black and gold dessert - round 2

Last February, right before the Saints won the superbowl, I made a lemon tart from the Tartine cookbook. It was delicious, but knowing how many sticks of butter went into it, I have been hesitant to make it again. You should know that it take A LOT of butter to make me uncomfortable.  A LOT.  Two sticks of butter doesn't make me blink.  Anyway, I digress.  In honor of the Saints game tonight (Saints play the SF 49ers at 5:30 PT), I thought I would share a chocolate tart-like cake I made recently for friends.

About a month ago, we had a sibling triple date in San Francisco at Zuni Cafe.  We chose it because it is known for being a classic Northern California restaurant - and my brother-in-law got us the cookbook for Christmas last year, so we thought it would be fun to try.  Dinner was really, really good - but the dessert was excellent.  Not a crumb was left.  It was called the "Gateau Victoire" and a little research showed that it was a variation on a Julia Child recipe for a chocolate soufflé.   The Zuni Cafe version was flaky and served warm with whipped cream.  Yum.  I got home and searched for a version of the recipe and waited for an occasion to make it.  I don't have the biggest sweet tooth, so I waited for an opportunity to share it with friends.

I must warn you - these pictures aren't great (I must learn to take better pictures).  I was prepping for 6 people coming over for dinner so things were a bit rushed.

Lots of eggs - 5 whole eggs + 2 yolks

Chocolate - the good stuff

The eggs after 15 - 20 minutes of whipping

chocolate, whipped cream, and whipped eggs - does it get better?

ingredients folded all together and poured into a pan

into the oven... 

The finished product

side view 

The cake came out very well - although I thought the Zuni Cafe version was a little drier and also fluffier and crispier.  Mine was A LOT like the Joy of Cooking chocolate soufflé we made a few years ago (which isn't a bad thing).  I think I probably folded the ingredients together too aggressively and took out some of the air pockets that would have made mine fluffier.  Another piece of advice - refrigerate the cake if you don't eat it all the first day.  I would definitely make this again.

Geaux Saints!