Julia Child’s Reine de Saba (Chocolate Almond Cake)

Food

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Julia Child’s Reine de Saba (Chocolate Almond Cake)

Ingredients:

For the meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar (25 grams)

For the cake:

• 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, (115 grams) softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
• 3 egg yolks
• 4 oz semi or bittersweet chocolate (114 grams) melted
• 2 tbsp brewed coffee or espresso (1 oz)
• 1/3 cup almond meal (26 grams)
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup cake flour (62 grams)

For the chocolate glaze

• 2 oz dark chocolate (57 grams)
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter (57 grams) room temperature

A few notes on making this:

• This cake takes a few different techniques to make, but is well worth the effort. 
• Make sure your mixing bowl is very clean and dry, and your egg whites have no yolk broken in, or they will not whip properly.
• Butter and flour your cake pan, and add parchment to the base if you want to make sure the cake doesn’t stick.

Directions:

For Cake:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. 
• Brush a 8.5” or 9” cake pan with softened butter and coat with flour. Tap out excess. 
• Heal 4oz of chocolate over a simmering pot of water until just melted and stir in coffee. Set aside.
• To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the egg whites and the pinch of salt. Whisk on high speed until they begin to foam. 
• Sprinkle the tablespoon of granulated sugar over the egg whites and continue to whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. The egg whites should stick to the whisk when the whisk is held upside down.
• Transfer the egg whites to a medium bowl and set aside. Wipe out the stand mixer's bowl. 
• In the bowl of stand mixer, beat the unsalted butter and granulated sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy.
• Add in egg yolks and mix until the batter is light yellow.
• Add the melted chocolate and coffee to the batter, then mix just to incorporate. 
• Mix in the almond meal and almond extract. 
• On low speed, mix in 1/3 of the egg whites to lighten up batter. 
• Using a rubber spatula, stir in half of the cake flour, folding to incorporate. 
• Add another third of egg whites to the batter, and very gently fold the whites into the batter to incorporate. 
• Add the remaining cake flour and gently fold to mix. Then add the remaining egg whites and gently fold to incorporate until there are no unmixed egg whites. 
• Gently pour the cake batter into prepared pan, carefully spreading out the batter in the pan. 
• Bake the cake for 16 to 20 minutes, removing once cake is set all over. 
• Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes before running a sharp knife along the edges. Flip the cake out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely. 

For glaze:

• Melt the chocolate in a medium bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring until smooth. 
• Add in the butter and stir until the butter has melted as well and the glaze is smooth. 
• Let cool slightly and pour over cooled cake, smoothing with offset spatula. Sprinkle sliced almonds around edges, if desired, before serving.