Nov 30, 2017 | Recipes | 7 comments
I don’t know about you, but when the walls start to close in, I seek out some pleasurable distraction and most of the time that involves me in front of my range, creating something delicious and comforting.
Today that distraction came in the form of my Simple French Chocolate Cake.
Creative enough to distract me from the stacks of moving boxes but simple enough that I wasn’t overwhelmed by nitpicky details and anything too fussy.
I love this cake because it is so easy to put together and yet it tastes outstanding. I have about six different chocolate cakes that I make but it seems I end up turning to this one far more than the others. Delicious treats don’t always require the skills of a pastry chef and this gateau chocolat takes just a few minutes to create and I so I always keep the ingredients on hand.
We are closing in on the two-week point. That is, a little more than two weeks ’til the closing and yet no word from underwriting. I vacillate between total peace, clarity and trust in God to holding in hormonally induced sobs, praying that all this packing wasn’t for nought. I’ve completely destroyed this home and farm. There is no turning back.
And so I bake it off. With Taylor Swift obnoxiously looping through my already overwhelmed mind.
Bake it Off – A Simple French Chocolate Cake
Recipe Type: Patisserie
Cuisine: French
Author: Angela J. Reed, Parisienne Farmgirl
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 10
A super easy but delicious French Chocolate Cake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup organic cane juice sugar
- 10 ounces 72% dark chocolate, preferably Valrhona, broken into pieces
- 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 vanilla bean, scraped or 3 teaspoons of quality vanilla extract (I use Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla)
- 5 farm fresh eggs, separated
- 1/4 cup organic flour, sifted
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar for decor
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F/163 C
- If your sugar is not super fine you can make it so by whizzing it in a food processor. Superfine sugar is very nice when adding it to the egg whites later in this recipe.
- Using your fingers, use one tablespoon of the butter and generously coat the inside of the pan
- Using 1/4 cup of the sugar, sprinkle the buttered pan and then tap out the excess into the sink (this makes a delicious, slightly crunchy coating on the bottom of your cake.
- Set aside 3 tablespoons of what is left of the sugar.
- Put the remaining sugar, chocolate and butter into a double boiler until the sugar has dissolved and butter and chocolate have melted.
- Scrape out the inside of a vanilla bean and stir the contents into the chocolate mixture. Or add your teaspoons of vanilla extract.
- Remove from heat.
- Set aside and slowing add the egg yolks, one at a time and then stir in the sifted flour.
- Using a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they froth and then add the salt.
- Continue until soft peaks form. (Can be done by hand or with a mixer.) Add the remaining sugar and beat the egg whites until the are stiff and shiny.
- Begin mixing by adding half of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and then gently fold in what is left.
- Pour the mixture into the pan, shake to evenly distribute and back for 35-45 minutes. The top should spring back when pressed.
- After removing from oven allow it to cool by placing it on a wire rack and removing the sides of the spring form pan and allowing it to cool.
- Once it has, it can be left plain or using a clean sifter and the 1/4 cup of powdered sugar sprinkle it with powdered sugar.
- For best results the cake should be cook when you do this or else the sugar disappears into any moisture on the cake surface.
Thankfully I haven’t packed my beautiful Patisserie cake dome.
It’s one of those beauties that I can not bare to part with until the last minute. This time I left the powdered sugar off but I’m going to show you the following photos I dug out of my Instagram files so you can see some of the fun you can have with this cake. Last year it’s what I used for Amélie’s Christmas Eve Birthday cake and this summer I took it as a hostess gift to one of my favourite Instagram/Barn Sale friends, “Rubbish Farm”.
I promise, this one is so easy and fantastic it’s going to become a go-to cake for you, just like it is for me.
And now, I’m going to put down the packing tape and have a piece as I stare at the calendar, willing it to move:)
Robinon November 30, 2017 at 6:52 pm
So hoping for good news ! It will come in His perfect timing! Keep baking
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catherineon December 1, 2017 at 5:20 am
Can almost taste the chocolate, your photographs are wonderful, magical as usual. Good idea to try to focus on something else, if possible, it makes the final two weeks of anything almost bareable. It probably feels strange being in the farm that no longer looks like the farm you built, sad but necessary to move forward. Best wishes.
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Beccaon December 1, 2017 at 11:47 am
Praying for happy news to come your way soon! This recipe came just in time. I need a little sweet distraction myself.
Love reading your posts.Reply
Nita Hiltneron December 2, 2017 at 4:57 pm
Praying all goes well and you will be home soon.
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Gailon December 4, 2017 at 1:53 pm
Happy Holiday’s Angela,
I’m so baking this cake, the timing couldn’t be more perfect to see this blog post of yours!
I’m getting ready for my French Farm house kitchen reveal on Ug and my blog etc, I was thinking of a rustic chocolate cake for my vintage cake stand. I hope you follow me on IG where I’m documenting, I’ll be giving you delish recipe credits if I can pull this cake off!
I hope you’ll will be be baking this in your future kitchen for a new home celebration treat the next time we see it. So happy for your dream to be coming true! Best wishes ever!xoGail
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Nancy Musseron December 20, 2018 at 7:37 pm
I made your delicious French cake today! I was very happy the instructions were so clear to follow. I loved it . I baked in an 8 in spring foam pan. Mine was very high and chocolaty at bottom but still good. Maybe I should have used a 9 in. Thank you!
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Howgeekison May 12, 2020 at 7:21 am
I am thinking you might just have had better, fattier cream if it solidified. If your whipped cream (here or elsewhere) ever gets too stiff, you can whip in a splash at a time of extra liquid cream to smooth it out. That said, I also found this to be less loose and smooth than regular whipped cream; the melted chocolate really does tighten it up. Deb Thanks for your response! So yours didn t solidify at all after being in the fridge? I did use whipping cream from a local dairy, so maybe it was fattier than typical whipping cream ?
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