Gateau Au Chocolate/ Queen of Sheba Chocolate Cake

By MarieR

Reine De Saba Gateau Au Chocolate/ Queen of Sheba Cake
From “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”

This extremely good chocolate cake is baked so that its center remains slightly underdone; overcooked, the cake loses its special creamy quality. It is covered with a chocolate-butter icing, and decorated with almonds. Because of its creamy center it needs no filling. It can be made in the same manner as the preceding cakes, starting out with a beating of egg yolks and sugar, then proceeding with the rest of the ingredients. But because the chocolate and the almonds make the batter so stiff it is difficult to fold in the egg whites, we have chosen another method, that of creaming together the butter and sugar and then incorporating the remaining items.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces or squares of senu-sweet chocolate melted with 2 tbsp. rum of strong coffee
• 1/4 lb. softened butter
• 2/3 c. granulated sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 eggs whites
• 1 pinch of slat
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tbps. granulated sugar
• 1/3 c. pulverized almonds
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 1/2 c. cake flour, scooped leveled and turned into a sifter

Details

Servings 9
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 40mins

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour the cake (9-inch spring from 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 whgites and salt and cream of tartar in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.

With a ruber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stire in the almonds, and almond extract. Immediately stire 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 the middle level of the preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Cake it done when it has puffed, and 2 1/2 to 3 inches around the circumference are set set so that a needle plunged into that area comes out clean; the center should move slightly if the pan is shaken, and a needle comes out oily.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse the cake on the rack. Allow it to cool for an hour ot wo; it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.

TO SERVE
Use the chocolate-butter icing and press a design of almonds over the icing.