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Recipe Source:
 
In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs
by Julia Child, Nancy Verde Barr, 1996, Alfred
A. Knopf
Jim Dodge
"Not
many chefs trace their culinary heritage back two hundred years, but Jim
Dodge does. His ancestors opened a hotel, Pendexter Mansion, near North
Conway, New Hampshire, that long ago, and each generation has carried on the
tradition.
The family philosophy is that everyone must work in every aspect
of the business – waiting tables, cleaning rooms, cooking. Discussions
were always about taking
care of people – and good food. 'We were in a
rural area and used a lot of local
ingredients. We had our own sugar house,
made our own maple syrup for the
hotel, had vegetable gardens. It was a
pretty special childhood.'
Once in
the kitchen, Jim knew that was where he wanted to specialize. With his
father’s encouragement, he trained with a Swiss pastry chef, Fritz
Albicken, and
then in his ten years at the Stanford Court Hotel in San
Francisco, he himself became a star pastry chef. While there, Jim met
cooking school owner Mary
Risley, who encouraged him to teach. How fortunate
for his students and for
New England Culinary Institute, where he is now
Senior Vice President! He is
a confident, enthusiastic teacher – a result
of his own constant interest in his
subject. He teaches throughout the
country as well as in Japan and Hong
Kong, where he is part owner of the
restaurant American Pie. ‘I wonder why
some people have such a rigid
outlook on food. It is important to know and
understand and know your
ingredients well. Then you understand their limita-
tions as well as their
capabilities. If you have a good knowledge of the funda-
mentals you can do a
lot.
Jim’s
books, The American Baker and Baking with Jim Dodge are fine
examples of his unintimidating approach.”
Chocolate
Buttermilk Fudge Cake
“Here
is one really great chocolate cake in all its aspects. It’s high and
mighty,
it’s the essence of chocolate, it’s moist, and its fudge
frosting is just right. And
you can make it yourself in your own kitchen.”
Ingredients
for a 4-layer 8- by 3 1/2-inch cake
For
the cake pans:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons flour
For the cake:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/3 cup cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 large eggs, separated
1 cup (scooped and leveled) bleached cake flour
For assembling the cake:
Chocolate Fudge Frosting (recipe follows)
Special Equipment Suggested:
Two 8- by 2-inch round cake pans
Parchment paper
A pastry brush
A whisk
A microwave oven (useful but not essential)
An extra-wide rubber spatula with blade 2 1/2 inches across
1 or 2 cake racks
A thin-bladed very sharp serrated knife
A palette knife or an offset spatula
A cake stand or a serving platter
Preliminaries: Set
a pan on a piece of the parchment paper and trace a
circle around the
bottom; cut just inside the line to produce a circle that will
fit
comfortably inside the pan without wrinkling; make another for the second
pan. Brush a light coating of melted butter all over the bottom and sides of
the two pans, line them with the parchment, and butter the parchment.
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour into each pan, roll and shake it to cover the
bottom and sides evenly, and knock out the excess. Preheat the oven to
325 degrees
F. and set the rack on the lower level.
Preparing
the Chocolate Base: Heat
the buttermilk and butter pieces in
a small saucepan over moderately low
heat until the butter has melted and
the temperature of the liquid is about
100 degrees F. Meanwhile, stir the
cocoa and 1/2 cup of the sugar together with the
whisk in a large mixing
bowl; when thoroughly mixed, blend in the baking
soda and vanilla, and
finally the warm buttermilk-butter mixture. Whisk
gently until the sugar and cocoa are completely dissolved. Set aside while
preparing the egg whites.
The
Egg Whites: In the bowl of the electric mixer, whip the egg whites on
high until foamy and then gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar,
pouring it down the sides to avoid overwhelming and deflating the whites.
Add the sugar slowly will also ensure that it will dissolve. Continue
whipping
at high speed until peaks form. The result will be a meringue-type
mixture
that will hold its shape when folded into the chocolate base. Set
the bowl of
whites next to the chocolate mixture.
Finishing
the Batter: Whisk the egg
yolks into the preceding chocolate base, and then whisk in the flour until
it is completely incorporated. Use the wide rubber spatula to transfer the
egg whites onto the top of the chocolate and
then to fold them in gently but
thoroughly. Pour the batter into the pans,
dividing it evenly between them.
Rock the pans gently to spread the batter
evenly. Proceed at once to the
oven.
Baking
– about 35 minutes at 325 degrees F: Set the pans on the rack in
the
preheated oven, spacing them at least 1 inch from each other and from
the
sides of the oven.
When
Are They Done? The cakes
will have shrunk about 1/16 inch from
the sides of pans. Press each cake
gently with the balls of your fingers near
the sides of the pans; press
again halfway to the center, and then directly in
the center – there
should be the same firmness in all places. Set the pans on wire racks for 5
minutes. Then turn out onto the racks, bottoms up and with the parchment
still attached; the parchment will help keep the cakes moist as well as
assist in their handling later. Let them cool completely.
Ahead-of-Time
Note: When cool, gently and
carefully return the cakes to their pans, slip them into individual plastic
bags, and either refrigerate for 2
to 3 days or freeze for several weeks.
Slicing
One Cake into Two Layers: With
the parchment still in place on
top of the cake, and holding your fingers
flat under it for support, carefully
turn the cake upside down on your
counter; the parchment, now on the bottom, will help the cake rotate easily
as it is being sliced horizontally. Position the serrated knife along the
side of the cake, midway down from
the top, and with smooth, horizontal
strokes (not sawing back and forth)
make a cut about 1 inch deep in that
side of the cake, drawing the knife
out away from the cake at the end of
your stroke. Rotate the cake without lifting it, and continue making cuts
all around the circumference. Then slice through the two layers using a
smooth back and forth motion.
Assembling
the Cake: Carefully life
off the top layer of the cake and turn
it upside down on your cake stand or
platter. Scoop 1/4 of the chocolate
fudge frosting into the center and smooth
it out evenly to the edges with
your spatula. Turn the second layer of the
cake upside down over the
frosting, and very carefully remove the paper
backing. Spread on a second coating of frosting. Slice the second cake and
mount both layers on the
first cake with frosting in between the second and
third layers.
Scoop
up the remaining frosting and spread it over the top, pushing and sweeping
it to the edges, letting the excess fall down the sides. Wipe the spatula
along the side of the frosting bowl as necessary to collect the excess.
Finally, wash the spatula in hot water and run it over and around the
frosting
to restore its gloss. Clean frosting smudges from the stand or
platter with
damp paper towels and let the cake sit for 10 minutes, allowing
the frosting
to set before serving.
Ahead-of-Time
Note: Cover with a cake
dome or large upside-down bowl, and refrigerate. The cake will keep moist
and fine for several days. Bring to cool room temperature before serving.
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
“Chef
Jim’s fudge frosting is his own creation, with a nicely informal homegrown
look. It is easy to apply, and its full chocolate flavor complements his
four-layer chocolate cake especially well. This unusual method starts out
with a hot sugar
syrup into which butter is gradually beaten, and then
melted chocolate.”
Ingredients
to Fill and Frost a 4-layer 9-inch Cake (about 4 cups)
For the frosting:
2/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 sticks (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter,
cut into 1/2-inch slices
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/2-inch pieces,
smoothly melted,
and cooled to room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Special Equipment Suggested:
A 6-cup heavy-bottomed saucepan (for sugar boiling)
An instant-read thermometer
A small bowl of ice and water and a large kitchen spoon
(for sugar syrup
testing)
A heavy-duty electric mixer, with whip attachment, or a big mixing
bowl and
hand-held beater, or a whisk and elbow grease
Melt
the chocolate.
Preparing
the Sugar Syrup: Pour the
water into a medium-size bowl, stir in the sugar and corn syrup, and
continue stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved – a most
important step, since if the sugar has not dissolved completely, the syrup
may crystallize as you boil it. Pour into the sugar-
boiling pan, set over
moderately high heat, and boil to the soft ball stage,
235 degrees F.
Whipping
in the Butter: Pour the hot
syrup into the bowl of the mixer
and start whipping at moderately high
speed. Throw in a piece of the butter, whipping until it has been absorbed
into the hot syrup before adding another piece. Continue adding butter and
whipping until all the butter is in – this will take about 20 minutes
however you beat it, and will go slower as the syrup cools. Increase the
speed to high and whip several minutes more, until the syrup and butter form
a mass, stopping the mixer midway through and scraping down the sides of the
bowl with a spatula to be sure all the syrup
and butter have been
incorporated. (Alternatively, beat the butter into the
sugar syrup by hand
with a whisk.)
Adding
the Chocolate: Now whip the
cool melted chocolate and the
vanilla into the fluffy sugar-butter mixture,
and continue whipping until
the frosting is smooth enough to be spread on
your cake.
Ahead-of-Time
Note: May be kept at cool
room temperature for
several hours before using.
Tips from Julia on Handling and Serving Cakes and Pies
Transferring Cake Layers from Work Surface to Cake Stand:
Once the cake has been cut horizontally into two layers, the
tricky part is to get the top layer off with-out breaking it. Chef Jim’s
method is to lift it very carefully with his outstretched fingers supporting
the underside – he has big hands! An alternative suggestion,
from pastry
chef Stephanie Hersh, is to slide a wide palette knife under a section
of
the horizontal cut, gently lifting it up from the bottom layer. Then begin
easing
in a flat surface (a pizza pan, or a vinyl placemat, or a cardboard
cake circle).
Gently work the flat surface under the cut layer – always
lifting with the spatula
first – until the layer is completely on the flat
surface. After you spread the filling over the bottom layer, with the help
of the spatula gently slide the top layer onto
the icing.
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