This is a Swiss chocolate cake with a strange back story. It is adapted from a small cookbook, Alte Emmentaler Rezepte (Old Emmentaler Recipes) written by Alice Künzi-Mosimann. Its subtitle is “Kochen wie zu Gotthelfs Zeiten”, or “Cooking in Gotthelfs time”. The book explores recipes around the time of Swiss writer Jeremias Gotthelf the pen name for Swiss pastor and novelist Albert Bitzius (1797-1854). He grew up in the Emmental region of the canton of Bern, and became a writer later in life. In 1837 published Der Bauernspiegel (The Farm Mirror), a book which portrayed village life in the canton.
The recipe for this cake is titled Gotthelftorte, and comes from the recipe book of Gotthelf’s daughter. It is a very comforting chocolate cake. My adaptation makes a smaller cake, and I tend to use dark Callebaut chocolate, around 70%.
I N G R E D I E N T S
150g dark chocolate
150g butter, softened
150g sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp kirsch
150g flour
⅔ tsp baking powder
⅔ tsp salt
① Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Line a 7″ / 18cm springform pan with parchment paper.
② Melt the chocolate, either in a microwave, or using a water bath. When the chocolate is melted, allow to cool. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
③ In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter until airy, then add in the sugar and continued mixing until pale in colour (6-7 minutes in total). Beat in the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is incorporated. Beat in the kirsch and melted chocolate. Fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture.
④ Spread the cake batter into the pan. Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. The cake will have pulled away from the sides of the pan. Allow to cool and then dust with icing sugar if you so wish.
despite the snow 