That’s one of my favorite Julia Child’s quotes.
I have known Julia Child four years ago from the movie Julie and Julia. I’ve forgotten the movie since then. One day, I was watching TV and found out that the next movie to be shown is Julie and Julia. Even it was late, I decided to watch and finish the movie. I was surprised that I can still remember the scenes, knowing my memory doesn’t work well with movies I only watched once. That’s when I realized that the movie was funny and very inspiring. I will definitely watch the movie again. 🙂
Before, when the food I cook is not successful enough, I would cry and I would promise myself not to cook the same food again. I always envy those people who can cook so well and arranged their foods on their plates very nicely. I wished I could be like them. Later on, a good fairy told me two things:
I don’t have to be like anyone else – I just have to be me.
Some recipes may seem easy for me but difficult to others and there are also some recipes I might find difficult but easy for others.
Those two things stayed in my mind from then on. I’ve learned how to experiment, accepted my mistakes, smile on criticisms and try again if I fail.
When the movie ended, I’ve also decided to finally make a blog to share the recipes I’ve tried. 🙂
Today, my blog is now two months – I am going to share this recipe from Julia Child. You might think that this is special because today is 23 – my blog’s birth date. Well, you got that right.
As I have mentioned in the Espresso Truffle Brownies post, I wanted to make use of my almond nuts. I just found this recipe from Apron Strings by chance – I didn’t even search for an almond cake. But I guess I was lucky I found this very addictive cake.
Julia Child’s Chocolate Almond Cake
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
- 4 oz semisweet chocolate
- 1 ½ tbsp coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water
- ½ cup or 1 stick butter, softened
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 egg whites
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup almonds, coarsely ground
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup cake flour (or ½ cup all-purpose flour minus ½ tbsp. then add ½ tbsp cornstarch), sifted
For the Icing:
- 2 ounces semisweet chocolate
- 1 ½ tbsp coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions:
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Place the wire rack in the middle position.
- Grease and flour a cake pan. Tap off any excess.
- Place the coffee mixture and the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water and heat until melted. (Make sure that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.)
- Beat butter and sugar until pale yellow in color.
- Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks. Add 1 tbsp sugar and beat until stiff peaks.
- Using a rubber spatula, mix the melted chocolate into the butter-sugar mixture. Stir in almonds and vanilla extract.
- Gently fold ¼ of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Slowly and gently fold the remaining egg whites and the flour alternately until all is mixed well. Do not overmix.
- Pour your batter into the prepared pan, distributing evenly.
- Bake for 25 minutes. You know when the cake is done when it has puffed. It shall be about 2 ½ to 3 inches in height and when you insert a toothpick in the middle, it comes out oily.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the Icing:
- Place the coffee mixture and the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water. Heat until chocolate is melted. (Make sure that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.)
- Lift the bowl with melted chocolate and mix in the butter a tablespoon at a time. Place your bowl over water with ice and beat your mixture until cooled to spreading consistency.
- Spread the icing on your cake using an offset spatula. Add chopped almonds over your icing.
Source recipe: Julia Child’s Chocolate Almond Cake by Apron Strings
I know you cannot love something on the same spot with the same level. But when I have tasted this, I already knew I was cheating on my favorite cake – Mocha Cake. From then on, I asked myself if Mocha Cake can share its place with this new found love of mine. Believe me, it’s so heavenly!!!! Words are not enough to describe how much I love this cake.
Try this and you’ll never regret it. 😀
