at Fri, 11 Nov 2005 20:04:00 GMT in <49u9n1leu669418k6hvaageu34q64l0u98@
4ax.com>, (E) wrote :

>A long time ago I was at a restaurant, and was served for dessert a
>sort of chocolate cake/torte/pie.
>
>This thing was unreal. It was dense like a piece of cold fudge and
>had three layers, each a different color of chocolate. It was about
>an inch high total.
>
>Would anyone be able to help out with a recipe for this wonder? I'd
>like to make it for Thanksgiving alongside the apple pie!

Sounds like somebody concocted a triple chocolate decadence. To make it,
use the following base recipe:

24 oz High-quality bittersweet Chocolate
15 tb Unsalted butter
1 1/2 tb Flour
6 Eggs
1 1/2 tb Sugar

Heat oven to 350F/175C. In a double-boiler, melt
broken chocolate with butter, stirring constantly; set
aside. Again in a double-boiler, stir eggs with sugar
until mixture is lukewarm and sugar is dissolved.
Blend flour into egg mixture; fold into chocolate mixture,
a little at a time. Spread into a buttered and waxed paper
lined 10"/25cm springform pan. Wrap the pan in foil, and set
in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water
until the water level is about 1/2" above batter line in the
pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the center of cake is
soft but just barely set. Cool.

Classically this is served with raspberry sauce : just puree some good
frozen raspberries - I recommend Cascadian Farm - and you can pass them
through a fine strainer if you are obsessive about seeds.

With a triple chocolate version, however, I think a slightly less
assertive, sweeter fruit is called for: strawberries.

To make the triple chocolate version, you need 3 different types of
chocolate. Here there are several possibilities. One possibility is to go
bittersweet/semisweet/milk. Another is bittersweet/milk/white. For the true
chocoholic, you may want to go unsweetened/bittersweet/semisweet.

If you want a strong colour contrast between bittersweet and semisweet,
you'll want to use a Dutch-process chocolate for the bittersweet and a
natural-process for the semisweet. And since natural-process has a stronger
flavour, for best flavour contrast you should use an extra bitter (85%-
class) chocolate for the Dutch-process layer (it will sit on the bottom)

So, what you do is divide the recipe into thirds, and use 1/3 for each
separate chocolate type. In other words, you'll need 8 oz of each type.
Then you assemble the cake by spreading layer 1 (the darkest) in the pan,
chilling until it firms up a bit, then make and spread layer 2, etc... Then
you bake as before. Since it's starting from a colder temperature, it will
take longer, too.

If you're using milk and especially white chocolate, you may want to turn
down the temperature to 325F/165C. Also be aware that when you melt either
of these chocolates, you need to use even lower temperatures.

Then there is the choice of chocolate. Here's what I would recommend for
each type, and then you can pick and choose as you prefer.

Unsweetened: Domori Style line 100%
Extra Bitter 85% (Dutch-processed): Cuba Venchi Cuor di Cacao 85%
Bittersweet: Amedei Trinidad
Semisweet: Callebaut 835 54.5%
Milk: Bonnat Asfarth
White: El Rey Icoa

If the price and availability of these deter you (and they might) then try
the following:

Unsweetened: Ghirardelli Unsweetened
Extra Bitter 85%: Lindt Excellence 85 (not Dutch, but oh well)
Bittersweet: Callebaut 7030
Semisweet: Stick with the Callebaut 835
Milk: Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate
White: Stick with El Rey, there is no substitute.

As you can see, some effort is involved. Being honest, I personally prefer
the all-bittersweet version. But the 3-chocolates variety does give
attractive visuals.


--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)