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White Chocolate I
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Moulton, Jo
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Creek House 24 Pc Classic White Chocolate Swans
These beautiful white chocolate swan truffles are filled with an extraordinary ganache made with milk chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and fresh cream...

Death by Chocolate
Marcel Desaulniers

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La Belle Cuisine

White Chocolate Patty Cake
Contributing Baker – Marcel Desaulniers


Baking with Julia 
by Dorie Greenspan, Based on the PBS series hosted
by Julia Child, 1996, William Morrow and Co.

Makes 10 servings

“This looks like a light, moist butter cake; in truth it’s a substantial, very chocolaty, white chocolate cake. The whimsical name derives from the
action of patting the edges of the cakes down to level and ready them
for the crush, a mix of berries and sugar. White chocolate, not really
chocolate by definition because it doesn’t contain chocolate liquor,
is finicky. It can look pretty gloppy when you’re melting it – and it
burns easily – but its rich taste always rewards the extra care it
demands. When buying white chocolate, make sure you choose a
brand that contains cocoa butter.”

The Cake
12 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons water
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/2 cup cake flour, sifted
Melted butter, for greasing the pans

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325
degrees F. Brush the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans
with a light coating of melted butter, line with parchment paper rounds,
and lightly butter the paper; set aside.
Heat an inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler. Put the chocolate, butter, and 2 tablespoons water in the top of the double boiler and heat
over low heat, whisking all the while, until the chocolate and butter are
melted. The mixture may seem broken or curdled, but it will come to-
gether almost completely when it is whisked. (If it doesn’t, the cake will
still be fine.) Remove the pan from the heat and whisk vigorously to
blend. The ideal method for mixing this cake is to beat the yolks and
1/2 cup of the sugar together, then keep them mixing on low speed and,
while they’re mixing, beat the whites in another bowl. If you have both
a standing and a hand-held mixer, you can do it this way. If not, follow
these instructions for whites first: In a mixer fitted with the whisk attach- ment, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, about 3 minutes.
Still beating, add 1/4 cup of the sugar, and continue mixing until whites
are stiff but still shiny, 2 to 3 minutes more. Gently – very gently –
transfer the meringue to another bowl and begin work on the yolks.
Working in the mixer (there’s no need to wash the bowl), this time fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the 10 yolks and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar on high speed for 2 minutes, scrape down the bowl and continue
to beat for 2 minutes more, or until the mixture is slightly thickened and
pale yellow. Add the melted chocolate to the yolks and increase mixer
speed to medium; beat for about 30 seconds to blend. Remove the bowl
from the mixer and, working with a rubber spatula, gently fold in the
sifted cake flour. Pile one third of the egg whites onto the mixture and
stir them in with the spatula to lighten the batter. Gently fold in the
remaining whites.

Baking the Cake
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops. Bake 26
to 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes
comes out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and let them stand
for 20 minutes.
Invert the cakes onto cardboard cake rounds (or the rounds from tart
pans with removable bottoms) and cool to room temperature, with the
parchment rounds still in place. When the cakes are completely cool,
remove the parchment paper, cover, and refrigerate until needed.
Covered well with plastic wrap and refrigerated, the cake layers can
be made 2 to 3 days in advance; they can be frozen up to a month.
Thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature.

The Crush
Two 8-ounce packages frozen whole raspberries
in light syrup, thawed or still frosty
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 pint fresh raspberries

Put the frozen raspberries, sugar and lemon juice in the work bowl of a
food processor fitted with the metal blade and whirl until smooth, 15 to
20 seconds. Push the mixture through a strainer: You should have about
1 cup. If you want, you can make more raspberry crush and use the
extra as a sauce to decorate the plates.

Finishing the Cake
To finish the cake, remove the layers from the refrigerator and press
down on the edges with your fingers, patty-cake fashion. Spoon half of
the raspberry crush onto one of the layers and spread to even. Top with
the other layer, spoon on the remaining crush, spread it to smooth, and
top with the fresh berries, placing them close together in a single layer.
The cake should be refrigerated until just before serving time, or for up
to 8 hours. Bring the cake back to a little cooler than room temperature before serving.
To serve, if you’ve made more crush, drizzle some in an abstract pattern
on each dessert plate, and top with a slice of cake. To get a clean cut, heat
the blade of a serrated knife under hot running water and wipe the blade
dry before each cut.

Storing
The assembled cake can be refrigerated for about 8 hours before serving. Bring the cake back to a little cooler than room temperature.

[If you are concerned about the lack of icing/topping, just place a dollop of
freshly whipped cream on top of each slice of cake, and top the whole thing
off with a perfect fresh raspberry.]
 

Featured Archive Recipes:
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake
(Marcel Desaulniers)
Strawberry-White Chocolate Torte
(Nancy Silverton)
White Chocolate Chunk Spice Cake
White Chocolate Lemon Cheesecake
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

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