Sadhvi
It feels like ages since I’ve posted something. I had a really bad cold, and I didn’t feel like doing anything for a couple of weeks. I also turned 52.
I had this urge to bake a chocolate cake with white, fluffy icing just like my grandma, Mabel Carter, used to make. I never made her “7 minute frosting” before, but I thought it was high time now that I am starting to look like her!
After looking hard and not being able to find her recipe in my collection, I decided to make one that sounded just like hers, called “Wonderful Marshmallow-Like Frosting” by Susan Branch that is in her Sweets to the Sweet book. She has a cult following, and I am one of her groupies. Here’s what she says, followed by the recipe:
“The classic boiled frosting, pure white, shiny and fluffy. You’ll need a candy thermometer.
1/3 c. water a pinch of salt
1 c. sugar 2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar 1 tsp. vanilla
Stir the water, sugar, cream of tartar & salt together in a small, heavy-bottomed pan. Hook a candy thermometer to the edge of the pan & boil without stirring until mixture reaches 240 F. In the meantime, beat egg whites until stiff. Pour the 240F syrup over the whites in a thin stream, beating constantly until thick & glossy. Stir in the vanilla. Now frost the cake!
I found a simple chocolate cake recipe called “Gateau Therese” in David Lebovitz’s The Sweet Life in Paris. This is a must read book, by the way. The following is what he has to say about it…
“Every Frenchwoman I know loves chocolate so much she has a chocolate cake in her repertoire that she’s committed to memory, one she can make on a moment’s notice. This one comes from Therese Pella, who lives across the boulevard from me; when I first tasted the cake, I swooned from the rich, dark chocolate flavor and insisted on the recipe.
Madame Pellas is fanatical about making the cake 2 days in advance and storing it in her kitchen cabinet before serving, which she says improves the chocolate flavor. And the Brie she keeps in there as well doesn’t seem to mind the company…”
I actually use just one stick of butter, which is probably a few grams less than what is called for, and, since most of my friends are into gluten-free eating, I use ground almonds instead of flour.
9 ounces (250g) bittersweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate, chopped
8 T. (120 g) butter
1/3 cp. (65 g) sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature, separated
2 T. ground almonds
A pinch of salt
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Butter a 9-inch loaf pan (I used a 9’ round springform pan or whatever) and line bottom with parchment paper.
- In a big bowl set over a pan of simmering water, heat the chocolate and butter together until just melted and smooth.
- Remove from heat and stir in about half of the sugar, then the egg yolks, and then the ground almonds.
- Start whipping the egg whites with that pinch of salt. Continue whipping until you start to see soft, droopy peaks. Gradually whip in the rest of the sugar until the egg whites are smooth and hold their shape when the whisk is lifted.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold about a third of the egg whets into the chocolate mixture, then fold the rest of the egg whites just until the mixture is smooth and no visible white streaks remain.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth it on top, and bake around 35 min., or just until the cake feels slightly firm in the center. Do not overbake!
Try this recipe…it’s really really good.
And, oh, thankfully, it’s Spring!
Suddenly, I found myself sitting in the middle of a group of people (in my own home) complaining about this country’s turn toward socialism. One guest was even furious that she would be forced to pay for all those “illegal immigrants and unemployed” who were now entitled to health insurance: “I can’t pay more taxes. I have nothing left to give. And now, people will get it for free! Where’s the incentive to work?” she asked. 
