Reine de Saba (Chocolate & Almond Cake) – Julia Child
Julia Child’s Reine de Saba recipe; Moist chocolate cake with speckles of almonds throughout. Finish off with a dusting of powdered sugar, a strawberry and homemade whipped cream.
This is an extremely unusual week. Normally the only time I make two desserts in the same week is over the holidays or for a special occasion. I blame the lovely Julie and JC100 for this sugar laden week. I’m not entirely complaining though because both desserts were tasty in their own ways. Thankfully they were completely different too!
Julia Child’s Reine de Saba or chocolate and almond cake is traditionally made in an 8″ round cake pan. I kind of have an obsession with mini desserts. They’re cute, fun and personalized portions, which is perfect because I hate slicing desserts for many reasons. My biggest gripe is when people ask for an itty bitty sliver. So as you can see… I made mini versions instead, six to be exact. They’re seriously the most perfect size.
My only complaint with this recipe is that it’s a bit messy but to be fair, it was totally my own fault. Normally when I make baked goods that don’t require a wrapper or paper underneath, I spray with nonstick baking spray. To follow Julia’s instructions, for the first time, I buttered and dusted the pan. Instead of using flour, I used cocoa powder. This ensured that the cakes wouldn’t have white powdered edges. Nice and chocolatey brown, inside and out.
The tops all puffed into beautiful round domes, but I wanted flat cakes so I trimmed them down. The cakes were just moist with speckles of almonds throughout. Each were dusted with powdered sugar, topped off with a sliced strawberry and served with fresh homemade whipped cream. Nothing beats homemade whipped cream. I’m completely a convert.
Reine de Saba (Chocolate & Almond Cake)
Ingredients
- 4 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 2 Tbsp rum or coffee
- 1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 C granulated sugar, plus 1 1/2 tbsp
- 3 large eggs, divided
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/3 C almonds, chopped
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 C cake flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and dust desired cake pan with cocoa powder. Set aside.
- In a double boiler over simmering water (or a small saucepan placed into simmering water), melt chocolate with rum or coffee.
- Chop almonds in a food processor with 1/2 tbsp sugar. Blend until only fine pieces remain.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and 2/3 cup sugar. Add egg yolks. Scrape down sides as needed.
- In a small bowl, beat egg whites and salt. When soft peaks form sprinkle with sugar and continuing beating until stiff peaks form. Add melted chocolate to butter and yolk mixture. Gently stir in with a rubber spatula. Add almonds and extract. Stir in 1/4 of the egg whites. Fold in 1/3 of the whites followed by 1/3 of the cake flour. Repeat until all egg whites and cake flour have been gently incorporated.
- Add mixture to your prepared cake pan or pans.
- Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes. When done, the cake should have puffed up, the edges should be clean pierced with a cake tester and the center should be slightly oily.
- Rest in pan for 5-10 minutes. Turn out on a cooling rack to cool completely.
- When ready to serve. Trim domed tops if desired. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve with optional strawberries and whipped cream.
Notes
Celebrating 100 with Julia Child:
Week 1: Rolled omelette
Week 2: Chocolate mousse
Week 3: Coq au Vin
Week 4: Salade Niçoise
Week 5: Vichyssoise
no need to enter me in the giveaway, but i wanted to pop by + say how divine these mini cakes look. YUM!
I love how you mini-fied those cakes! Such perfect portions. The book is so cute too- a great idea! My favorite dessert? How could I choose?! Probably yellow birthday cake with buttercream…and sprinkles :)
oh my–this looks amazing. My favorite dessert is cheesecake!!!
I have a little obsession with mini desserts too. I love the presentation and I always use the excuse they are good for portion control too. The problem is I can’t eat just one. So much for portion control, lol! My favorite dessert are cupcakes. :)
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This is such a cute book. I’d love it for my kiddos! :)
Thanks for the heads up Jennifer – somehow my coding was messed up. All fixed! :)
How fantastic are these?! Gorgeous. And what a great giveaway… I’d love to share that book with my kiddos. As for my favorite dessert… anything with sugar, butter, and flour. I can’t make my mind up today!
These cakes sound so yummy! I have several favorite desserts, but cheesecake is always #1 :-)
wow – they look just delectable!! YUM!
Lemon Meringue has to be my favorite – every time!
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Blondies!
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Gorgeous and I bet it tastes even better!
LOVE your mini version!
I love individual desserts, no sharing! And homemade whipped cream is definitely worth it :)
Just found your blog. Those little chocolate almond cakes are ADORABLE! can’t wait to browse around some more :)
Happy Baking
Oh man, these babies look incredible! And what an awesome giveaway. My favorite dessert has to be Cheesecake Factory’s red velvet cheesecake. I know Lori over at Recipe Girl has an amazing recipe for that but I haven’t had a chance to make it. Until then, Cheesecake Factory is my heaven :)
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And tweeted about the giveaway of course!
Hi there – your mini cakes are perfect. May I ask who manufactured the muffin pan you used? I love that the sides are straight rather than angled.
Thank you! This is the exact pan I used: Norpro small cheesecake pan
These little cakes look so perfect! I love your presentation. My favorite dessert? Really? Just one? Ok, maybe brownies.
these cakes look HEAVENLY Rachel – really, really lovely!! favorite dessert? hands down it’s pie – any kind of pie – hot or cold – breakfast, lunch, dinner – it’s pie!!
btw – i collect children’s books and would absolutely LOVE to win this one!!!
Love your mini-cakes! My all-time favorite dessert is a torte that I had when I lived in Germany. It had a chocolate layer on the bottom, an orange flavored cheese filling, a yellow layer, then the entire thing was frosted with whipped cream and decorated with mandarin orange segments. I cannot begin go tell you how downright luscious that was. I’ve dreamed about it for more than 40 years!
BTW, thanks for letting me know about this book. My granddaughter will love this.
Anything chocolate will fit the bill for me, these little cakes look perfect!
fudge!!!
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I love mini desserts too! These look great! My favorite dessert would be tiramisu (:
I don’t know how i’d feel about doing that cocoa powder thing within the tins..i hate cocoa powder messes on the counter, but this is tricky cause that cake looks SO flippin’ good that it might be worthy enough to get a little cocoa powdah on the countahhh ;)
My favorite dessert is creme brulee because it’s darn fun to make!
My favorite dessert is cheesecake
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I love that you made these into minis, yum!
I love mini desserts. Portion control and adorableness! I’m not sure if I have just one favorite dessert because I have a huge sweet tooth. But I will say that I have a very hard time turning down key lime pie.
My favorite dessert changes all the time, but right now it’s blueberry cheesecake!
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