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.
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Lots of eggs - 5 whole eggs + 2 yolks |
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Chocolate - the good stuff |
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The eggs after 15 - 20 minutes of whipping |
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chocolate, whipped cream, and whipped eggs - does it get better? |
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ingredients folded all together and poured into a pan |
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into the oven... |
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The finished product |
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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!
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