Julia Child's Queen of Sheba Cake: Chocolate Royalty

How lucky to find Julia herself demonstrating this wonderful, delicious cake! You can watch the YouTube video link below.

I have even made this gluten free by omitting the 3/4 cup of flour and adding that amount to the amount of ground almonds. I also use strong room temp coffee in place of rum in both the cake and ganache. Coffee and chocolate couple perfectly. I serve this cake at my family's annual Julia Child birthday celebration every August 15.

Sharing my color photos of Julia's La Reine de Saba (en francais). Only 1.5 inches high. Delish!
                                                           

Voila!

Before ganache

Video about 30 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8clrnFM3Ys

Prep 8 inch pan butter and flour (I use removable bottom pan) preheat oven to 350.

Cake:

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips or 4 ounces of a bar
2 tablespoons of dark rum (I use strong coffee)
1 stick soft unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs separated
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar pinch of salt for egg whites near start
2 tablespoons granulated sugar added to egg whites when nearly done
1/3 cup ground unsalted almonds
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup cake flour (I use all purpose flour)

Method:

Melt chocolate and rum and wait till room temperature before adding soft butter, sugar, and almond extract, add dry ingredients. Lastly fold in egg whites that have been whipped toward end add the cream of tartar and pinch of salt. They should be peaked not dry from over whipping. Fold them into creamed ingredients. Add to prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes. DO NOT over bake. Middle will be moist as shown in Julia's video. Cool well before applying this ganache topping.

Ganache: Prepare while cake bakes

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or 3 ounces of a bar
1 1/2 tablespoon rum (I use coffee)
6 tablespoons unsalted soft butter
Almonds for decoration - whole or sliced unsalted

After melting chocolate and rum, whip in soft butter to add shine and thickening to consistency. Add to cooled cake to avoid melting. Decorate with more almonds.

This cake is decadent and delish! Can be frozen to serve in future.

Ingredients from, The French Chef Cookbook, by Julia Child, published April 15, 1968, Alfred A. Knopf, page 285.

Ireland: Let's Eat Cake

Full disclosure: this recipe does not include whiskey or beer, but it is well worth your interest. Stay tuned for a future post on two fabulous recipes using Bailey's Irish Cream. Today, this is a delicate, delicious, butter-rich cake with or without an orange-lemon glaze, and it's gorgeous!!

My grandmother Bridget O'Day was an amazing professional cook who worked in the kitchen of her Chicago parish. This recipe was handed down to me from her daughter, and I remember baking this when I was in high school. It was called Hartigan Cake, but after dabbling into my Irish genealogy, I am certain the cake was named after Bridget's grandmother, my great-great grandmother, Bridget Hardiman from County Roscommon Ireland. I point this out as the ingredients call for sour milk a key ingredient in rural Irish baking.

The Irish language word for milk is bán-chia which translates as white meat. Milk continues to be a staple in the Irish diet. Before refrigeration, the shelf life of milk was less than one day in summer. The milk turned sour from bacteria that was then killed by heat during the baking process, so it was used in many baked recipes to avoid waste. Today, people substitute buttermilk in recipes calling for sour milk, as I did below.

                                                           Bridget O'Day ~18 (1920)

Hardiman (formerly Hartigan) Cake

Ingredients: Cake
2 cups sugar
4 cups flour
2 cups room temp buttermilk (can make by adding 2 tablespoons lemon juice in regular milk)
1 cup melted salted butter
2 eggs - room temp so rising compounds aren't shocked by cold ingredients
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
Juice of one whole orange
Zest of two oranges

Glaze - Optional as cake is tasty with or without this step.
1 cup sugar
Juice of one lemon
Juice of two oranges
Combine and let these sit on counter while cake bakes. Most of the sugar will dissolve. OK to have some sugar stay on cake when basted.

Method:
Prepare bundt or tube pan with spray oil containing flour. The flour allows the cake to rise up in the pan. Preheat oven to 350. Photo shown was baked in a Nordic ware bundt pan ~$28 on Amazon.

Cream butter and sugar about 5 minutes. Add eggs and buttermilk. Add dry ingredients. Last add orange zest and orange juice blend by hand and add to prepared pan. Bake 1 hour or until done.

Cool in bundt pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place over cooling rack to catch excess glaze. While hot prick the top and sides of cake with tooth pick or skewer and baste spoonfuls of glaze over cake. Cool 2 hours. Sprinkle with powder sugar.

                                                              Looks too good to eat!!

My sous-chef, Ducati, waits patiently for the crumbs.