1 9x13-inch Cake Pan , or 2 8-inch Round Cake Pans
1 double boiler
1 grater , or vegetable peeler
1 beater
Paper Towel
Ingredients
1cupplus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, room temperature, plus a little for buttering pans
1½cupscastor sugar, (superfine) sugar, divided
1½teaspoonsvanilla extract
8ouncesunsweetened chocolate, Baker’s , divided
2¼cupscake flour, plus a little for pan preparation
1cupwhole milk
3teaspoonsbaking powder
½teaspoonsalt
3eggs, seperated
1½cupspowdered sugar
Prevent your screen from going dark
Method
Prepare the pan
If you are confident in the non-stick properties of your baking dishes, skip this step.
Otherwise, grease a 9” x 11” cake pan or 2 8” round cake pans by scooping up some butter with a paper towel and smearing it all over the inside of) the pan(s), paying particular attention to the corners.
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Put some flour in the greased pan and shake it to spread the flour all around the pan’s bottom and sides. Discard any flour that remains unstuck.
2¼ cups cake flour, 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Make the cake
Make ½ cup of shaved chocolate using a vegetable peeler or one of a box grater’s larger holes.
8 ounces unsweetened chocolate
Cream ½ cup of the butter with 1 cup of the sugar with a hand beater or in a stand mixer.
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1½ cups castor sugar
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt by using a sifter or sifting through a mesh sieve. Add a little at a time, alternating with a little milk, to the creamed butter mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract and shaved chocolate.
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 2¼ cups cake flour, 1 cup whole milk, 3 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat the egg whites until very stiff, slowly add ½ cup sugar, and beat again to re-form stiff peaks. Fold gently into the flour mixture.
3 eggs, 1½ cups castor sugar
Turn the batter out into the floured pan(s) and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean.
Let It cool on a rack. This means that it is no longer warm to the touch. You are about to put nearly a stick of room-temperature butter on this sponge. Impatience here will be punished with all that butter soaking into the sponge.
Icing
Beat the egg yolks until frothy. Cut 7 tablespoons of butter into pats and blend them into the yolks one at a time until all are incorporated. Add 1½ cup of powdered sugar and blend until creamy. Frost cake.
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 eggs, 1½ cups powdered sugar
Break the rest of the chocolate bar into chunks. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a double boiler. Slowly add the remaining chocolate, stirring to ensure it doesn’t scorch. Drizzle over the frosting in streaks.
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 8 ounces unsweetened chocolate
Notes
Given this dessert’s ingredients, if the unthinkable happens and there are leftovers, it is wise to refrigerate them. Our family has been making this for over 70 years and we have occasionally left it on the counter overnight without incident, but precautions are better than needing pharmaceuticals.Is the correct word “icing” or “frosting”? Don’t know, don’t care. If this linguistic imprecision distresses you, for this recipe you can call it “buttering”. That’s more accurate anyway.