Desserts
12 oz White chocolate
1 cup Heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup Bourbon
.
12 oz Bittersweet chocolate
1-1/3 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Bourbon
8 oz Unsalted butter
5 ea Large eggs
1-1/2 Tbs Flour, white
From book 'Baking with Julia', pg 253, referred by Joanne Kelly, 11/09.
The cream:
Prepare the white chocolate cream at least 1 day in advance.
Chop the white chocolate and put it into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade or into a blender container.
Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and process until completely smooth. Add the bourbon, taste, and add up to a tablespoon more if you want.
Turn into a container with a tight-fitting lid and chill overnight.
The cake:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper; butter the paper. Put the cake pan in a shallow roasting pan and set aside until needed.
Chop the chocolate or break it into pieces by hand. Place into a medium bowl.
In a 2-quart saucepan, mix 1 cup of the sugar and the bourbon and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a full boil.
Immediately pour the hot syrup over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
Piece by piece, stir the butter into the chocolate mixture. make certain that each piece of butter is melted before you add another.
Put the eggs and the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until the eggs thicken slightly. Beating with the whisk, add the eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until well blended. Gently whisk in the flour.
Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared pan, running your spatula over the top to smooth it. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come about 1 inch up the sides of the cake pan.
Bake the cake for exactly 30 minutes, at which point the top will have a thin, dry crust. Remove the cake pan from its water bath, wipe the pan dry, and cover the top of the cake with a sheet of plastic wrap.
Invert the cake onto a flat plate, peel off the parchment, and quickly but gently invert again onto a serving platter; remove the plastic.
Serve the cake warm or at room temprerature with the chilled white chocolate cream and a mint leaf.