Chocolate Cake

9 and 1/2 inch French chocolate cake

The second contest for the best chocolate cake by amateur bakers happened yesterday.  Sponsored by the Club Prosper Montagne and the Lions Club, the Salon du Chocolat opened around noon and runs through this Sunday afternoon.  There are all manner of vendors selling chocolate, wine that pairs well with chocolate, and other sweets.  I don't especially like chocolate, and that dislike seems to grow with each passing year.  I know, I know, everyone, especially a woman, is supposed to adore the stuff.  But I much prefer a good vanilla custard....creme brulee for instance, or Hagen Daas vanilla ice cream.  Oh well, that's life.

first test cake--inedible.  Too bitter

But I do like to bake and once in a while I want a piece of cake.  Not a whole cake, mind you, but a slice once every two or three months really hits the spot.  When that craving comes upon me, I make a cake, have a slice and give the rest away.  My neighbors and the guys at the butcher shop seem to think it's a good arrangement.

Fruit to hide the canyon-sized crack

Last year, I made a chocolate cake with Guinness and entered it in the first chocolate cake contest.  The first words out of the judge's mouth were, "I don't like Guinness."  Doomed from the start.  

This year, I decided to actually try to make a real French chocolate cake, which bears no resemblance to the delightful old-fashioned Hershey's cocoa layer cake.  French chocolate cakes are dense, with almost no crumb,  a combinations of eggs, butter and chocolate with maybe a sneeze of flour.  

Drop-off time

To sum up--I made 4 chocolate cakes in 2 weeks; the first three were tests.  I experimented with the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate bars--85% is much too bitter.  I experimented with baking times and temperatures--my oven likes to cook everything at 400, no matter what setting I dial in.  Low and slow gave the best results.  

Judging time

I got up early on contest day--I had done the prep work (greasing the pan, chopping the chocolate and butter, measuring the dry ingredients) the night before.  The first egg I separated didn't exactly separate and I ended up with yolk in the whites and everyone knows that they won't whip....I needed 5 eggs separated and I had only 5 eggs left, so you'd best believe I was very careful with the rest. And I ate the first one, scrambled, for breakfast.

Recipe--what recipe?

The cake turned out fine, if you don't count the big crack across the end where the cooling rack wasn't big enough to support it.  I covered the canyon with fresh strawberries--they are coming into season now--and an orange slice twisted into a spiral....the sauce I made to go with the cake was fresh strawberries cooked with Grand Marnier.  I got it onto a serving plate and on a tray to carry it to the competition site. Drop-off was at noon.

Tasting my entry

The ladies there took my cake, asked if I had filled out any papers with my name and phone number--no, I hadn't as they were my first contact with contest officials.  We found a little slip of paper and I gave them the details, was told the judging would be at 3;00.

I left and returned at 3 to a typical French scene of disorganization.  You either accept and work with this loosey-goosey way of doing things or stay out of the way; there's no changing it and trying to make it different will only result in frustration.  I thought the judging was over as they were bringing out the cakes at about 3;40.  It turned out that they were just beginning.  I was dismayed and disappointed that there were only 3 entries.  Last year there were 7 and I was surprised at how few there were then.  This year's showing was really sad.  At that point I learned that you were supposed to submit the recipe along with the cake---and I was recipe-less.  I wish someone had told me and I could have returned at judging time with my recipe, which I would have had to translate.  See what I mean?

Huddle to confer

I came in second out of 3---just in the middle.  One of the ladies working there came up to me and told me that she remembered me from last year and was pleased to see that I hadn't given up.  

Winning entry

The truth is that I didn't enter to win--I entered (and will continue to enter) because the losers get to confer with the judge.  It's like having a private lesson with the chef.  This year's chef/judge was billed as Frank Putelat, a local 2 Michelin starred-chef.  

Me and my non-chocolate prize

It turned out that Frank was nowhere in sight--his pastry chef, who looked to be about 15 years old was one of the judges.  Because there was all this chaos and everything was late, there was no time for us also-rans to confer with him.  

But no matter--I had a blast, and my consolation prize was NOT chocolate---it was a lovely bag of high end bath products.  The best of all possible outcomes!