by Julia Child
() Leftover butter cream may be refrigerated for about a week, or may be frozen. Before using, let warm at room temperature until it can be beaten into spreading consistency.
Spread icing on top of cake first, then smooth it around sides
Crème au Citron
[Lemon-butter Filling]
Crème au Beurre au Citron
[Lemon Butter-cream Icing]
Use the same method and proportions as in either of the two preceding recipes, but substitute grated lemon rind and lemon juice for orange.
GTEAU À L’ORANGE ET AUX AMANDES
[Orange and Almond Spongecake]
This delicious cake may be served with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, with a glazing of apricot, or with a filling and icing.
For a 9-inch cake serving 8 people
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
A round cake pan, 9 by 1½ inches
Butter and flour the cake pan. Measure out all the ingredients.
¼ lb. butter
Melt the butter and set aside.
A whip or electric beater
⅔ cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
A 3-quart mixing bowl
The grated rind of 1 orange
⅓ cup strained orange juice
¼ tsp almond extract
¾ cup (4 ounces) pulverized almonds
½ cup cake flour (scooped and leveled), turned into a sifter
Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating until mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms the ribbon. Add the grated orange rind, orange juice, and almond extract. Beat for a moment or two until mixture is light and foamy. Then beat in the almonds, and finally the flour.
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 Tb granulated sugar
Beat the egg whites and salt together in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed, (Directions are here.)
A rubber spatula
Using a rubber spatula, fold the cool, melted butter into the cake batter, omitting milky residue at bottom of butter pan. Stir one fourth of the egg whites into the batter, delicately fold in the rest.
Immediately turn into prepared cake pan and run the batter up to the rim all around. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, browned lightly, top is springy when pressed, and a needle plunged into the center of the cake comes out clean.
A cake rack
Remove from oven and let stand for about 10 minutes, until cake begins to shrink from sides of pan. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and reverse the cake onto the rack, giving it a small, sharp, downward jerk to dislodge it from the pan. If it is not to be iced, reverse the cake immediately so it will cool puffed-side up. Allow to cool for an hour or two.
TO SERVE
Serve with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, or with apricot glaze and almonds, or with the orange-butter filling or butter-cream icing described for the orange sponge cake.
REINE DE SABA
[Chocolate and Almond Cake]
This extremely good chocolate cake is baked so that its center remains slightly underdone; overcooked, the cake loses its special creamy quality. It is covered with a chocolate-butter icing, and decorated with almonds. Because of its creamy center it needs no filling. It can be made in the same manner as the preceding cakes, starting out with a beating of egg yolks and sugar, then proceeding with the rest of the ingredients. But because the chocolate and the almonds make a batter so stiff it is difficult to fold in the egg whites, we have chosen another method, that of creaming together the butter and sugar, and then incorporating the remaining items.
For an 8-inch cake serving 6 to 8 people
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
A round cake pan 8 inches in diameter and 1½ inches deep
4 ounces or squares semi-sweet chocolate melted with 2 Tb rum or coffee
Butter and flour the cake pan. Set the chocolate and rum or coffee in a small pan, cover, and place (off heat) in a larger pan of almost simmering water; let melt while you proceed with the recipe. Measure out the rest of the ingredients.
A 3-quart mixing bowl
A wooden spoon or an electric beater
¼ lb. or 1 stick softened butter
⅔ cup granulated sugar
Cream the butter and sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture.
3 egg yolks
Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 Tb granulated sugar
Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed. (Directions are here.)
A rubber spatula
⅓ cup pulverized almonds
¼ tsp almond extract
½ cup cake flour (scooped and leveled), turned into a sifter
With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in the almonds, and almond extract. Immediately stir in one fourth of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Delicately fold in a third of the remaining whites and when partially blended, sift on one third of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all egg whites and flour are incorporated.
Turn the batter into the cake pan, pushing the batter up to its rim with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, and 2½ to 3 inches around the circumference are set so that a needle plunged into that area comes out clean; the center should move slightly if the pan is shaken, and a needle comes out oily.
A cake rack
Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse cake on the rack. Allow it to cool for an hour or two; it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.
TO SERVE
Use the chocolate-butter icing, and press a design of almonds over the icing.
LE MARQUIS
[Chocolate Spongecake]
For an 8-inch cake serving 6 to 8 people
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
A round cake pan 8 inches in diameter and 1½ inches deep
Butter and flour the cake pan. Measure out the ingredients.
3½ ounces of semisweet baking chocolate
2 Tb strong coffee
A small covered pan
A pan of simmering water A wooden spoon
3½ Tb softened butter
Place the chocolate and coffee in the small pan, cover, and set in the larger pan of simmering water. Remove pans from heat and let chocolate melt for 5 minutes or so while you proceed with the recipe. Then beat in the butter.
A wire whip or electric beater
3 egg yolks
A 3-quart mixing bowl
½ cup granulated sugar
Beat the egg yolks in the mixing bowl, gradually adding the sugar, until mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms the ribbon.
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 Tb granulated sugar
Beat the egg whites and salt together in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed. (Directions are here.)
A rubber spatula
⅓ cup cake flour (scooped and leveled), turned into a sifter
Fold the tepid chocolate and butter into the batter, then fold in one fourth of the egg whites. When partially blended, sift on one fourth of the flour and continue folding, alternating rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all egg whites and flour are incorporated.
Immediately turn batter into prepared pan and run it up to the rim all around. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until cake has puffed ¼ inch above rim and top has cracked. A skewer or straw should come out clean when plunged 1½ inches from edge, but should be slight
ly oily with a few specks of chocolate clinging when plunged into the middle area.
A cake rack
Let cool 10 minutes; cake will sink slightly. Run a knife around inside of pan, and reverse onto a rack. Let cool 2 hours before icing.
To serve
You may serve the cake with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, fill and ice it with one of the following butter creams, or fill with butter cream and cover with the chocolate-butter icing. Illustrated directions for filling and icing a cake begin on this page.
THREE BUTTER CREAMS
Trois Crèmes au Beurre
Butter creams consist of egg yolks, sugar, butter, and flavoring which are beaten together into a creamy mass of spreading consistency. There are half a dozen ways of arriving at them; one is the orange butter-cream. Here are three more recipes. The first of these is quick and easy but always slightly grainy, because the sugar never completely dissolves. The second is made with sugar syrup in which egg yolks are poached before the butter is beaten in; it makes a fairly firm cream good in hot weather. Custard sauce and butter make up the third cream, which is lighter in texture than the other two and better in cold weather than in hot. Any of these butter creams may be used both as fillings and as icings.
AMOUNTS NEEDED
For both filling and icing a cake, you will need approximately the following amounts:
For an 8-inch cake, 1½ cups
For a 9-inch cake, 2 cups
For a 10-inch cake, 2½ cups
STORAGE AND LEFTOVERS
Butter creams may be refrigerated for several days, or frozen for several weeks. To use again, allow the cream to warm at room temperature until it can be beaten into spreading consistency. If it begins to separate or turn grainy, beat in a tablespoon or two of tepid, unsalted, melted butter.
FILLING AND ICING
Illustrated directions for filling and icing cakes are in the pair of recipes starting.
CRÈME AU BEURRE, MÉNAGÈRE
[Butter Cream I—with powdered sugar]
This should be made with an electric beater; it is heavy work by hand.
For about 1½ cups
A 2½-quart mixing bowl
2 egg yolks
⅔ cup sifted powdered sugar
2 Tb kirsch, rum, orange liqueur, or strong coffee, OR, 1 Tb vanilla extract, OR, 2 ounces (2 squares) melted, semisweet, baking chocolate
6 ounces (1½ sticks) softened, unsalted butter
An electric beater (or a wire whip)
Rinse the bowl in hot water, dry it, and place in it all the ingredients listed. Beat at a moderate speed for about 5 minutes to obtain a smooth cream. Chill until the cream is cold but still malleable, then fill and ice your cake.
CRÈME AU BEURRE, AU SUCRE CUIT
[Butter Cream II—with sugar syrup]
You may use either a wire whip or an electric beater for most of the steps in this recipe. We find, however, that a large balloon whip, such as that illustrated for beating egg whites is the quickest and most effective instrument for the beating of egg yolks and sugar syrup step.
For about 2 cups
Preliminaries
A wooden spoon or an electric beater
A 2½-quart mixing bowl
½ lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
Cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. (Directions are here.) Set aside.
5 egg yolks, OR, 1 egg and 3 yolks
A 2½-quart mixing bowl
A large wire whip (or an electric beater)
Place the egg yolks (or egg and yolks) in the bowl and beat a few seconds to blend thoroughly. Set aside.
The sugar syrup
⅔ cup granulated sugar
3 Tb water
A small, heavy saucepan
Optional: a candy thermometer
Boil the sugar and water in the saucepan, shaking pan frequently, until the sugar has reached the soft ball stage (236 to 238 degrees on candy thermometer).
Beating the egg yolks with the syrup
At once beat the boiling syrup in a stream of droplets into the egg yolks, using your wire whip (or electric beater).
A pan of not-quite-simmering water, large enough to hold the bowl
A basin of cold water
Set the mixing bowl in the pan of not-quite-simmering water, on the stove, and continue beating the yolk and sugar mixture at a moderate speed, lifting in as much air as possible. In 4 to 5 minutes the mixture will be light, foamy, doubled in bulk, and feel very hot to your finger. When this stage is reached, set the bowl in cold water and continue beating for several minutes until mixture has cooled to tepid, and when a bit is lifted, it falls back forming a slowly dissolving ribbon on the surface of the mixture.
Combining with the butter
A wooden spatula or spoon, or an electric beater
2 to 3 Tb kirsch, rum, orange liqueur, or strong coffee, OR, 1 Tb vanilla extract, OR, 2 ounces (2 squares) melted, semi-sweet, baking chocolate
2 to 4 Tb softened, unsalted butter, if needed
Then beat the egg mixture by spoonfuls into the bowl of creamed butter. Beat in the flavoring. The crème au beurre should be a smooth, homogeneous, creamy mass. If it looks grainy or has a tendency to separate, beat in softened butter by tablespoons. Chill until cold but still malleable, then fill and frost your cake.
CRÈME AU BEURRE, À L’ANGLAISE
[Butter Cream III—with custard base]
This final recipe is simpler to make than the preceding one with its sugar syrup and its poaching of egg yolks. The custard base here is that most familiar of custard sauces, crème anglaise which, when cooled, receives the butter.
For about 2½ cups
The crème anglaise (custard sauce)
A wire whip or electric beater
⅔ cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
A 2½-quart mixing bowl ½ cup boiling milk
A 1-quart, heavy-bottomed, enameled saucepan
A wooden spoon
Optional: a candy thermometer
A basin of cold water
A sieve
Following the general procedure in the master recipe for crème anglaise gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks in the bowl until mixture is thick, pale yellow, and forms the ribbon. Then beat in the boiling milk by droplets. Pour into saucepan and stir with wooden spoon over moderately low heat until mixture thickens enough to coat spoon with a light cream (165 degrees on candy thermometer). At once set saucepan in cold water and beat until custard has cooled to barely tepid. Rinse out mixing bowl and strain custard back into it.
Beating in the butter
A wire whip or electric beater
½ lb. (2 sticks) softened, unsalted butter, more if needed
2 to 3 Tb kirsch, rum, orange liqueur, or strong coffee, OR, 1 Tb vanilla extract OR, 2 ounces (2 squares) melted, semi-sweet, baking chocolate
Beat the softened butter into the barely tepid custard by spoonfuls, using whip or beater. Beat in the flavoring. If cream looks grainy or has a tendency to curdle, beat in more softened butter by tablespoons. Cream should be smooth, thick, and homogeneous. Chill until cold but still malleable, then fill and ice your cake.
CHOCOLATE ICING
Glaçage au Chocolat
This simple chocolate icing is butter beaten into melted chocolate, and forms a tender coating over a white or chocolate cake, or over a thoroughly chilled butter-cream icing.
GLAÇAGE AU CHOCOLAT
[Chocolate-butter Icing]
For an 8-inch cake
2 ounces (2 squares) semi-sweet baking chocolate
2 Tb rum or coffee
A small covered pan A larger pan of almost simmering water
5 to 6 Tb unsalted butter
A wooden spoon
A bowl with a tray of ice cubes and water to cover them
A small flexible-blade metal spatula or a table knife
Place the chocolate and rum or coffee in the small pan, cover, and set in the larger pan of almost
simmering water. Remove pans from heat and let chocolate melt for 5 minutes or so, until perfectly smooth. Lift chocolate pan out of the hot water, and beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time. Then beat over the ice and water until chocolate mixture has cooled to spreading consistency. At once spread it over your cake with spatula or knife.
INDEX
A
ABRICOT, 10.1
Glaçage à l’
AGNEAU ET MOUTON, 7.1
Blanquette
Civet
Daube
Fricadelles
Gigot ou Epaule d’
à l’Anglaise, 7.1
Braisé aux Haricots, 7.1
en Chevreuil, 7.1
Farci, 7.1
à la Moutarde, 7.1
Rôti, 7.1
Moussaka
Navarin Printanier