Birthday Cake

My sister had her birthday party the other day, and I jumped at the opportunity to bake a cake. As of yet, my escapades into the world of pastry have been minimal, mainly because there is too much science involved, and you are left with little room to deviate from the recipe. I however, love to bake occasionally, and (though this doesn't count) have had stints with two women in the field; Aunt Jemima and Betty Crocker. Though I do enjoy to bake on occasion, there are only two possible reasons why I may have greased up the old cake pans for my sister; I'm a good big brother, or money. I'll leave that to your imagination.

I searched in George Perrier's Le-Bec Fin cookbook for cake recipes and found one for flourless chocolate. I then found a recipe for buttercream icing in some other miscellaneous cookbook. I made my first ever buttercream icing by whipping some egg whites with sugar that had been heated and some other junk. I chilled this until I was ready to use.

To make the cake I first melted some semisweet chocolate and butter together in a double boiler. When cooled to room temperature, I incorporated this into a mixture of beaten egg yolks and sugar, and then mixed all of that into a mixture of beaten egg whites and sugar. I divided it into 3, buttered, 8-inch cake pans and baked at 300 for an hour.

All in all, it was a very simple recipe that yielded delicious results. This cake is for chocolate purists, faint of heart steer clear. Since I was making this for a bunch of 7th graders, I added the buttercream icing, mellowing out the chocolate flavor and adding some sweetness. The verdict? I thought it was delicious. Definitely an accomplishment for me as a pastry chef. Even the kids liked it!