SOFT CHOCOLATE CAKE

300 grams of dark chocolate (76% cacao or higher)
500 ml of fresh cream
200 ml of egg whites (approximately 6 eggs)
8.5 grams of unflavored gelatine
50 grams of sugar

Separately cut the chocolate into small pieces and melt them in Bain Marie without adding any water (it shouldn’t reach more than 45 C degrees or it’ll burn). Dilute the gelatine in a little bit of boiling water. Let it cool down. Separately froth the fresh cream until hard. Let everything cool down. Divide the whites from the yolks until reach 20cl of whites. Add the sugar to the whites and froth them. Once everything is cool mix the cream, the chocolate and the gelatine with the help of a spatula. Integrate little by little the whites to the mix. Pour the mix into a mold and then put it in the fridge for at least 6 hours. Spread cacao on top as a decoration before eating! Ready!

A SIGHT FOR HUNGRY EYES

BUNDT CAKES DON’T FIT THE TRADITIONAL MOLD

Have you ever flipped an 8-inch square cake onto a serving platter, lifted off the pan and heard
a collective "ahh"! From the family or guest.

Of course not. Cakes baked in most standard pans might taste great, but they’re not much to look at.

Bundt cakes are another story. They command attention by towering over their square or circular counterparts, and they look great without even a stitch of frosting. And let’s face it, they’ve got curves in all the right places.

Claudia Ross, executive assistant at Nordic Ware, said the Bundt pan was created by her firm
in 1950 when members of the Minneapolis Chapter of the Hadassah Society asked owner and founder H. David Dalquist to make a special pan for them.

She said, the group wanted a pan similar to a heavy iron "kugelhof" pan that had been sent to the group’s president by her grandmother in Europe. They called the cake they wanted to make in the pan a "Bund" cake.
Dalquist, who was also owner and founder of Northland Aluminum, which sells the Nordic Ware line, made the pan for the women. But he also made some to market through his firm.

"In those early days it didn’t exactly fly off the shelves," said Ross. But today, the pan is so popular the firm churns our new designs regularly, and many kitchenware manufacturers have copied the original pan.
Try these recipes and see for yourself.

TUNNEL OF FUDGE CAKE

1 3/4 Cups (3 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, room temperature
1 3/4 Cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar (divided)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (divided)
2 cups chopped walnuts (see note)
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons milk

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup fluted tube pan.
In large bowl, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar; blend well. By hand, stir in flour, 3/4 cups cocoa powder and nuts. Mix until
well blended. Spoon batter into prepared pans; spread evenly. Bake in preheated oven 58-62 minutes. Cool upright in pan on cooling rack 1 hour, then invert onto serving plate.
Cool completely.

FOR GLAZE:

In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup [cocoa powder and milk. Mix until smooth. Spoon over top of cake, allowing some to run down the sides. Store tightly covered. Makes 16 servings.
(Note: Nuts are essential for the success of the recipe. Since this cake has a soft tunnel of fudge, ordinary doneness test cannot be used. Accurate oven temperature and baking time
are critical.)

RASBERRY SWIRL CAKE

1 cups (2 sticks) PLUS 1-tablespoon butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 cups sifted flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 egg whites (3/4 cups)
1/2 cup raspberry or raspberry currant jelly
Red food coloring
1/2 cups raspberry jam, pressed through sieve or strained to remove seeds.
Basic glaze (see recipe)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup fluted tube pan.
In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Sift together flour, baking powder
and salt; add alternately with mild to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Add vanilla.
In small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold by hand into batter.
In small saucepan, or in microwave, heat jelly until melted; cool slightly. Remove 1 cup of batter from bowl and stir in jelly. Mix well. Add food coloring, enough to give desired pink color.
Pour white batter into prepared pan. Pour jelly batter on top. With spoon, swirl raspberry mixture into cake. Bake preheated oven 45- to 50 minutes. Cool upright in pan on wire rack 1 hour then invert onto serving plate and cool completely. Drizzle with sieved raspberry jam or drizzle with basic glaze (let glaze set before serving) Makes 12 to 16 servings.

BASIC GLAZE

2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla, rum or almond extract
2-3 tablespoons milk

In bowl, combine all ingredients, blending until smooth and of desired drizzling consistency.

—TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICE