I've had a desire for chocolate lately.
Charlie
DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE QUAI D'ORSAY
Source: Food and Wine, February 1979
12 oz. semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 2 tbs. milk 10 tbs. unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar 7 egg yolks
2/2 cup flour butter and flour for the cake pan 8 egg whites
GLAZE
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Place 12 oz. of chopped chocolate and the milk in a heavy saucepan and stir over low heat until
melted. Remove from heat. In a second pan, stir the butter and sugar together over low heat until
sugar had dissolved. Blend with the chocolate. With whisk or electric mixer, add the eggs yolks one
or two at a time mixing well after each addition. Mix in the flour gradually. Once the flour has
been incorporated, stop beating.
Preheat oven to 400F. Butter and flour a 9 or 10-inch layer-cake pan shaking out excess flour. Beat
egg whites until firm but not dry. Add about 1 quarter of the beaten whites to the chocolate mixture
and beat well to lighten the combination. Gently pour the chocolate mixture over the remaining
whites and fold together carefully. Pour the mixture gently into the cake pan. It should be about
three-quarters full.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake has shrunk from the sides of the pan and a cake tester
inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan.
While the cake is baking, prepare the glaze. Melt the 6 oz. of chopped chocolate over medium heat in
a pan set in a larger pan of hot water (be careful not to drip any water into the chocolate). Remove
from heat and stir until completely smooth.
When the cake has cooled for 5 minutes, turn it out onto a plate. Spread the melted chocolate over
the top surface, spreading from center to sides. (Glaze sides too if desired.) You can trace a
pattern into the glaze with a knife tip if you like. Refrigerate cake until the glaze has set.