[Sca-cooks] OP: Light-as-a-sigh Flourless Chocolate Cake

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

After much searching on the web, i think i've 
found the recipes for the cake and for the icing. 
I know my mom made this in the early 1960s, and 
probably in the late 1950s, too.

-- 1. AIRY FLOURLESS CAKE --

7 eggs, separated
1 cup white granulated sugar
8 oz. dark sweet or semi-sweet chocolate
4 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 350F.

Prepare jelly roll pan:
Oil jelly roll pan.
Cover with baking parchment paper (or waxed paper 
or foil, although i think foil might not be the 
best) which comes up over ends of pan at least 2 
inches.
Oil paper too.

Beat yolks with 3/4 cup sugar until light and creamy.

Chop up chocolate and put in small sauce pan with water.
Stir over a very low flame until chocolate melts. 
Do not let it get too hot or it can scorch.
Allow to cool slightly, then pour it slowly into 
the egg yolks, stirring constantly.

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Some 
versions use a little cream of tartar, but my 
mother didn't.
Fold whites into chocolate-egg yolks and mix with 
rubber/silicone spatula or spoon. Do not over-mix 
as whites will deflate.

Spread mixture evenly over the prepared paper in jelly roll pan.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350°, then for 15 minutes at 325°.

NOTE: *While cake is baking, whip cream and make icing* recipes below.

Remove from oven and cover top with damp dish cloth.
Cool. (some recipes suggest refrigerating to cool, but my mother didn't)
Turn out upside down onto a dry smooth cloth 
towel (or waxed paper) which has been sprinkled 
with cocoa powder.
Peel paper off cake slowly and carefully.
Trim edges to even sides if desired.

-- 2. WHIPPED CREAM FILLING --

2 cups heavy/whipping cream
1 Tablespoon to 1/4 cup (= 4 Tb) confectioners' 
sugar, sifted (depending on personal taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream whips better if it's very chilled - a few 
minutes in the freezer may be good - but don't 
let it begin to freeze! And chill the beaters and 
the bowl. In hot weather (or if the kitchen's 
awfully hot from baking), put the bowl in a 
slightly larger bowl of ice.

Whip the cream until it starts to thicken. Then 
fold in sugar and vanilla and whip another minute 
or so until the right texture. Do not whip too 
firm - over-whipped cream becomes butter-like.

Avoid ultra-pasteurized cream - it is hard to 
whip and the texture isn't the same.

-- 3. CHOCOLATE ICING --

from the box of Baker's Chocolate Squares
Makes About 2-1/2 cups, enough for two 9-inch layers.

4 squares Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
16 oz. confectioners' sugar (about 4 cups), divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

Melt chocolate in saucepan on very low heat (or 
double boiler), stirring constantly; set aside.

Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.
Gradually add about half of the sugar, beating on 
low speed after each addition until well blended.
Add chocolate and vanilla; mix well.

Add remaining sugar alternately with the milk, 
beating until well blended after each addition.

-- 4. ASSEMBLY --

Spread the cake evenly with the whipped cream.

Put a long platter next to a long side of cake. 
Using towel or paper it is on as an aid, roll up 
cake jelly roll-style, beginning with a long 
side. Carefully transfer, seam side down, to 
platter, using wax paper to help slide cake. 
(Cake will crack but will still hold together.)

Rolling can be a little tricky and for those 
perfectionists the cake will never look like 
perfection (surface often has cracks). But it 
tastes like heaven.

Ice with chocolate, which gets a light glazed 
look and can be a bit fudge-like. Top with a line 
of toasted pecans, pressed lightly into the glaze.

Or you can leave off icing and dust with cocoa or powdered sugar.

-- VARIATION --

If you can't or won't roll, it can be made in layers, see:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Flourless-Chocolate-Cake-with-Chocolate-Glaze-5872
or
http://glutenfreemommy.com/lighter-than-air-chocolate-cake/
or
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/03/the-best-chocolate-cake-expletive-free/
-- 
Someone sometimes called Urtatim