Happy Birthday, Julia!

August 15 is Julia Child’s birthday. To mark the occasion, I usually bake Reine de Saba, a dense cake full of chocolate, rum, almonds and butter. The recipe comes from Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and was evidently one of her favorite treats.

The recipe makes a single layer measuring 8” across—and that is fine, just enough. The cake is so rich you only need a (very) modest portion to feel happy and satisfied. Sometimes it’s fun to build a dinner around dessert: have a simple tomato soup, a dark leafy green salad and a baguette and let this regal chocolate cake be the finale!

Recipe adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1983)

Ingredients

For the cake:
4 oz. semisweet chocolate (Buy the very best you can find! 4 oz is equal to a large bar of Ghirardelli’s chocolate. Scharffen Berger is also an excellent brand.)
2 tablespoons dark rum*
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup slivered almonds, finely ground
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup cake flour
3 eggs, separated

For the icing:
4 oz. semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 tablespoon rum*
6 tablespoons butter
Handful of slivered almonds for decoration

*If you don’t care for rum, substitute with strong coffee.

Process, Cake

Butter and flour an 8” round cake pan and set aside.

In a double boiler over medium heat, gently melt 4 oz of chocolate. Add the rum and set aside as well.

Cream the butter and 2/3 cup of sugar together in a ceramic bowl, then add the yolks and beat thoroughly.

With a clean set of beaters, whip the egg whites in a large bowl until they begin to foam. Add cream of tarter and salt and continue to beat. When the egg whites start to hold their shape, add the 2 tablespoons of sugar, bit by bit. When at last the egg whites are very stiff and can be “dalloped” into the shape of a candy kiss, stop.

Quickly return to the chocolate and rum mixture and stir until smooth. Pour the chocolate to the butter-and-sugar bowl, then add the ground almonds, almond extract and flour. Mix thoroughly.

Next, stir a forth of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate batter to lighten the texture. Fold the remaining egg whites into the batter, turning the bowl as you go. The goal is to blend the ingredients without over-mixing so that the egg whites will make the cake rise.

Turn batter into the floured cake pan and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Test for done-ness by inserting a toothpick or sharp knife 2- to 3- inches towards the center of the cake. If it is not clean, bake for an additional five minutes. The texture should be dense like a brownie.

Remove from the oven and let the cake rest for 10 minutes or so. Run a knife around the cake pan’s edge and turn onto a large plate. Cool cake completely before icing it.

Process, Icing

In a double boiler, melt 4 oz of semisweet chocolate. Add 1 1/ 2 tablespoons of rum and stir until smooth. If the chocolate “clumps,” start to add the butter and spoonful at a time and beat until you achieve a creamy consistency.

Ice the cake from the center out using long, curving knife strokes. I only ice the top and decorate with a half-handful of slivered almonds at the center to create a sort-of “sunflower.”

If there are any leftovers, securely cover with several layers of plastic wrap to keep the cake moist. Cake should keep for a day or so.

Pork Tenderloin

We’ve come to that odd phase in the year when it can get soft and springy in the afternoons but you still need a wool coat in the mornings. As the weather vacillates, so do your cravings, and the solution is pork tenderloin. Roast one up over the weekend, and when it’s cold and mean on Monday, serve it with some comforting sides like sautéed kale and baked sweet potatoes. But if it's warm on Wednesday, serve round two with something light like a salad of cous cous and baby peas. Then take a walk after dinner—it’s still light out.

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking (1997)

Ingredients:

1 pork boneless tenderloin, approximately 1.5 to 2 lbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried thyme, rosemary or tarragon (Or use fresh if you are lucky enough to have some on hand. I’ve used a combination of “Provencal -Frenchy” spices like thyme, sage and lavender. Try some variations and see what you prefer.)

Process:

Position the baking rack to the center of the oven.

Select a Pyrex dish that will accommodate the pork loin, but is neither too snug nor too spacious. (If the tenderloin roasts all alone in a large pan, the meat will cook too quickly and dry out—never a good thing in a roast.) For a 2-pound loin, I usually use a 9” x 9” baking pan.

Rub the tenderloin with the spice and olive oil mixture. Put in an oven pre-heated to 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 250 and let it roast for 65 minutes. Slow cooking keeps the pork loin tender.

Remove from oven and loosely wrap the tenderloin in aluminum foil and let it sit for 15 minutes to complete cooking. You can slice it right then or gently reheat it later. To avoid dry slices, do not carve the roast until you are ready to serve it.