Recipe from Maida Heatter
Adapted by Julia Reed
- Total Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes
- Rating
- 3(66)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Usually cakes are named for famous people who like them. There's a flourless chocolate cake named after the late queen mother. (It was served to her once at tea in a private house, and, the story goes, she began featuring it at royal parties.) There is even a cake, a genoise layered with kirsch-flavored crème mousseline and strawberries, named after a bandleader, Ray Ventura, who was popular in France just after World War II. This cake was developed by the legendary baker Maida Heatter. Robert Redford was reported to have been wild about a chocolate cake sweetened with honey he ate in a Manhattan restaurant, so Heatter procured the recipe and gave it his name. —Julia Reed
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Ingredients
Yield:16 servings
- 1½sticks unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing pan
- Fine breadcrumbs or flour for dusting
- 1cup blanched hazelnuts or almonds
- 12ounces semisweet chocolate
- ½cup honey
- 10eggs, separated
- ¼teaspoon salt
- ¾cup heavy cream
- 12ounces semisweet chocolate
For the Cake
For the Frosting
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (16 servings)
442 calories; 33 grams fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 33 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 84 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 10-by-3-inch round or springform cake pan. Line bottom with parchment. Butter parchment. Dust with fine breadcrumbs or flour. Shake out excess.
Step
2
To make cake: Grind nuts to a powder in a food processor. Set aside.
Step
3
Break up chocolate and melt in the top of a double boiler over shallow, warm water on moderate heat. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.
Step
4
Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until soft. Gradually add honey; beat until smooth. Add egg yolks, two or three at a time, beating until mixed after each addition. (The mixture will look curdled, but it is O.K.) Add nuts and chocolate mixture.
Step
5
In another bowl, beat egg whites with salt until whites barely stand up when the beater is raised. Fold egg whites into chocolate in three batches. Pour into pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350. Bake for 50 minutes more, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove and let cool. Remove from pan. With a long sharp knife, level top.
Step
6
To make frosting: Break up chocolate. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook cream until it forms a skin on top. Add chocolate, reduce heat to low and stir with a whisk until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir occasionally until cool and slightly thick. Pour icing over cake and smooth top and sides until covered. Serve immediately, or store overnight at room temperature.
Ratings
3
out of 5
66
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Mimi
The honey creates a really moist texture that stays for days, although that is never an issue in this house! I've made it without the honey, and it turns out just fine, but less sweet. Add the butter, egg, honey mixture alternately with the egg whites to the chocolate. Don't over-mix.
Marlene
This cake was made to rave reviews, though the direction to use “a cup of almonds” required some internet research to determine how much a cup of almonds weighs (8 oz). Would almond flour -which would have avoided the need for a trip to the specialty shop and the use of a food processor – have worked as well?
Alene
I as wondering the same thing, but with hazelnut flour/meal.
Marie
What do you do with the butter, honey, egg yolk mixture?
Jenn
I would assume once the chocolate cools add it I to there and then do egg whites. Egg whites should come last.
Mimi
The honey creates a really moist texture that stays for days, although that is never an issue in this house! I've made it without the honey, and it turns out just fine, but less sweet. Add the butter, egg, honey mixture alternately with the egg whites to the chocolate. Don't over-mix.
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