted. Add the brown sugar and mix well. Then mix in the molasses. Add the eggs all together and beat until well mixed. Mix in the chocolate. On low speed gradually add the sifted dry ingredients and beat only until they are incorporated. Stir in the optional ginger. The mixture will be thin.

Pour it into the prepared pan and tilt the pan to level the batter.

Bake for about 50 minutes until the top of the cake springs back when it is gently pressed with a fingertip.

Cool in the pan for 15 or 20 minutes. Cover with a cookie sheet or a rack and invert. Remove the pan. Cover the cake again with a sheet or a rack and invert again leaving the cake right side up to cool.

Cut the cake into 16 large squares or 32 slices.

Loaf Cakes

ORANGE CHOCOLATE LOAF CAKE FROM FLORIDA

CHOCOLATE TEA BREAD

SOUR CREAM CHOCOLATE LOAF CAKE

BUENA VISTA LOAF CAKE

OLD-FASHIONED CHOCOLATE LOAF CAKE

Orange Chocolate Loaf Cake from Florida

A
BOUT
12
S
LICES

This recipe comes from a magnificent orange grove in Central Florida where the cake is a specialty of the house. When we visited there large trays of the sliced cake were served along with extra-tall glasses of ice-cold, sweet-and-tart just-squeezed orange juice.

It is a deliciously plain, moist, coal-black loaf which is flavored with orange rind and steeped in orange juice after it is baked. The cake is made with whipped cream instead of butter. The recipe may easily be doubled and baked in two pans.

1¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs (graded large)

Finely grated rind of 1 large, deep-colored orange

Adjust rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. You will need a loaf pan measuring about 8½ × 4½ × 2¾ inches, or one with about a 6-cup capacity. Butter the pan and dust it all over lightly with fine, dry bread crumbs, shake out excess crumbs, and set the pan aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa, and sugar, and set aside.

Beat the cream and vanilla in the small bowl of an electric mixer until the cream holds a definite shape. On low speed add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating only until the egg is incorporated after each addition. (The eggs will thin the cream slightly.)

Transfer to the large bowl of the mixer and gradually, on low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl and beating only until smooth.

Remove from the mixer and stir in the grated rind.

That’s all there is to it.

Turn the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 1 hour and 5 minutes until the top springs back when lightly pressed with a fingertip.

GLAZE

⅓ cup orange juice

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

As soon as the cake goes into the oven, mix the orange juice with the 3 tablespoons sugar and let it stand while the cake is baking.

When you remove the cake from the oven let it cool for 5 minutes. Then, a little at a time, brush the orange juice/sugar mixture all over the cake; encourage most of it to run down the sides between the cake and the pan, but thoroughly wet the top also. The cake will absorb it all.

Let the cake stand in the pan until it is completely cool. Then cover the pan loosely with a piece of wax paper. Invert the cake into the palm of your hand—easy does it—remove the pan, cover the cake with a rack, and invert again, leaving the cake right side up.

Chocolate Tea Bread

1 9-INCH
L
OAF

This is a plain, old-fashioned raisin-nut loaf cake. It is not as sweet as most desserts. Serve it between meals with coffee, tea, milk, or sherry. Or make a sweet sandwich with cream-cheese filling.

1¾ cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 ounces (½ stick) butter

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

⅔ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

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

⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder(preferably Dutch process)

1 cup buttermilk

5 ounces (1 cup) raisins (see Note)

4 ounces (generous 1 cup) walnuts, cut or broken into coarse pieces

Adjust rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 × 5 × 3-inch loaf pan (8-cup capacity) and dust it lightly with fine, dry bread crumbs; set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat until well mixed. Beat in the egg, then, on low speed, add the espresso and the cocoa. Add the sifted dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat only until mixed after each addition. Stir in the raisins and nuts.

Turn the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and dry.

Cool the cake in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then cover it with a rack and invert the rack and the cake pan. Remove the pan and gently turn the cake right side up to cool on the rack.

The top of this loaf will crack—it is supposed to.