Mocha Cake

[IcarusPhoenix]

This rich cake is the signature desert of Santa Fe restaurants The Shed and La Choza. The recipe itself I got from The Best of New Mexico Kitchens, by Sheila McNiven Cameron, published by New Mexico Magazine, 1978.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup strong coffee
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
5 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs

Work butter and cornstarch together into a smooth paste. Add coffee and melt the butter in the top of a double-boiler. Add semi-sweet chocolate and melt, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Meanwhile, beat egg yolks, adding 1/2 cup of sugar. Gradually add chocolate mixture and continue beating until blended. Return the entire mixture to the top of the double-boiler and cook for 7 to 10 minutes until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in vanilla and allow to cool. Meanwhile, beat egg whites and salt until thick and frothy. Add 3 tablespoons sugar gradually and beat until mixture holds a point. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture until well-blended.

In a butter-greased 8-inch pan, sprinkle 1/3 cup wafer crumbs, coating the bottom evenly. Pour over half of the chocolate mixture, spreading evenly. Layer another 1/3 cup wafer crumbs, add the remaining half of the chocolate, and top with the remaining 1/3 cup of wafer crumbs.

Cover and freeze for a minimum of 1 hour (2-4 hours is preferable). To serve, cut in squares and top with whipped cream.

 

[donna]

This is one I have to make.

 

[18thVirginia]

Did you have to mention The Shed, Icarus Phoenix? Being someone who doesn't care at all for chocolate, I don't find the recipe tempting.

But the thought of blue corn enchiladas and tacos a la The Shed? Makes me sooooo hungry.

 

[IcarusPhoenix]

Did you have to mention The Shed, Icarus Phoenix? Being someone who doesn't care at all for chocolate, I don't find the recipe tempting.

But the thought of blue corn enchiladas and tacos a la The Shed? Makes me sooooo hungry.

I've been going there for over thirty years now (note: I'm 31, so you get the idea); weirdly, it's the only New Mexican restaurant where I typically order a burger - which I then smother in red chile, of which I currently have four jars in my kitchen cabinet.

 

[18thVirginia]

My landlady in Albuquerque lived in New Mexico during WWII and always said that The Shed was the one constant from that time.

I came across a recipe for Pink Adobe apple pie but it was for the Dutch Apple pie, not the double crust one tthat is usually listed. I used to go to a
Restaurant where the owner had been a cook at the Pink Adobe and served her Dutch Apple version.

Oh my gosh it was good.