Ah, Julia!
I had friends over for a party recently and decided to delve into Julia Child’s classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking for something special to bake. And there it was! Reine de Saba cake!
The cookbook is part of a two-volume masterpiece co-edited by Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck and first published in 1961. ( The Reine de Saba cake is in volume one.) The cookbooks are available in your local bookstore or on Amazon here.
Reine de Saba or Queen of Sheba cake is a wonder. It is exquisitely chocolatey, melt-in-your mouth moist and iced with an incredible buttery chocolate frosting. (I confess that I loved the frosting so much that I frosted my cake with a double batch.
My guests were wowed by Julia’s cake. You will be, too.
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
Reine de Saba Cake
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate wafers
- 2 T. rum (or strong coffee)
- 1/4 pound of unsalted butter (softened)
- 2/3 C. granulated sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 egg whites
- Pinch of salt
- 1 T. granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup pulverized almonds (made in a blender)
- 1/4 t. almond extract
- 3/4 C. cake flour
- For the frosting:
- 1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate wafers
- 1 T. rum (or strong coffee)
- 3 T. unsalted butter
Directions
- Step 1 Prepare an 8-inch cake pan by generously buttering it and giving it a light dusting of flour.
- Step 2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 3 Melt the chocolate and the 2 T. rum over simmering water.
- Step 4 Cream butter and 2/3 C. granulated sugar together. You want the butter to be fluffy and light yellow when all the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is beaten with a wooden spoon. Beat in the egg yolks until well blended. Set aside.
- Step 5 Whip egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the sugar (1 T. granulated) on the egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Step 6 Using a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate (from step 3 above) into the butter and sugar mixture (step 4 above). Next, blend in the almonds and almond extract. Stir 1/4 of the the stiff egg whites (step 5 above) into the batter to lighten it.
- Step 7 Next, fold one third of the sifted cake flour into the batter and then fold in 1/4 of the remaining beaten egg white mixture. Repeat until all of the flour and egg white mixture are used.
- Step 8 Spoon this batter into your prepared pan. Be sure to spread a bit of the batter up the sides of the pan.This will cause the cake to bake with a more even top. Bake on the center rack of your oven at 350 degrees F. for about 25 minutes. Your cake will be done when it puffs and when a tooth pick stuck into the outside 1/3 of the cake comes out clean. The toothpick stuck in the very center of the cake will come out a bit oily rather than dry.
- Step 9 Cool the cake on a rack of 10 minutes. Then, run a knife around the edge of the cake and turn it out onto a plate and let it cool completely.
- Step 10 While the cake is cooling, make the frosting.
- Step 11 Melt the chocolate and rum over simmering water. Take the chocolate off the heat and stir in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Then, put the bowl of chocolate and butter over a bowl of very cold water and continue stirring until the chocolate cools and turns into a beautiful spreadable frosting. Frost the cake.
