With the expectation that two lonely weeks of social isolation would be our last, I got out a bottle of bubbly, some party hats, and my favorite chocolate cake recipe. This plan was dashed yesterday when the President ordered a continuation of the school and business shut-down for an additional month. Well, at least we can eat cake.
Before we get to dessert, I want to update my best practices notes on grocery shopping. There are still no state or national guidelines to protect customers and staff in the stores. Safeguards vary considerably from store to store. I was ‘carded’ at Whole Foods during the hour reserved for seniors. (Reminded me of the ‘good old days’.) I have heard Mariano’s offers shoppers gloves to wear, and Trader Joe’s limits the number of shoppers in the store at any one time. I know for a fact that Jewel Osco has not made any changes, and I complained.
Person to person contact remains the biggest risk factor for contracting coronavirus. Whole Foods has made noticeable changes in this regard. In addition to instituting a special shopping time for at-risk customers, check-out lanes in the store are staggered and shoppers are physically separated in waiting lines by improvised barriers. More importantly, a screen of clear plastic the size of a motorcycle windshield separates the check-out worker from the customer. This is proactive. The employee behind the register is both exposed and the potential source of exposure to everyone in her line all day. Grocery workers are beginning to complain. My advice is to wear a mask if you have one and a pair of gloves when shopping
ChezM subscriber Jeff Abell sent me the link to a YouTube video entitled What did Claude Monet Eat in a Day? He remembered my class at the Alliance Française in 2012 that featured recipes from Monet’s cooking notebook. The chocolate cake we made that day has since become a favorite for us both.
In true 19th century fashion, this gateau has only five ingredients. Dark chocolate and butter are the major players followed by eggs and sugar, and there’s just a little flour added into the mix. The resulting cake has the impact of a dark chocolate candy bar with the mouthfeel of a soufflé.
I have taken the liberty of doubling the recipe to accommodate 21st century dessert expectations. The cake may fall a bit as it cools. You can fill the center with whipped cream if it bothers you.
CHOCOLATE GATEAU
Ingredients for 8 to 10 servings:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup water
8 tablespoons (one stick) unsalted butter
4 large eggs at room temperature, separated
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup flour
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter a 8” cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment and butter it.
Break up the chocolate bar into a glass bowl, add the water and microwave on full power for one minute. Remove the bowl and stir until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until smooth.
Beat the egg yolks until they ribbon using an electric mixer. Stir in the chocolate mixture, then sift on the sugar and flour and blend them in carefully. Beat the egg whites to firm peaks and fold them into the batter in 3 installments. Carefully pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 30 - 40 minutes. The fully baked cake will be firm in the center and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. A digital thermometer inserted in the center will register 200 degrees.
Let the cake cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and unmold onto a serving platter to cool completely. Dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.
