2009 February 28 | dinner with Julie

Archive for February 28th, 2009

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dharm’s Homemade Ice Cream

People, I have found a new chocolate cake that makes my top five list. It could be due to my current chocolate hysteria, but that phrase “where have you been all my life?” ? I understand it now.

Because I am a member of a little group called the Daring Bakers, I must complete an assigned challenge every month, which we then all post on the same day. One guess what day it is today.

At first it seemed a bit of a waste to make such a cake with no occasion to celebrate, but it was a snap to put together, and I can’t really think of a better occasion to celebrate than a weekend at home. (More or less.)

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

The name – Chocolate Valentino – is presumably in reference to Valentine’s Day. What it is is a dense, fudgy, not-too-sweet cake (of sorts) with a texture somewhere between a truffle and a brownie. It is dee-vine. And easier to make than a plain old chocolate cake, with a bonus: there is no need for icing.

Although. I have a chef friend in Edmonton who serves wedges of dense chocolate cake topped with – get this – a scoop of ganache. Ganache is a mixture of chocolate and cream; the same as a truffle, only softer. It’s the stuff you sometimes get on fancy cakes instead of the usual buttercream. So not only do his cake wedges look utterly hip; he doesn’t have to bother with all that fussy cake decorating. As you eat it, you get a little of the soft truffle on your fork along with some cake, and all is good with the world. Little ganache scoops would be absolutely spectacular with this particular cake.

Instead, I did ice cream. Just easy, plain old ice cream. There are two ways to do it: by making a custard first, or not. Or you could strain good quality thick vanilla yogurt and freeze it straight up. I also highly recommend Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream, which we ate with it after midnight with friends after coming home from a party/performance. A perfect bedtime snack.

As I mentioned, this “cake” is also dead easy. You melt a pound of chocolate (I used half semi-sweet Bernard Callebaut nibs, half chopped Schraffen Berger, because the kind of chocolate you use makes all the difference – don’t bother trying to melt down old chocolate bunnies you aquired on sale after Easter weekend) with butter, separate 5 eggs, whip the whites, stir the yolks into the melted chocolate-butter, then fold in the whites and bake. (You can imagine how hard it was not to dunk my face directly into the pot and roll around in it like the happiest pig in mud ever.) The interesting part was after baking – you pop a meat thermometer into the middle and it should read 140 degrees F. To my utter surprise, it did exactly that after 25 minutes in the oven, in an 8 1/2″ springform pan. It will look like goo in the middle, but will set up perfectly.

Chocolate Valentino

adapted from Chef Wan

1 lb. (454 g) good-quality semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter (salted works just fine too)
5 large eggs, separated

Preheat your oven to 375F. In a small pot over low heat, melt the chocolate with the butter (you could do this in the microwave too, or in a double boiler), stirring often until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Butter or spray an 8″ – 9″ springform pan, line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper, and butter that too.

Separate your eggs, and beat the whites in a clean glass or stainless steel bowl with an electric mixer until stiff but not dry. In another bowl, stir together the cooled chocolate mixture (it can still be warm, just not hot enough to cook the yolks) and the egg yolks. Fold about a third of the egg whites into the chocolate, and then the remaining whites, being careful not to deflate them. Leaving a few streaks of white through the batter is just fine.

Pour into your pan and bake for 25 minutes, until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. (If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.) Cool slightly before removing the sides of the pan.

Dharm’s Classic Vanilla Ice Cream

from The Ice Cream Book by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis

1 vanilla bean
1 ¼ cups 2% or whole (homo) milk
4 large egg yolks
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 ¼ cups heavy cream

Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod length wise. Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.

Lift the vanilla pod up. Holding it over the pan, scrape the black seeds out of the pod with a small knife so that they fall back into the milk. Set the vanilla pod aside and bring the milk back to the boil.

Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle heat, stirring all the time. When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it back into the bowl. Cool it, then chill.

Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon. Stir the cream into the custard and churn the mixture until thick, following instructions on your ice cream maker.