Julie's Chocolate Birthday Cake

Last week was my birthday...On April Fools Day to be exact!

And it really doesn't matter what country I travel to... every one of them celebrates April 1st with jokes!!

The origins of April Fools day are quite obscure. But the consensus seems to be that the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in 1582 started all the jokes. In France particularly, since King Charles IX changed the first day of the year from April 1st to January 1st. People who refused or could not remember the new first day of the year were called April Fools.

But enough about history. Let's talk cake!! Birthday Cake!!!
Last year my daughter Julie made a cake so delicious that I asked for it again this year! There is no flour but plenty of chocolate!!!

Julie's Chocolate Birthday Cake

3 Tbsp Butter
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, at least 64%
6 large eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat the oven to 350F.
Butter bottom and sides of a spring form pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter it.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg yolks, half the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the salt and beat for another minute. Add the vanilla extract and the chocolate butter mixture and beat for another minute.

In another bowl, with the whisk of the electric mixer, beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
Fold the whites into the chocolate mixture, taking care not to deflate the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40minutes, until set.
Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan. The cake will deflate...this is normal!!!!!

Transfer to a serving plate: remove the sides of the pan and slide the cake off the bottom, carefully. Try to remove the parchment paper with the help of a spatula.

You can try and make a sauce to go with it, either chocolate, raspberry or a vanilla custard. It is also delicious as is!



Chocolate sauce:

3 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 Tbsp butter, salted
1/3 heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar

Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl.

Bring the cream and sugar to a boil. Pour over the chocolate and butter and let melt without mixing. After a few minutes, whet the chocolate has melted, whisk well and serve with t he cake, either warm ot at room temperature.

Truffes au Chocolat - Chocolate Truffles

Now that we have taken care of Christmas dessert, let talk sweets!

My favorite this time of the year is the infamous Chocolate Truffle!! You may have guess, I love chocolate!

Truffles are a great gift to bring to a party, or for friends and school teachers...I know they are always appreciated!

These are relatively easy to make, and you may flavor them with your favorite liqueur, or coffee...

Truffes au Chocolat

Chocolate Truffles

1 cup heavy cream
4 Tbsp butter
2 Tsp light corn syrup
18 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 Tbsp Grand Marnier, or other liqueur
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder


In a medium heavy saucepan, bring the cream, butter and corn syrup to a full boil over medium heat. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Gently swirl to cover the chocolate with the cream, but do not stir. Add the liqueur and let stand for 5 minutes.

Slowly whisk to combine. Refrigerate the mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon every 10 to 15 minutes. After about 45 minutes, the chocolate mixture will thicken and you'll have to stir more frequently, every 3 to 5 minutes.

When thick enough to scoop, use 2 small spoons and scrape the chocolate to form into a ball. Transfer balls to cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate again for at least 15 minutes. Then roll balls in the palm of your hand to shape and drop them in a bowl filled with cocoa powder. Roll into the bowl until Truffle is completely covered.

They keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks! Merry Christmas!!



You may forgo the liqueur: just reduce the chocolate quantities from 18 oz to 16 oz.

If you want white truffles, replace the cocoa powder by confectioner sugar.

Buche de Noel - Yule Log

This is my favorite time of the year! Everyone is in such good spirits, town squares and shops are decorated. It is getting cold and we are all waiting anxiously for snow, although here on Cape Cod there is seldom any snow for Christmas, but we keep hoping!

White or green, Christmas is a time for decorating the house, inside and out, a time for shopping and party-hopping!

Christmas is also a time when I spend many an hour in the kitchen!!

On Christmas Eve, we usually have a late light dinner of Smoked Salmon over Blinis.

The feast is on Christmas Day! We might have an appetizer of more smoked salmon, with blinis if there are any left, otherwise on pumpernickel bread. We then have Duck Breasts, also known as Magrets, with Pomegranate Sauce, and a side of Mushroom Risotto.

And for dessert, the famous French "Buche de Noel", or Yule Log. It is a cake shaped as a log, filled with a cream and covered in a chocolate ganache. The log is then decorated to look like a real wood log you'd find in the woods. I sift powdered sugar over it for snow and decorate with small meringue mushrooms to give it an authentic look!!!

It seems like a lot of work and I will not lie, it does take some time to put it together. But the result is really worth it!!

Buche de Noel

Yule Log

Cake (Genoise):
6 large eggs, separated
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
12 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder + 1 Tbsp

Vanilla Mousse:
3 dl milk
3 dl heavy cream, or whipping cream
100 g sugar
5 large egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
2 tsp gelatin powder (10g)

Chocolate ganache:
8 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
300 g heavy cream
50 g butter
5 cl liqueur (your choice!)



Make the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 15x10x1 - inch jelly roll pan, or a cookie sheet. Line the bottom with parchment paper, allowing a 1-inch overhang on the short sides. Butter and flour the paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the Cream of Tartar and whisk until soft peaks form. Add 6 Tbsp of sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1/3 cup cocoa powder and the remaining 6 Tbsp of sugar until thick, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 of the egg whites to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining whites. Gently spread the batter in the prepared pan.

Bake the Genoise until the cake springs back when you press the center, about 15 minutes. Transfer pan the rack and let cool completely.

Unmold on a slightly humid kitchen towel. Peel off the parchment paper.
Sift remaining cocoa powder over the cake and roll tightly, lenghtwise. Set aside.


Filling:
Make the vanilla mousse:
We start by making a "Creme Anglaise", or vanilla custard.

In a heavy medium saucepan, heat the milk with the vanilla (cut lenghtwise and scraped), and half the sugar. Stir frequently to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

In a small bowl, mix the gelatin with a couple of tablespoons of the warmed milk. Stir to dissolve.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk, mix the remaining sugar and the egg yolks until light and fluffy. Add half the warm milk mixture; stir and return to saucepan.
Cook over medium low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until thickened, or temperature reaches 85 degrees Celsius.
Remove the vanilla bean, add the gelatin, making sure there are no clumps. Let cool.

Finishing the mousse:
In the chilled bowl of an electric mixer - whisk should be chilled as well - whip the cream until stiff peaks form (you have now mastered a Chantilly!). Add it delicately to the custard.
Set aside while you get back to the cake!

Slowly unroll the cake and spread delicately the vanilla mousse on top. Roll the cake back. Cut a piece of the roll at an angle, about 3 inches. Place the bigger cake on a serving plate and place the short piece angle side touching the big cake. It should look like a real log. Set aside in a cool place.


Now prepare the ganache:
In a medium heavy saucepan, heat the cream. Add the chocolate, butter and liqueur. Whisk and remove from the stove. Let cool, whisking regularly. The chocolate mixture should thicken.


Finish the Buche de Noel:
Spread the chocolate ganache over the cake. With a fork, draw lines lenghtwise to make it look like a log.

It is ready and just needs decorations!!!

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

As we do every year with our friends John and Peggy, and their children, we are going camping this weekend! Not very far from home...This way, if it rains, we can just pack up and go!! No!! We are not wimps, but we had a bad experience before !!!

We go to Nickerson State Park, on Cape Cod. And this time it will be three families joining efforts around the fire. We go biking, hiking, sightseeing...and we eat! Not just mere camping food - although what that is I do not know - but gourmet! One of my favorite is the butterflied pork tenderloin marinated in mustard and lemon. But that will be in another post!

Breakfast is a big moment...Barely awake you have to earn your coffee...No fire...No breakfast!

My italian coffee percolator is perfect for this first morning cup without which I would be totally useless!! And I also bring our double sided cast iron griddle for pancakes! This recipe is also great for home!!!

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

3 cups Whole Wheat Flour
6 tsp Baking Powder
3 large Eggs
2 1/2 cups Buttermilk
6 Tbsp Salted Butter (do not add salt), melted
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Fresh (or frozen) Blueberries
Butter
Maple Syrup


Sift together the flour and baking powder.
Beat the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla until blended.
Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir only enough to moisten the batter. Do not beat or your pancakes will be tough.

Bake on the griddle: butter the griddle and pour dollops of batter on the hot griddle. Place the Blueberries on top of the pancakes and once the batter bubbles, flip the pancakes over.
Put a small piece of butter on each pancake and serve with warmed Maple Syrup!

Instead of Blueberries you can try Chocolate Chips! The kids favorite!!!




When outdoors camping or on the beach for a BBQ, the easiest dessert is grilled Bananas with Dark Chocolate. Try it!

Grilled Bananas with Dark Chocolate

1 ripe Banana per person
3 Squares of Dark Chocolate per Banana

Place the bananas with their skin on the grill and cover until bottom is brow/black. Turn the bananas over nad cover again until the skin is dark and begins to split open.

With a knife open each banana, one at a time, and push the 3 squares of chocolate inside the hot Banana. The chocolate will start melting the dessert is ready to be served!

Don't stress with the chocolate. Some love it really dark (for this recipe I use at least 85% cocoa, sometimes even 99% cocoa!) but some prefer lighter shade of it! Try to use at least 64% cocoa as it really brings the flavors together better.