Gâteau au Chocolat
For the month of May, we will be exploring French-style chocolate cakes. By this I am referring to single-layer, rich, moist, intensely chocolate cakes. The type that might require a simple chocolate glaze, or just a light dusting of powdered sugar. The type that is sliced into small pieces, and served with barely sweetened whipped cream, leaving even the most die-hard chocolate lover in taste heaven. I first experienced this type of cake years ago at The Garden Restaurant in Philadelphia, and it forever changed my thoughts on what constitutes chocolate cake.
In search for the best of this style cake I took a deep dive into my cookbook library. In the stack of books pulled from the shelves in my kitchen was an old favorite, Bistro Cooking, by Patricia Wells. Having had great success with other recipes in this fine book, I decided to try her recipe for Mon Gâteau au Chocolate.
It is an excellent cake, with few ingredients, a very simple technique, and it checks off all the positives listed above. As an added bonus, this Gâteau au Chocolat travels well—it’s easy to place on a plate or in a cake carrier and bring along as your contribution to dinner.
Chocolate is the primary ingredient, so the quality of the chocolate is key. Excellent brands such as Ghirardelli, Guittard, Scharffen Berger and Callebaut are now available in supermarkets and specialty food stores. I recommend one with at least a 60% cacao content. I’ve been using Guittard 64% for this with great results.
One of the tricks to French-style chocolate cakes is when to remove them from the oven. These cakes are baked with the centers slightly underdone, which provides their signature creamy quality. For doneness, we look for a center that’s just firm to the touch, with moist chocolate crumbs adhering to a tester. If a skewer inserted reveals runny batter it is too soon, and if comes out clean it was too long.
Another way to check is to follow the cake’s rise in the oven through the window. After about twenty-eight minutes the center of the cake will crown (see pic below) and at that point is just about done. When removed from the oven, the center will sink slightly.
With one or two minor adjustments, this is my version of Gâteau au Chocolat. In addition to the classic confectioners’ sugar dusted version, I offer one slightly fancied up with a ganache glaze and a dusting of cocoa. A bit of lightly sweetened whipped cream on the side for both versions is an excellent accompaniment.
Gâteau au Chocolat
| Yield: 1 9″ cake | # of Servings: 10 to 12 |
Ingredients:
Cake:
12.35 oz (350 g) chocolate 56% to 64%, pastilles or broken up
10 ½ tbl (5.25 oz (149 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup + 2 tbl (4.5 oz / 127 g) sugar
5 large egg yolks
⅓ cup (1.55 oz / 44 g) all-purpose flour
5 large egg whites
Pinch of salt
2 tbl (1 oz / 27 g) sugar
Optional Ganache Glaze:
8 oz chocolate, 56% to 64%, pastilles or broken up
½ cup (4 fl oz) heavy cream
Cocoa powder, as needed
Tools and equipment needed:
- 9″ by 2″ cake pan or 9″ springform pan.
- Handheld or countertop mixer with whisk attachment
- Sauce pan for double boiler
- Scale
- Mixing bowl, plastic spatula, whisk
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Preheat oven to 350 °F
- Butter the cake or springform pan, line the bottom with a circle of parchment, and butter the parchment circle.
Directions
- In large mixing bowl, place chocolate, butter and sugar. Place over double boiler and stir occasionally until chocolate and butter are almost completely melted. Remove from double boiler, let sit for 2 minutes, then stir with whisk until well-blended.
- Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture, along with the flour. Blend well with whisk. Set aside.
- Beat egg whites with the salt until soft peaks, then slowly add the sugar and beat until just firm peaks. Do not overbeat.
- Stir ⅓ of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten, making sure to reach the bottom. Gently fold in remaining whites until batter is blended and there are no remaining streaks of egg whites. Pour batter into the pan.
- Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, until the top feels just set and a cake tester comes out with moist crumbs. Be careful not to overbake.
- Remove pan from oven to a cooling rack.
- If cake is in 9″ by 2″ pan, let cool for 10 minutes. Place a 9″ cardboard cake circle or another cooling rack on top of the cake pan and invert. Peel the parchment circle off bottom of cake, then invert again onto a serving plate or 9″ cardboard. The cake should now be right-side up. Let cool to room temperature.
- If cake is in a springform pan, let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the sides. Let cool to room temperature. Invert the cake onto a 9″ cake circle or cooling rack, peel the parchment paper off the bottom then invert again onto serving plate.
- At serving time, dust lightly with powdered sugar. Clean the knife with hot water and a paper towel between cuts.
- Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream, beaten just until soft mounds.
- The cake may be wrapped in plastic film, and left at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or, wrap it very well and place in freezer for up to 1 month,
Optional cocoa dusted ganache glaze:
- After cake has cooled to room temperature, invert cake onto an 8″ or 9″ cake circle so the smooth bottom is now the top. Place on cooling rack or cake turntable
- In small saucepan, bring heavy cream just to the boil. Remove from heat.
- Add chocolate pieces, cover pan with lid. Let sit for 3 minutes.
- With whisk, gently stir the glaze just until the chocolate pieces are totally melted.
- Pour the glaze over the cake, guiding the glaze with a metal spatula to totally cover the top and sides. Let glaze settle for 1 minute.
- Using offset spatula, remove the cake to a serving plate.
- Let glazed cake sit for approximately 1 ½ hours at room temperature, or until glaze feels set and firm. If glaze is still soft, place in refrigerator for 20 minutes until firm.
- Using fine-mesh strainer, dust cake with dark cocoa powder.
- Using the back of a long slicing knife, mark the top of the cake in crosshatch pattern.
- Slice thin slices with a knife run under hot water and wiped clean between each slice.
- Cake may be left at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Baking Tips:
- Chocolate notes: I tested this cake with Guittard 64% and 66% pastilles (wafers), available in various size bags from lepicerie.com. I found the 64% delivered the best balance of chocolate flavor and sweetness. I will be testing this recipe in the near future with Ghirardelli 60% chocolate, available in most supermarkets. Check back for the results.
- The cake’s texture changes as it cools, becoming slightly firmer and less creamy. Best to bake it mid to late afternoon for the best dinner dessert results. In my tests, it is at its finest just after it reaches room temperature, between 1 ½ and 2 hours after coming out of the pan.
- Be careful when you test the cake for doneness to make a small as indentation as possible. As the cake isn’t glazed or iced, imperfections in the surface may show through the dusting of powdered sugar.
