Maida Heatters Chocolate Souffle Cake Recipes

MAIDA HEATTER'S 86-PROOF CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Adjust rack one-third up from bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and dust the inside of a 9-inch bundt pan (called a minibundt pan), or any other fancy tube pan with a 10-cup capacity, with fine dry breadcrumbs. Invert the pan over a piece of paper and tap lightly to shake out excess crumbs. Set aside.
• Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on low heat. Cover and cook only until melted; then remove the top of the double boiler and set it aside, uncovered, to cool slightly. (You can also melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, just keep a close eye on it.)
• Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
• In a two-cup measuring cup dissolve the coffee in a little boiling water. Add cold water to the 1 1/2 cup line. Add the bourbon. Set aside.
• Cream the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat to mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Add the chocolate and beat until smooth.
• Then, on low speed, alternately add the sifted dry ingredients in three additions with the liquids in two additions, adding the liquids very gradually to avoid splashing and scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. Be sure to beat until smooth after each addition, especially after the last. It will be a thin mixture.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Rotate the pan a bit briskly, first in one direction, then in the other, to level the top. In a minibundt pan the batter will almost reach the top of the pan, but it will not run over and you will have a beautifully high cake.
• Bake for one hour and 10 to 15 minutes. Test by inserting a cake tester in the middle of the cake and bake only until the tester comes out clean and dry.
• Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then cover with a rack and invert. Remove the pan, sprinkle the cake with a little optional bourbon, and leave the cake upside down on a rack to cool. Before serving, if you wish, sprinkle the top with confectioners' sugar through a fine strainer.

MAIDA HEATTER'S CHOCOLATE MOUSSE TORTE

Steps:

• Set a rack in the center of the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch glass pie plate. Dust it with bread crumbs or cocoa powder. Set aside.
• Place the chopped chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over water over low heat. Bring it to a low simmer. Meanwhile, in a cup or small bowl, dissolve the coffee in the 1/4 cup boiling water and pour it over the chocolate. Cover and cook over low heat, whisking occasionally, until the chocolate is almost melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth. Let cool slightly. (Alternatively, place chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water and pour it over the chocolate. Cover with a plate or kitchen towel and let stand for 5 minutes. Vigorously whisk until the chocolate is melted and smooth. If there are still bits of unmelted chocolate, microwave in 15-second bursts, whisking between, until smooth and fully melted.)
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the yolks at high speed until they are pale, thick and lemon-colored, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue to beat at high speed for 5 minutes more until very thick. Reduce speed to low, and add the vanilla and cooled chocolate, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl as necessary. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Wash the whisk attachment and mixing bowl.
• In the mixing bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff but not dry. Gradually, in two or three small additions, gently fold half the egg whites into the chocolate, then fold the chocolate mixture into the remaining whites just until no whites show. Handling as little as possible, gently reserve about 4 cups of the mousse in a separate medium bowl; cover and refrigerate.
• Transfer the rest of the mousse into the pie plate; it will barely reach the top. Gently level and bake for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat, then leave it in the oven for 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. (The mousse will rise during baking and then, while cooling, it will sink in the middle, leaving a high rim.) Wash the mixing bowl and whisk attachment and place in the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
• When the baked mousse is completely cool, remove reserved mousse from refrigerator. Handling as little as possible, transfer the chilled mousse to the center of the baked mousse. Mound it slightly higher in the center, but be careful to handle as little as possible or it will lose the air beaten into it. Refrigerate for at least 2 to 3 hours.
• Make the whipped cream: In the chilled mixing bowl with the chilled whisk attachment, whip the cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla on high speed until it holds a defined shape. Spread over the unbaked part of the mousse, excluding the rim; refrigerate. (Another way of applying the whipped cream: Use a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tube and pipe a lattice pattern over the top of the pie and a border around the edge.) Coarsely grate some semisweet chocolate over the top before serving, if desired. The torte is best eaten the day it's made, but it's not bad the next day.

MAIDA HEATTER'S CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE CAKE

Steps:

• Coarsley chop the chocolate and place in top of double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Cut up butter and add it and the oil to the chocolate. Cover and cook until almost melted. Then stir or whist with a wire whisk until completely melted and smooth. Remove from hot water. In mixing bowl, stir yolks a bit with a wire whist just to mix. Then gradually, in a few additions, whisk about 1/2 of the hot chocolate mixture into the yolks. Then, off the heat, add the yolks to the remaining hot chocolate mixture and mix together (the mixture will thicken a bit as the hot chocolate mixture cooks the egg yolks). Add the sugar and vanilla and stir to mix. Set aside. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, add the salt to the egg whites and beat until the whites hold a point but are not stiff or dry. Fold a few large spoonfuls of whites into the chocolate mixture. Then add the chocolate mixture the the remaining whits and fold together gently, only until incorporated. Gently turn mixture into prepared bundt pan. Bake for 2-1/2 hours (okay if cake sinks in the middle while cooking). Remove from oven and, without waiting, cover cake with an inverted serving plate and turn over to remove cake. Serve while hot with cold whipped cream.

CHOCOLATE SOUFFLé CAKE

Steps:

• Position oven rack 1/3 up from the bottom of the oven; preheat to 300°.
• Butter a 10-inch Bundt pan; then sprinkle granulated sugar all over the pan; shake the pan to coat it thoroughly with sugar, and invert it over a piece of paper and tap to shake out excess.
• Then sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of sugar evenly in the bottom of the pan; set aside.
• Coarsely chop the semisweet chocolate and place in the top of a large double boiler over hot water on medium heat.
• Cut up the butter, and add it and the oil to the chocolate; cover and let cook until almost completely melted.
• Then stir, or whisk, until completely melted and smooth; remove from the hot water.
• In a bowl, stir the yolks a bit with a wire whisk just to mix.
• Then gradually, in a few additions, whisk about half of the hot chocolate mixture into the yolks, and then, off the heat, add the yolks to the remaining hot chocolate mixture and mix together (the mixture will thicken a bit as the heat from the chocolate cooks the eggs).
• Add in the sugar and vanilla; stir to mix; set aside.
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer, add the salt to the egg whites; beat until the whites hold a point but are not stiff or dry.
• Fold a few large spoonfuls of the whites into the chocolate mixture.
• Then add the chocolate mixture to the whites and fold together gently only until incorporated.
• Gently turn the mixture into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 2 ¼ hours; during baking the cake will rise and then sink; it will sink more in the middle than on the edges; that is as it should be.
• Remove from the oven and without waiting, cover the cake with an inverted serving plate.
• Hold the pan and the plate firmly together, and turn them over.
• The sugar coating in the pan forms a crust and the cake will slide out of the pan easily.
• Serve while still hot; if desired, cover the top of the cake generously with powdered sugar, sprinkling it on through a fine strainer held over the cake; brush excess sugar off the plate.
• *When cutting the cake it will crumble a bit as you cut through the bottom crisp crust; don't try to cut thin slices; do try to cut with a serrated knife.
• *May top with chilled whipped cream.

MAIDA HEATTER'S CHOCOLATE SPRITZ COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Fit your cookie press with a favorite plate. You'll need unbuttered, unlined cookie sheets.
• Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, not simmering water, or melt in the microwave following manufacturer's directions. Allow to cool slightly.
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the salt, vanilla and sugar and beat to mix well. Add the egg yolks and beat to mix, then add the chocolate, mixing well to blend. On low speed, gradually add the flour. Beat only to mix after each addition.
• Fill your cookie press with a portion of the dough. Press out the cookies 1-inch apart on cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes in preheated oven. Using a spatula, transfer cookies to a rack to cool. Store in airtight containers.
• NOTE: Cookies may be decorated with chopped nuts or candied cherries before baking, if desired.