| Chocolate Apricot Souffle Cake Click here for your FREE weekly newsletter! Bring the heart of New England into your home with affordable, high-quality New England prints. Visit our Art Gallery today! Click here for More Recipes! |
Chocolate Apricot Soufflé Cake
By Charlie Burke
Click here for printer-friendly version of this recipe
This is Joanne’s favorite cake, and she has been making it for the holidays and
special occasions for many years. She has the recipe written on old index
cards and thinks she found it in a magazine or newspaper over twenty years
ago, so its provenance is unknown. It is spectacular when brought to the
table, and it has complex flavors without being overly sweet. For those with
gluten intolerance, here is an intensely rich flour-less cake which will be the
hit of any party.
Although it has several steps, Joanne considers it a fairly easy recipe. It can be
baked a day ahead and refrigerated, with the topping being added an hour or
two before serving. I asked her why we see it only once or twice a year on
special occasions, and she replied that if she served it more often it would
lose its mystique!
So, if you are looking for a special desert for the holidays, give this a try. We
think this cake needs no sauce, but a small splash of a semisweet chocolate
sauce mixed with instant espresso powder or instant coffee granules would
go well.
Cake, 10 servings:
½ cup dried apricots
Butter for the cake pan
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar
5 eggs, separated, at room temperature
6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate melted, and
cooled to lukewarm
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 ½ teaspoons water
¼ cup chopped walnuts
Cream Topping
2 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnish
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
7 dried apricots
7 whole walnuts
For the cake:
Soak the apricots in hot water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain them and
coarsely chop.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch-diameter spring pan (2 inch
high sides). Line the bottom with parchment paper.
With an electric mixer cream ¾ cup butter with ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons
sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time,
blending well after each addition. Blend in the melted chocolate and coffee
and stir in the chopped apricots and walnuts. Using clean, dry beaters, beat
the egg whites until peaks begin to form. Gradually add the remaining ¼ cup
plus 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the
beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, folding half at a time. Pour the
mixture into the prepared spring pan.
Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean –
approximately one hour. The surface of the cake will crack during cooking.
Cool cake completely in the pan. The cake will fall and look quite ugly. Run a
sharp knife around the edge of cake. Invert the cake onto a plate and remove
the spring pan and parchment paper.
For the garnish:
Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Melt the 6 ounces of chopped
chocolate in the top of a double boiler (or put a metal mixing bowl over a
sauce pan) over barely simmering water, stirring until the temperature
registers 115 degrees on a candy thermometer. Dip one apricot halfway into
chocolate and shake off excess chocolate. Set the apricot on the waxed paper
and repeat with the remaining apricots. Refrigerate until the chocolate sets,
approximately 30 minutes. Place the remaining chocolate on a piece of waxed
paper and spread it thin. Refrigerate the chocolate until firm and then snap
the chocolate into large, irregular geometric pieces;
For the topping:
Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla in bowl until soft peaks form. Put the
whipped cream in a strainer over a bowl and let excess liquid drain from
cream. (1 hour). Spread the whipped cream over the top of cake and place the
chocolate apricots around the cake, alternating with the walnuts. Place
shavings on edge around the cake. The topping can be put on the cake up to 2
hours before serving.
About the author:
An organic farmer and avid cook, writer Charlie Burke is the vice president of
the New Hampshire Farmer'sMarket Association, president of the NH Farm
to Restaurant Connection and helps run the Sanbornton (NH) Farmers'
Market. Along with his wife, Joanne, Charlie grows certified organic herbs,
greens and berries at Weather Hill Farm in Sanbornton, NH.
By Charlie Burke
Click here for printer-friendly version of this recipe
This is Joanne’s favorite cake, and she has been making it for the holidays and
special occasions for many years. She has the recipe written on old index
cards and thinks she found it in a magazine or newspaper over twenty years
ago, so its provenance is unknown. It is spectacular when brought to the
table, and it has complex flavors without being overly sweet. For those with
gluten intolerance, here is an intensely rich flour-less cake which will be the
hit of any party.
Although it has several steps, Joanne considers it a fairly easy recipe. It can be
baked a day ahead and refrigerated, with the topping being added an hour or
two before serving. I asked her why we see it only once or twice a year on
special occasions, and she replied that if she served it more often it would
lose its mystique!
So, if you are looking for a special desert for the holidays, give this a try. We
think this cake needs no sauce, but a small splash of a semisweet chocolate
sauce mixed with instant espresso powder or instant coffee granules would
go well.
Cake, 10 servings:
½ cup dried apricots
Butter for the cake pan
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar
5 eggs, separated, at room temperature
6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate melted, and
cooled to lukewarm
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 ½ teaspoons water
¼ cup chopped walnuts
Cream Topping
2 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnish
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
7 dried apricots
7 whole walnuts
For the cake:
Soak the apricots in hot water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain them and
coarsely chop.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch-diameter spring pan (2 inch
high sides). Line the bottom with parchment paper.
With an electric mixer cream ¾ cup butter with ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons
sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time,
blending well after each addition. Blend in the melted chocolate and coffee
and stir in the chopped apricots and walnuts. Using clean, dry beaters, beat
the egg whites until peaks begin to form. Gradually add the remaining ¼ cup
plus 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the
beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, folding half at a time. Pour the
mixture into the prepared spring pan.
Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean –
approximately one hour. The surface of the cake will crack during cooking.
Cool cake completely in the pan. The cake will fall and look quite ugly. Run a
sharp knife around the edge of cake. Invert the cake onto a plate and remove
the spring pan and parchment paper.
For the garnish:
Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Melt the 6 ounces of chopped
chocolate in the top of a double boiler (or put a metal mixing bowl over a
sauce pan) over barely simmering water, stirring until the temperature
registers 115 degrees on a candy thermometer. Dip one apricot halfway into
chocolate and shake off excess chocolate. Set the apricot on the waxed paper
and repeat with the remaining apricots. Refrigerate until the chocolate sets,
approximately 30 minutes. Place the remaining chocolate on a piece of waxed
paper and spread it thin. Refrigerate the chocolate until firm and then snap
the chocolate into large, irregular geometric pieces;
For the topping:
Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla in bowl until soft peaks form. Put the
whipped cream in a strainer over a bowl and let excess liquid drain from
cream. (1 hour). Spread the whipped cream over the top of cake and place the
chocolate apricots around the cake, alternating with the walnuts. Place
shavings on edge around the cake. The topping can be put on the cake up to 2
hours before serving.
About the author:
An organic farmer and avid cook, writer Charlie Burke is the vice president of
the New Hampshire Farmer'sMarket Association, president of the NH Farm
to Restaurant Connection and helps run the Sanbornton (NH) Farmers'
Market. Along with his wife, Joanne, Charlie grows certified organic herbs,
greens and berries at Weather Hill Farm in Sanbornton, NH.
| The Heart of New England Celebrating the unique character & culture of Maine ~ New Hampshire ~ Vermont |
| ©The Heart of New England online magazine ...celebrating the unique character & culture of Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont! Contact| The Heart of New England HOME | Search Get Your FREE Weekly Newsletter Today! |
| Home ~ Life in New England ~ Recipes ~ Garden ~ Travel ~ B&B/Inns ~ Made in New England ~ Events ~ Marketplace ~ Site Map ~ About/Contact Us |
|
| Get 100+ New England Recipes! $9.95 Click here |
