Marbre au Chocolat
by Paul Bocuse
from Bocuse in Your Kitchen
(Flammarion, 2007)
Makes one 9 1/2-inch loaf
This petite loaf won’t have a chance to get stale. It’ll be snatched up before you had a chance to pour coffee. Chef Bocuse suggests serving this cake with his Vanilla Custard Sauce, so we included his recipe. Pour a luscious puddle on the side or atop the cake.—David Leite
convert Ingredients
For the cake
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 scant cup flour
8 tablespoons softened butter, plus butter for the mold
Pinch of salt
1 3/4 ounces semisweet chocolate
For the vanilla custard sauce
1 vanilla bean
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
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Directions
Make the cake
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. Beat the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth and a pale yellow color, then sift in the flour, whisking as it is being added. Whisk in the softened butter and the salt; the finished batter should be smooth.
3. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
4. Lightly butter a 9 1/ 2-inch pound-cake or loaf pan, line it with parchment paper, then lightly butter the paper as well. Pour the melted chocolate over the batter, then barely stir it in, so that there will be light and dark patches. Pour the batter into the mold, smooth the surface, and bake for 45 minutes. Test to see if the cake is done by sticking a needle or knife blade into the center; it should come out clean and dry. If not, bake the cake a little longer.
5. Turn the mold upside down on a cake rack to cool as soon as you take the cake from the oven, but don’t lift it off of the cake until it has cooled completely.
6. When cool, lift off the mold, peel off the paper, turn right side up, and serve on a serving platter.
7. This cake will stay fresh up to a week wrapped in aluminum foil.
Make the Vanilla Custard Sauce
1. Split open the vanilla bean lengthwise, place in a medium saucepan with the milk, and bring just to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to infuse for 7 to 8 minutes, then remove the vanilla bean.
2. Away from the heat, in the top of a double boiler, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt, then whisk in the hot milk. Set the top of the double boiler in place and heat, stirring the mixture constantly for about 8 minutes, or until it thickens (it should not boil). Immediately pour the sauce into a serving bowl and allow to cool, stirring occasionally before refrigerating. Serve cold.
Recipe © 2007 by Flammarion. All rights reserved.
LC
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No leavening?
Looks to me like a pound cake, the classic proportions of which did not include chemical leavening. Modern recipes often do include a little baking powder or, with sour cream cakes, baking soda. The absence of those chemicals, however, doesn’t mean no leavening agent. Here, as in the original recipe which draws on one pound each of butter, eggs, flour, and sugar recipe, the leavening agent is air. Beating the eggs with sugar until “light” incorporates air which expands with the heat of the oven to leaven the cake. Usually the butter is also creamed with sugar to incorporate more air. In fact, this recipe is a little unusual in that respect since it beats the eggs first.
One caution: The most common mistake I see with this kind of recipe is underbeating the eggs and sugar or under-creaming the butter and sugar. Usually it takes more beating than beginners think. Underbeating will result in a dense cake. (Overbeating can make it dry, but that’s less often what happens to home bakers.) I’d suggest to beat at medium to medium-high speed for maybe 4 minutes until the mixture is really truly pale and thick, not simply a bit lighter.
Cindi
The recipe is relying on air bubbles created during the following step for leavening: “Beat the eggs and sugar…until pale yellow.” When the cake bakes, the heat causes those bubbles to expand and give the cake a spongy texture. This is not unlike a classic Genoise method in which butter is beaten with sugar and no leavening agent is used. That being said, adding a teaspoon or two of baking powder is not going to hurt.
Cool — I will give it a try and report back!