16 servings
4 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
6 ounces good-quality semisweet OR
bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 pound (2 cups or 4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
10 eggs, graded "large"
2 Tbsp. orange liqueur OR milk
Grated zest of 2 lemons
Adjust rack one-third up from bottom of oven; preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Grease a 10 by 4 inch tube pan with solid vegetable shortening. Line the
bottom with a circle of wax paper cut to fit, grease the paper, then lightly
flour the entire inside of the pan (including the tube), knocking out any excess.
Set aside. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
Place chopped chocolate into small heatproof bowl. Place bowl over simmering
water on low heat (water should not touch bottom of bowl); stir frequently until
melted and smooth. Remove from heat and hot water; set aside.
Fit a stand mixer with paddle beater, if available. In large mixer bowl, beat
softened butter at medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla.
Beat at a low speed until incorporated, then scrape beater(s) and bowl with
rubber spatula (repeat this scraping often throughout the mixing process to
ensure complete blending of ingredients).
Increase speed to medium; beat for 3 full minutes. At a low speed, add eggs, two
at a time. When all eggs have been added, increase speed to medium once
more; beat for 1 minute (mixture may look curdled now — OK).
At lowest speed, add about half of sifted dry ingredients, mixing only until
blended. Add orange liqueur. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix in, then
remove bowl from mixer and fold in lemon zest with large spatula.
Note: This is a large amount of thick, heavy batter.
It may be necessary to increase mixer speed slightly to get dry ingredients
to incorporate. I always end up removing the bowl from the mixer before the last
of the dry ingredients are blended in completely, adding the lemon zest, then
folding everything together with a large, sturdy rubber spatula.
Batter may still look slightly curdled at this point — OK.
Measure out a generous 4 cups of the batter and set aside. To remaining batter in
mixer bowl, add melted chocolate (which may still be slightly warm) all at once;
whisk in with large, sturdy whisk.
Place alternating spoonfuls of dark and light batters into prepared pan. To
level batter in pan, grasp pan on opposite sides with both hands; twist briskly
in short, back-and-forth motions. To marble, run a knife in a circular motion all
around the batter in several concentric circles, going almost down to the bottom
of the pan (don't overdo the marbling). With back of a large spoon, push batter s
lightly higher onto pan edges and tube, leaving a "trench" in the middle.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Turn pan back-to-front once about halfway through baking time. If top of cake
begins to become too brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil.
Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the crack that will form all around
the top emerges with a few moist crumbs still clinging to it. Do not over bake!
My experience with this cake is that it will pull away from the sides of the pan
only after it is removed from the oven.
Remove to cooling rack; allow to stand 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully loosen cake
from pan edges and tube; invert onto another cooling rack (be careful! This is
a large, tall cake). Re-invert to cool completely right side up.
When completely cool, store airtight. Allow to stand at least overnight before
serving. To cut, use a large, sharp, serrated knife.