Chocolate cake perfection once was mine. Then, readers may recall, I lost the recipe.
Eventually, I came across an almost-perfect replacement. Still, I looked, longed, lamented. Some day, I thought, I'd stumble on the right crumple and again achieve perfection.
The true heroine, studying this story line, scoffs. The hunter doesn't stumble on her prey. She stalks, snags and spears it. What slacker comic strip was I following?
So scolded, I dropped the search in favor of research. I recalibrated the chocolate, vanilla and flour. I added a bourbon punch and sprinkled on a praline crunch. The new cake, like the old, remains dark and dense, but it edges one light step closer to perfection.
Revised Chocolate Cake
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 ounces milk chocolate
11 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar, divided use
5 eggs, separated
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup sifted flour
Chocolate Glaze (recipe follows)
Praline Crumble (recipe follows)
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Zap or heat both types of chocolate, the butter and 1/2 cup sugar.
Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla seeds. Whisk in flour.
Beat egg whites in a separate bowl with remaining 1/4 cup sugar to glossy peaks.
Stir one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate batter. Gently and thoroughly fold in remaining whites.
Pour batter into a 9-inch spring-form pan. Bake until the cake is springy, about 30 minutes. Cool completely. Release cake and invert onto a 9-inch cardboard or cake-pan round.
Set cake (on its round) on a wire rack. Set rack over a rimmed baking sheet, to catch drips. Pour all the warm glaze into a big puddle on top. With an offset spatula, nudge glaze toward the edges and let it drip down the sides. Sprinkle with praline. Let set at least 20 minutes.
Chocolate Glaze
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream, heated
1 tablespoon pecan bourbon, optional
Place chocolate in a medium bowl; pour cream over chocolate. Let rest 5 minutes. Gently stir smooth. Stir in bourbon, if using.
Praline Crumble
6 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons water
1 cup toasted pecans
Line a baking sheet with parchment or a nonstick mat.
Combine sugar, salt and water in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Let bubble without stirring until syrup starts to color, 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; stir to a light brown, 1 minute. Stir in pecans. Scrape nuts onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Let cool. Transfer candied nuts into the food processor; pulse to a rubble.
Food on 07/13/2016