Julia Child Chocolate Cake
Vivien
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Butter and flour the cake pan. (Or to be extra safe, butter and line the pan with parchment.) Melt the chocolate and the rum together in a heat-safe bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Set aside.
7. Make the frosting: Get a large bowl of ice water ready. Melt the chocolate and the rum together in a heat-safe bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Remove from heat and beat in the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Set the bowl of chocolate into the ice bath and beat until the mixture has cooled to a spreading consistency. Frost the cake. Decorate with sliced almonds if you wish.
I adapted this terrific recipe from the famed cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck. This cake is easy to make and keeps well for several days. The classic combination of chocolate, almonds and rum is utterly irresistible and memorable.
No, this chocolate cake is not flourless, but instead uses a combination of ground almonds and 1/2 cup of cake flour. Use sliced almonds for decoration and textural contrast. Press the almonds onto the sides of the cake, or scattered on top.
This recipe calls for 3 eggs, with the yolks and whites added at different stages. The egg whites are whipped to form stiff peaks then gently folded into the chocolate batter. There are no other leavening agents like baking powder or baking soda in this recipe, so properly whipped egg whites are essential.
This cake keeps very well and seems to taste better after sitting for a while. Cool the cake completely before icing, then store in a cool location until needed. Leftovers can be sealed in an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. For the best flavor, bring the cake to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Melt the baking chocolate in the microwave, or over a double boiler. Add the butter one tablespoon at a time while the chocolate is still warm. Once all the butter is melted into the chocolate, the rum or coffee is added. The bowl of warm chocolate-butter icing is set over an ice water bath and whisked until cooled and the perfect spreading consistency. After that, the icing is ready to use. Easy peasy!
Mastering the Art of French Cooking can be purchased individually by volume, or as a two book set. These cookbooks are unique and fascinating, and the recipes are timeless. Mastering some of these recipes has made me a better cook.
Julia Child wrote that the Gateau Reine de Saba was the first French cake she ever ate. My version is a bit simpler to make than hers. I melt the chocolate with liquid, and I use all ground almonds rather than the traditional mixture of flour and almonds. I like my Reine de Saba to be slightly more like pudding and voluptuously melting. As "Reine de Saba" is French for Queen of Sheba, this seems entirely fitting. It also makes this cake eminently suitable for those who are gluten-intolerant. A little of this cake goes very far. You can easily get 12 slices out of this cake, so each person isn't consuming a huge amount of sugar. But to be defensive is to end on the wrong footing. A cake this good does you good, both body and soul.
The chocolate glaze on top is nothing but melted chocolate and softened butter stirred together to create one glossy coat. The only artful task in decorating this cake was the careful placement of shaved almonds along the sides of the cake.
Oh my gosh, I also worked at the Ovens of Brittany in Madison WI (1984-86) and have always meant to make this. When I was there they just glazed it and used strawberries for decoration (Sindarani was the head pastry chef). Planning on finally trying it out this week. I notice that some adaptations of this recipe use dark chocolate.
Dear Audrey,
I have tried the Queen of Sheba Chocolate Cake twice since you posted it in March. The first time was for Easter and it was a hit with all of my family. The second time was for a birthday celebration. Once again, most delicious. The first time I used rum and the second time I tried it with the espresso, equally amazing, although different.
It is an easy recipe to make but there are many steps to it. This will definitely become a celebration cake in my family.
Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes, Audrey.
Suzanne, Ottawa
Despite my over beating the egg whites, it still came out beautifully. I baked two cakes and thus I have no chocolate left for the buttercream icing, so I might try a white choc buttercream (???) on one and sifted icing sugar on the other. Thanks again.
Great to hear! Chocolate icing makes for an ultra rich and decadent cake, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with using another icing or just icing sugar. Hope you enjoy the taste and appreciate the feedback!
Hi, I'm Audrey - homecook & food writer, born and bred in Brittany, France. Welcome to my site devoted to bringing French flavors to your own kitchen. I share classic recipes, lesser-known regional dishes and a few modern takes. Making French cooking easy, approachable and clich-free is my priority. To learn more, click here.
This is the best chocolate cake ever... period. Especially since it really is mostly made from chocolate. There is no flour in this cake, so that alone should give you an idea of how rich this cake is. Which also makes this cake gluten free too.
I suppose this cake has more of a brownie texture but without the chew. It is moist and creamy yet not heavy, served with whipped cream, this cake is just awesome. To say it's awesome does not do it justice tho.
This is supposed to be a Julia Child's recipe but I have had a hard time finding the provenance of this recipe in her book and online. Anyways I don't doubt it. The closet recipe I could find was her Queen of Sheba Cake but it has flour in it and is different in other ways as well. Regardless you need to try this cake!
If using a spring form pan, remove the sides, you can serve the cake directly from the bottom of the pan. I have made this cake using a regular pan and I found when trying to removing the cake was a real pain. Flipping the cake out of the pan and serving it bottom up doesn't look very nice in my opinion. So I think keeping the cake up right looks a lot nicer. Another option is to flip the cake out onto a flat cutting board then flipping it back over so the top is upright.
This cake is very delicate and has no structure to it, it just falls apart so you might need to get creative in how to serve it. Using a triangle cake serving knife is a must if you want to keep the pieces together.
Put all of the dark and milk chocolate into a glass bowl and set over a shallow pan of water. Bring the water to a simmer and then add the strong rum (or coffee). Let the chocolate melt and gently stir until everything is combined into a smooth mixture.
Mix the warm melted chocolate into the yolk mixture, then blend in the almonds and almond extract. Stir a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate to lighten it slightly. Pour the remaining egg whites over the chocolate and then in three stages, gradually add the flour while delicately folding the egg whites into the mixture.
Cook for around 25 minutes, or until a skewer (or toothpick) inserted into the very centre of the cake comes out clean. Place the tin on a rack and let it cool for 20 minutes, then gently tip the cake out onto the rack and let it cool for a minimum of 2 hours, before adding the icing.
Prepare the chocolate icing: In a bowl set over a shallow pan of water, combine both the white and dark chocolate with the rum (or coffee), bring water to a simmer and let the chocolate melt while stirring until smooth.
Add the salt into the melted chocolate, then using an electric hand mixter, beat them together. Chop the softened butter up into small pieces and slowly add them into the butter while beating over cold water until the icing is firm enough to spread. Dollop the icing onto the top of the cooled chocolate almond cake and spread it evenly over the top and sides.
I created this site, to help share my love of cakes, and to encourage me to make one cake every month for a year! When I'm not baking cakes, I'm actually a Graphic Designer and Front End Web Developer. I'm very enthusiastic about design, the web, typography, user experience, Wordpress, cycling, good coffee and of course Cakes!
I mentioned that the cake is meant to be served warm. Learn from my mistake and serve the white chocolate cream on the side! As you can see in the photo above, the cream is dripping over the side. Amusingly (and frustratingly), this particular slice was the only one where the cream even stayed on the cake. I did manage to catch one hilarious shot (see below) of the cream sliding right off the cake! We really did not care, it was delicious. Some things I would do differently next time: forget about good pictures, this cake should be served in tiny (much smaller than shown) slices. It is rich!! Also, the white chocolate cream is deliciously but almost overpoweringly boozy and sweet. The second day I served this I folded the cream into lightly sweetened fresh whipped cream, and we all agreed we preferred it that way.
I am sorry to hear it did not work for you. I am happy to trouble shoot what went wrong. Did you make any substitutions and have you checked that your oven runs true to temperature? With 5 large eggs, it definitely should not be pure liquid after 30 minutes in the oven!
I am sorry to hear that! When was the last time you checked your oven temperature and calibrated it if it does not run true? Did you follow the recipe exactly? If you want to let me know exactly what you did I can try to help trouble shoot why you are having issues.
Hi. I just made this cake this evening and after 2 cakes they still did not come out well. The second cake itself was pretty good and fudge like in the middle. I baked it for 20 min instead of 25z The first one was a bit dry at 25 min. The frosting was terribly bitter. I made the first one using rum, semisweet chocolate and butter as directed. The second batch I used 60% sweetened dark chocolate cut up, rum and butter as directed. Again very bitter. I ended up throwing both out.
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