12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 lb sweet butter
8 egg yolks
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup ground almonds
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
8 egg whites
1 tbsp cream of tartar
Directions
In a large saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate. Add butter,
stir until melted and remove from heat (the mixture should be body
temperature, not too hot to touch with a finger). In a large bowl,
combine egg yolks, brown and white sugar, and stir until well mixed.
Add the chocolate, and stir well until combined. In a small bowl,
combine almonds, flour and cornmeal, stir until well mixed. Pour this
into the chocolate and stir until combined. In a large bowl with an
electric mixer, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until they
form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate in three
batches. Chef Dale Nichols warns that folding egg whites into
chocolate takes a real knack and suggests using your hand as the
paddle. To do this by hand, use your hand as a paddle and push your
palm down to the centre of the bowl, and slide up the side of the
bowl and turn your hand over. Do not over-mix or you will knock the
air out of the egg whites causing a much denser texture. Bake in a
buttered, floured 10 inch spring form pan for 5 minutes at 400F.
Reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until
cake tests done in the centre. Let cool completely before removing
from pan.
Servings: 8 servings
Acrobat Chocolate Polenta Cake Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cake; Chocolate; Chocolate Cake; Dessert
The History of Recipes
We are able to read the history of written recipes way back into history, certainly as far back into history as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and maybe even further. Interesting though that is, mostly, these ancient records were just basic hieroglyphic instructions for food preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to experts are a few tablets in Sumerian which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who drank it feel `blissful`. As we move into The time of the romans around 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a collection of scripts detailing recipes enjoyed by wealthy roman citizens. In his scrolls, he describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into hors d`oeuvres, entrees and desserts, a style of dining still practiced today. Aspicius recounts how the Roman cooks made use of a wide range of aromatic flavors, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens like bay, rue and asafoetida. As we move on, there were a couple of recipe books published in the 1300s : a recipe book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these books have no connection with the indian curry that is popular today, but instead accounts of the types of food prepared for the rich. Later, in the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought back a variety of foods and spices from middle-east cuisine, including spices such as parsley, basil and rosemary. These new foods and tastes caused an outbreak in books on cookery, many of which are kept safe in private cookery archives. During the next few centuries, the rich and powerful families of Europe competed to serve the most extravagent banquests, and because of this chefs and their collection of recipes became highly prized. However, it wasn`t until the 1800s that cookery and recipe collections became popular. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, dedicated the best years of their lives to assembling, trying out, and recording recipes to help cooks of their time. By the advent of the 20th century, cookery publications are highly popular as a result of higher levels of literacy, increased leisure time and disposable income. The revolution that is television brings us TV cooks and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting everyone to search through massive numbers of recipes just like those on sites such as this. |
We hope you enjoy this Acrobat Chocolate Polenta Cake recipe.
