Life This Week: January 29, 1940 and February 5, 1940

Chocolate Devil's Food Cake with Almond White Fudge Frosting is deeeelicious. I just had a bit of a problem getting the fudge icing to spread even though I followed the recipe and tried all the tips (like placing it over hot water). I was pretty disappointed mine didn't end up looking like the magazine photo! Since it tasted so yummy, I've included the recipe. I've made fudge frostings before and haven't had any problems. Maybe the house was too cold?  

Chocolate Devil's Food Cake with Almond White Fudge Frosting

For the cake:

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut up

2/3 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup (1/3 lb) softened butter 

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs, beaten, at room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

Place the chocolate, water and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Over very low heat, stir mixture until chocolate is melted and remove from the heat and leave to cool. When cool, stir in vanilla.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two 9" springform cake tins and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar then mix in the beaten eggs. Next, add the cooled chocolate mixture (be sure it's cooled or you'll scramble your eggs!). Stir together then stir in the flour (about 1/2 cup at a time) alternating with the buttermilk. Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt with the first flour addition. If you use well-softened butter, you won't need an electric mixer.

Divide batter between the two cake tins and bake, in the middle of the oven, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn the cakes out of their tins to cool completely.

For the chocolate almonds:

1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate

1/2 tablespoon butter

32 roasted and salted almonds

Combine the chocolate and butter in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over lowest heat just until chocolate is melted. Dip the round ends of the almonds into chocolate mixture and then place on a parchment- or waxed-paper covered cookie sheet to set.

For the frosting:

3 cups sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Put sugar, salt and milk in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat over high, stirring, until sugar is dissolved and then stop stirring. Add your candy thermometer and heat until the temperature is 234 degrees Fahrenheit, or very soft ball. Remove from heat. Add the butter and extracts, but do not stir until mixture has cooled to lukewarm. Then, stir in the butter and extracts and then beat (you'll probably want an electric mixer for this) until mixture is a spreadable consistency (you might stop beating a bit before mixture resembles buttercream, because it was very difficult to spread at that consistency). Keep beaten frosting over a bowl of hot water to keep it spreadable. Spread over tops and sides of cooled layers and top immediately with chocolate almonds.

Serves 16

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In some ways, I hate to say it, but I enjoyed Day-Time Wife. It's silly and dated and rather sexist, but it has its moments. Tyrone Power isn't the most likeable he's ever been, but he's really not around that much. It's Linda Darnell's show and she owns it, which is saying something for a sixteen-year-old newcomer. She even holds her own with Warren William.

Day-Time Wife is about a woman who thinks her husband is cheating on her with his secretary, so she goes out and becomes a secretary herself and promptly charms the pants off her new boss. It's not the most amazing movie ever, but Day-Time Wife is much better than most of the "entertainment" marketed to us 20-somethings nowadays.

Day-Time Wife photos source

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