chocolate, and a lot of it, in the right place
When it comes to the flavor and ingredient called chocolate, there are a lot of options (read: batters and doughs) for putting this flavor in “the right place.”
In no particular order, it can go:
1. into a brownie
2. into a layer cake
3. into a sheet cake
4. into a muffin
5. into a scone
6. into a coffee cake
7. into a drop cookie
8. into a waffle
9. into a pancake
10. and on . . . and on . . . and on
Clearly, by reviewing this list, you have figured out that chocolate is in “the right place” if the flavor is highlighted in a recipe that features a batter or dough. When excess is a great choice, I vote for localizing 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate in a one-layer cake batter, along with a benevolent 14 tablespoons of unsalted butter. So there. And then, in another recipe, I vote for using 1 pound of chocolate and 1/2 pound of butter, with a little heavy cream thrown in. While some would find these types and amounts unchecked, they seem entirely reasonable to me as someone who deeply admires the overall intensity of low-on-flour chocolate cakes.
As looks go, both tortes are homely but distinguished in a rustic way—the word “untidy” comes to mind, meaning that the tops and sides are imprecise—craggy here, with fault lines, cracks, and fissures there; slightly sunken in places; and dramatically one color, which can be redeemed by a stream of vanilla custard sauce. Yet the inherent spirit of each will sweep you away.
a nice, untidy torte, #1
serving: one 81/2-inch torte, creating 8 slices
ahead: 3 days, without the cocoa powder topping
cocoa and bittersweet chocolate batter
1/4 cup unsifted bleached cake flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup superfine sugar
21/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
14 tablespoons (13/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small chunks, softened
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder, for sifting over the baked torte
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Film the inside of an 81/2-inch springform pan (21/2 inches deep) with softened unsalted butter.
For the batter, sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
Place the chopped chocolate in a heavy, medium-size saucepan (preferably enameled cast iron) and set over low heat to melt it. Remove the saucepan from the heat to a heatproof surface and cool for 3 minutes. In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks in a small mixing bowl and add the sugar and vanilla extract; whisk slowly for 2 minutes. At first the mixture will be thick and resemble wet sand, but it will begin to relax in a minute or so. Blend the egg yolk and sugar mixture into the melted chocolate, mixing quickly but thoroughly. The mixture will begin to stiffen when the egg yolk mixture is introduced, so you must work speedily at this point. Whisk in the softened butter, a few chunks at a time. Resift the flour-cocoa powder-salt blend over the chocolate mixture and combine well.
Whip the egg whites until frothy in a large mixing bowl. Continue whipping until quite foamy, then add the cream of tartar and continue whipping until creamy, firm (but not stiff) peaks are formed.
Stir one-third of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then gently whisk in the remaining whites to create an evenly colored batter. Make sure to dispel any cottony strands of whipped whites. The batter will be moderately dense.
Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake the torte in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F, and bake for 5 minutes longer. The torte will rise as it bakes, form surface cracks, and settle as it cools. The center of the torte will be soft and the outer band firmer.
Cool the torte in the pan on a rack for 1 hour. It will sink further as it cools, forming deeper cracks, a significantly depressed center that makes the outer band higher, and it will look, as I say in the name of the recipe, “untidy.” Untidy and delicious. Refrigerate the torte for 4 hours, or until firm. Open the hinge on the side of the springform pan and remove the outer ring, allowing the torte to stand on the circular metal base. Store the torte in an airtight container. Just before serving, sift cocoa powder on top of the cooled torte. Serve the torte, cut into triangular slices, napped with a little of the custard sauce.
notes
• select a bittersweet chocolate in the cacao range of 60% to 66%
• it is important to use superfine sugar in the batter or the texture of the baked torte may be slightly gritty
• use a long, thin-bladed knife to cut the torte
a nice, untidy torte
a nice, untidy torte, #2
serving: one 9-inch torte, creating 12 slices
ahead: 3 days, without the cocoa powder topping
plenty-of-chocolate-and-butter batter
2 tablespoons bleached cake flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons superfine sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid
1/2 pound (16 tablespoons or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small chunks, softened
unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder, for sifting over the baked torte
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Film the inside of a 9-inch springform pan (23/4 inches deep) with softened unsalted butter.
For the batter, sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
Whisk the whole eggs and egg yolks in a medium-size mixing bowl to combine. Add the sugar and whisk slowly for 1 minute. Blend in the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Place the melted chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the butter, a few chunks at a time, blending well after each addition. Pour over the egg and cream mixture and blend well to combine, making sure that the batter is a uniform color.
Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake the torte in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until just set. The edges of the torte will rise above the center portion as the torte bakes. The center will be slightly glossy-looking and a few cracks usually surface. Cool the torte in the pan on a cooling rack for 1 hour and 30 minutes. The sides may have slumped and the top may have cracked a little more in a few places.
Refrigerate the torte for 3 hours, or until firm. Open the hinge on the side of the springform pan and remove the outer ring, allowing the torte to stand on the circular metal base. Store the torte in an airtight container. Just before serving, sift cocoa powder on top of the cooled torte. Serve the torte cut into triangular slices, napped with a little of the custard sauce.
notes
• use a good 65% to 66% cacao bittersweet chocolate in the batter
• use a long, thin-bladed knife to cut the torte
serving: about 2 cups
ahead: 1 day
creamy vanilla custard
11/2 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
large pinch of salt
6 large egg yolks
seeds from 1/2 small vanilla bean, scraped clean (optional)
21/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Warm the half-and-half, heavy cream, sugar, and salt in a heavy, medium-size saucepan (preferably wide-bottomed enameled cast iron) over low heat (to 110 to 115 degrees F), whisking occasionally. The goal is to heat the liquid and dissolve the sugar. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
In the meantime, place the egg yolks and vanilla bean seeds (if you are using them) in a large nonreactive mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the warm creamy mixture through a medium-size fine-mesh sieve in a slow, steady stream, stopping from time to time to blend the mixture as the creamy mixture is added. Strain over the remaining liquid in 3 or 4 additions, thoroughly whisking in each batch. Wash and dry the saucepan, then pour the custard sauce mixture into it.
Set the saucepan over low heat and cook the sauce, stirring with a wooden spoon or flat wooden paddle, until lightly thickened, 6 to 10 minutes, stirring slowly but constantly. In the beginning, the top may be slightly foamy (depending on how vigorously you have whisked the mixture), but the lighter-colored foam will dissipate as the custard cooks. The completed sauce will very lightly coat the back of the spoon or paddle; once chilled, the sauce will thicken further. The cream must be cooked until thickened, reaching and maintaining a temperature of 160 degrees F. (To test the temperature of the sauce, remove the saucepan from the heat for a moment and, protecting your hands with oven mitts, tip the pan slightly so that the sauce just pools to one side, then test with a clean, dry food-appropriate thermometer.) The sauce should never simmer—or even verge on this stage—or the yolks will begin to scramble in little light yellow pellets and the mixture will begin to smell eggy.
Place the vanilla extract in a medium-size heatproof bowl. Strain the custard sauce through a medium-size fine-mesh sieve into the bowl. Immediately press a sheet of food-safe plastic wrap directly over the surface of the sauce to prevent a surface skin from forming. Cool for 20 minutes.
When cooled, pour the sauce into a storage container, cover tightly, and refrigerate. Chill for 3 hours before serving as an accompaniment.
notes
• using 1/2 cup sugar creates a custard sauce with just the right sweetness; using a lesser amount of sugar would produce a sauce that tastes too eggy, as sugar rounds out the flavor as well as increases what I like to call the “luscious-quotient” by balancing and enhancing the half-and-half and heavy cream
• using a wide-bottomed saucepan speeds up the time it takes to thicken the sauce
• if the sauce seems very thick after several hours of chilling (depending on the richness—that is, percentage of fat—of the heavy cream you have used), thin it out with a little milk or half-and-half, 1 tablespoon at a time