Truffled French Chocolate Bistro Cake
A Truffle a Day — Day 5
Rare is the person who will turn down chocolate or truffles, so why not incorporate both into one killer cake? This particular recipe is my little black dress of chocolate cakes, and always pleases, with a minimum dose of effort.
Ingredients:
8–10 ounces 60% bittersweet chocolate (Ghirardelli chocolate chips are my favorite)
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup butter
1 heaping tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon grated truffle
Preparation:
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a saucepan over low heat, stirring to keep from sticking to the pan. (Make sure the mixture doesn’t bubble, or the texture of your cake will be compromised).
Meanwhile, beat the eggs together with the sugar, and stir in the spoonful of flour. Butter a cake pan and line the bottom with parchment to ensure easy extraction of the finished product (butter the parchment as well). Sprinkle sugar around the edges of the buttered pan and shake to achieve even distribution (turbinado sugar works particularly well here). This will produce a caramelized crust surrounding your cake.
Stir the egg mixture into the melted chocolate mixture, moving rapidly to avoid chocolate scrambled eggs. Add grated truffle. Pour into your pan and bake for a scant half hour at 350°F. Unmold when cool and serve surrounded by a Truffled Crème Anglaise.
Truffled Crème Anglaise
Crème anglaise is a beautiful thing when accompanying any dessert recipe, particularly any cake that might otherwise seem a little dry (which this one definitely is not). The addition of truffles brings extra magic to the egg and cream custard.
Ingredients:
4 egg yolks
1 ¹∕ ³ cup milk
¹∕8 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla pod
Grated truffle, to taste
Preparation:
Separate eggs, saving whites for another recipe. Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthwise with a pair of scissors and simmer with the milk. Meanwhile, whisk together sugar and egg yolks until the sugar dissolves. Remove vanilla pod and scrape the inside of each half to release the seeds. Return seeds to milk. Pour half of the milk over the egg yolk and sugar, gently whisking. Add egg, sugar and milk mixture to a saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat, making sure the mixture doesn’t boil, until the cream begins to thicken. Remove from heat, place the saucepan in a bowl of ice water, and continue stirring until the mixture begins to cool. Add grated truffle and use for napping chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, Mediterranean orange and olive oil cake, fresh fruit, pancakes, or any number of other desserts.
A Truffle a Day is a series of one-a-day truffle recipes, excerpted from the soon-to-be-released Cooking with Truffles: A Chef’s Guide. All recipes can be prepared with or without truffles, depending on the voluptuousness of your pantry. Previous recipes include: Truffled Corn Chowder, Truffled Grits, Oeuf à la Coque Truffé, Truffled Coffee &Truffled Irish Coffee.
