Chocolate Nut GâteauGateau is a distinctly French dessert that is essentially a light cake that is packed with nuts, fruit, and custard. Here is a delicious chocolate gateau recipe from a book of French cooking. The book is called "Larousse Traditional French Cooking" and it is written by Curnonsky. Here is the recipe for Chocolate Nut Gâteau:
Preparation: 35 minutes Cooking: 1 hour 10 minutes Completion: 15 minutes Ingredients plain (semisweet) chocolate, 1/2 lb rum, 3-4 tbsp good-quality unsalted butter, 1 stick caster (granulated) sugar, 1.75 cups eggs, 5 flour, 1.25 cups |
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baking powder, 1 tsp
walnut halves, 1 cup
oranges, finely grated rind of, 2
Grand Marnier, 1 tbsp
salt, 1 pinch
Topping
icing (confectioners') sugar, 1/4 cup
cocoa powder, 1/3 cup
wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp
walnut halves
Break the chocolate into pieces and put in a saucepan with the rum. Melt over a low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon to make a smooth mixture. Remove from the heat and add the diced butter. Mix well, then add the sugar and mix again.
Separate the eggs. Add the egg yolks, one by one, to the chocolate mixture, beating constantly. Add the flour and baking powder and continue stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon until it becomes very smooth. Cut the walnut halves in half and mix them in, then add the orange rind, followed by the Grand Marnier.
Add the salt to the egg whites, beat them to a snow, then fold them gently into the mixture. Thickly butter 2 rectangular cake tins and fill each one three-quarters full. Put each tin on a baking sheet in a low to moderate oven and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes.
Make the topping. Sift together the icing (confectioners') sugar and cocoa powder and mix with a very little cold water to make a fairly fluid cream (the consistency of a custard sauce). Add the vinegar to make the mixture glossy.
When the cake is cooked, dip each tin in cold water 2-3 times; this makes unmoulding very easy. Turn the cakes out on to a wire rack, brush the top of each one (hot or cold) with the prepared chocolate mixture and gently press in some walnuts to decorate.
This cake is excellent just as it is, or it can be accompanied by a coffee-flavoured custard sauce. It will keep very well for several days in an airtight tin."
- from "Larousse Traditional French Cooking" by Curnonsky
walnut halves, 1 cup
oranges, finely grated rind of, 2
Grand Marnier, 1 tbsp
salt, 1 pinch
Topping
icing (confectioners') sugar, 1/4 cup
cocoa powder, 1/3 cup
wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp
walnut halves
Break the chocolate into pieces and put in a saucepan with the rum. Melt over a low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon to make a smooth mixture. Remove from the heat and add the diced butter. Mix well, then add the sugar and mix again.
Separate the eggs. Add the egg yolks, one by one, to the chocolate mixture, beating constantly. Add the flour and baking powder and continue stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon until it becomes very smooth. Cut the walnut halves in half and mix them in, then add the orange rind, followed by the Grand Marnier.
Add the salt to the egg whites, beat them to a snow, then fold them gently into the mixture. Thickly butter 2 rectangular cake tins and fill each one three-quarters full. Put each tin on a baking sheet in a low to moderate oven and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes.
Make the topping. Sift together the icing (confectioners') sugar and cocoa powder and mix with a very little cold water to make a fairly fluid cream (the consistency of a custard sauce). Add the vinegar to make the mixture glossy.
When the cake is cooked, dip each tin in cold water 2-3 times; this makes unmoulding very easy. Turn the cakes out on to a wire rack, brush the top of each one (hot or cold) with the prepared chocolate mixture and gently press in some walnuts to decorate.
This cake is excellent just as it is, or it can be accompanied by a coffee-flavoured custard sauce. It will keep very well for several days in an airtight tin."
- from "Larousse Traditional French Cooking" by Curnonsky