Palm Beach Chocolate Tube Cake

Palm Beach Chocolate Tube Cake
Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.), pg. 52.

This recipe contained no introduction and when I looked it up on the Internet, I kept seeing another recipe for a chocolate cake from The Silver Palate Cookbook, published in 1982. I have that book and pulled it off the shelf and took a look. Sure enough, the recipes appears identical. The Silver Palate calls it "Decadent Chocolate Cake"with the only notable exception being the frosting, which the Silver Palate had done differently (more on that later). Maida Heatter's book was published in 1974. Hmmm....

Regardless of who came up with it first, it is a scrumptious cake - dense, moist, richly chocolate - heaven!

Now, about that frosting. Maida's recipe calls for only three ingredients - semisweet chocolate, sour cream and 1 egg. After reading the recipe, I decided to skip it since it calls for a raw egg. That doesn't bother me that much but Michael will not touch anything with raw egg. I did want to use sour cream because sour cream chocolate frosting is both our favorite frosting. I remembered seeing another recipe in Maida Heatter's Cakes and went with it. It is fantastic! That icing goes with a different chocolate cake that I have not made yet called "American Chocolate Layer Cake". Note to self...

++++++++++++++++++

2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter
1 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Adjust the oven rack 1/3 from the bottom and preheat to 350. Butter a 9-inch tube pan and line the bottom with paper (cutting around the center tube). Dust with fine bread crumbs.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.

Combine the chocolate, butter and boiling water. Melt over medium heat.

Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Reserve 2 tablespoons of the sugar.

Add the larger portion of sugar to the chocolate mixture.

Add the vanilla

Add the eggs, mixing until smooth.

In a small bowl, add the baking soda to the sour cream and whisk together until smooth.

Add the sour cream to the chocolate mixture.

Add the flour gradually, beating only until smooth. Remove the bowl from the mixer and replace with a clean bowl with clean whisk attachment.

Beat the egg whites until they have a soft shape. Add the 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat until stiff but not dry.

Add a few dollops of the chocolate to the egg whites and gently fold together.

Now add the egg whites to the bowl of chocolate and fold together.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake for 50 - 60 minutes until the top springs back when lightly pressed.

Cool the cake on a rack for about 5 minutes, then carefully invert the pan to remove from the pan. Allow it to cool completely. After it has cooled, place pieces of wax paper around the edges to prepare for frosting.

After frosting is completed, slide the paper out.

ICING

Here is the original icing recipe that accompanied the cake recipe. Like I said earlier, I did not use this one but I've included the one I did use at the bottom.

8 oz. semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 egg

Melt the chocolate, transfer to a mixing bowl. Beat in the sour cream and egg until smooth.

Let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened.

Alternate (the one I used):

Chocolate Sour Cream Icing 

8 oz. milk chocolate
6 oz. semisweet chocolate
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over barely simmering water.

Transfer to mixer bowl. Add the salt, vanilla and sour cream. Beat on low speed until smooth.

If icing is too thin, let it sit at room temperature about an hour or until slightly thickened.

Chocolate Gingerbread

Chocolate Gingerbread (Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 89. 

This is very moist and delicious gingerbread although I have to say I don't really taste the chocolate in it.  When I was making it, I was remembering other gingerbread recipes of Maida's that I had tried so I'm thinking they are similar.

Note the icing is not in the recipe - in fact, this is in the chapter called "Old Fashioned Cakes Without Icing". I thought that the icing might be a nice touch. This is a cream cheese/pecan frosting that is similar, if not identical, to the one I use for carrot cake.

This is made in a 9" x 13" pan so it is a large, flat cake. I decided to freeze half of it and will report on how that turns out.

2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) sweet butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup boiling water or hot coffee
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup light molasses
4 large eggs
Optional:  1/3 cup candied or preserved ginger

Preheat oven to 325. Adjust rack 1/3 from bottom of the oven. Butter a 9" x 13" pan and dust with fine dry bread crumbs.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and all-spice. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate in top of a double boiler. Set aside to cool.

Place the butter in a mixing bowl. Add the hot water (or coffee)
and mix until the butter is melted.

Mix in the brown sugar.

Mix in the molasses.

Mix in the eggs.

Mix in the chocolate.

Gradually add the flour mixture.
Stir in the optional ginger, if using.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top springs back when gently pressed.
Cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely on a rack.

The following is the icing that I added. (This is not in the original recipe)

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 lb. (1 stick) butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing well. Add the vanilla. Add the pecans. 

Michael Guerard's French Chocolate Sauce

Michael Guerard's French Chocolate Sauce (Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 259. 

This is very easy and delicious. It is great on ice cream. It will keep in the refrigerator for two or three weeks.

3/4 cup strained unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup cold water
2 tablespoons sweet butter

Place over moderate heat and stir with a wooden or rubber spatula until it comes to a boil.

Let simmer for 3 minutes.

Add the butter, stir until melted and simmer for 3 more minutes.

Serve immediately or set aside to reheat. 
Store in a covered jar or glass container in the refrigerator.

Bishop's Bread

Bishop's Bread
Source: Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 59.

This is not really a bread but more like a coffee cake. It is an Austrian-German recipe called Birchofsbrot. I've seen other variations that use more candied fruits and some that use regular chocolate instead of white. The cake part is very light, very much like a sponge cake. 

Maida recommends using a long, narrow loaf pan for this. I have one that measures 12.5" x 5" and it worked well. 

I would suggest that you start checking it at 55 minutes. I baked this for one hour and it was ready (she states 1 hour, 10 minutes) and I actually think it could have come out 5 minutes earlier. It was a bit dry around the outside edges. This could have been from me using a dark pan. A lighter pan is recommended.

Note that the instructions say to let it sit wrapped in plastic overnight. I'm not sure what the purpose for that is but it is good to know beforehand.

4 oz. (1/2 cup) pitted dates, cut into small pieces

2 1/2 oz. (1/2 cup) unblanched almonds, chopped

3-4 oz. white chocolate, chopped into 1/4" pieces

2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup unsifted unbleached flour

2 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) raisins

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

5 large eggs, separated

3 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar

pinch of salt

Confectioners sugar (to sprinkle on top before serving)

Preheat the oven to 350. Use the bottom 1/3 rack.

Line a 10-cup loaf pan (see earlier comments) with foil. It is best to cut two strips for each direction. Butter it well and coat with dry bread crumbs.

Sift 2 tablespoons of the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the dates and use your fingers to coat them with the flour. Then add the raisins and nuts, coating them with the flour as well.

Beat the egg yolks and the 3 tablepoons of sugar at high speed for 5 minutes. Add this mixture to the flour/fruit mixture and fold together.

Let stand for a moment and then sift the cocoa over the fruit mixture.

In a clean mixer bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until the whites hold a shape. Lower the speed and add the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar, about a tablespoon at a time. Increase the speed and mix until the whites hold a semi-firm shape. Do not overbeat.

Add the egg white mixture a little at a time and fold in.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 55 - 70 minutes until the top springs back when lightly pressed.

Cool in the pan for 40-50 minutes. Then invert the pan onto a wire rack and remove the foil. Let the cake finish cooling upside down on the rack. 

Wrap in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature overnight.

Sprinkle with confectioners sugar, if desired, when serving.