This Chocolate Cake is a Perfect Fit

And some history of La Saint Valentin

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Hearts have sprouted up in windows throughout Paris in the form of tinkly little strands in patisserie windows, paper cut-outs set throughout lingerie shops, even a billboard-like affair proclaiming “Paris, Ville de l’Amour” that brightens sidewalks! It is soon La Saint Valentin!!

This week on France Culture radio, the post morning news history hour is dedicated to…singles and their place throughout French history. The idea behind the show is to point out that times are a-changing. Up until now, La Saint Valentin has been a romantic fête exclusively for couples. But with the uptick of French single-hood (More than 40% of French men and 37% of French women are single), the survival of this fête may be in question.

Whether or not threatened, La Saint Valentin is apparently alive and well for now. It has always been a relatively sober affair here involving restaurant reservations among couples, champagne, and chocolates, rather than funny little cards exchanged among kids, achy sweet chocolates in outrageously frilly boxes, heart shaped cookies or cake served for dessert. No, here it’s definitely more loaded (What if he/she forgets? What if the restaurant doesn’t have a table? What if the food is bad/the champagne warm/the noise too high?) than those long-ago days when we had so much fun giving cards to anyone who moved, getting excited about the chocolates we could nab from the frilly box dad gave mom, and anticipating a special dessert.

I got to wondering why La Saint Valentin is so adult here. There are a couple of origin stories for the day which give a hint. One involves a man in the 3rd century called Valentin, who worked miracles, was captured by the church, imprisoned, and martyred. While in prison, he tutored a blind girl about the way the world looked and when he was dragged off to his gory end, he reputedly left her a note signed “Valentin”. Later, he was sanctified, and he somehow became associated with love. Two centuries later, the church co-opted a wild and woolly Roman festival called Lupercales, involving sacrifice (of a goat), wild dancing and drinking, and a raft of fertility rites related to the season and women wishing for fecundity, by replacing it with Saint Valentin’s story.

As anyone who studies history knows, things can get very muddled, and centuries later it’s obvious that the public bought the church’s version of this fête, though softened by some of that Roman amour and desire for fecundity. The stretch from martyr to red and pink decor, red ribbons around cakes, heart-shaped chocolates, is wide and unquestioned, and it gives us today’s Fête de Saint Valentin, which is nice. It’s just not as fun or innocent as the fête I grew up with.

Whatever its meaning and origin, chocolate is an over-arching presence at La Saint Valentin. If you’re blending your fête between modest Bacchanalia and romantic love, the cake below is the perfect fit. It is not impossible to bake into a heart-shape, but if you cannot, no one will care. What they will do is fall in love with you, the baker, if they weren’t already!

MOELLEUX AU CHOCOLAT - MOELLEUX AU CHOCOLAT

If you don’t have both chocolates available, you can also use chocolate that is 62-65 percent cacao. If you can find this type of semi-sweet chocolate, use just that rather than the two different percentages. The margin of baking time is large – the shorter time results in an almost runny center for the cake; the longer time gives a more solid, but still very soft interior. Either way, the cake is luscious!

½ cup (75g) all-purpose flour
1 large pinch fine sea salt
7-1/2 tablespoons (112.5g) unsalted butter
5 ounces (150g) 52 % chocolate, finely chopped
5 ounces (150g) 70% chocolate, finely chopped
6 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225g) vanilla sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Edible flowers, for garnish, such as pansies, primroses, forget-me-nots

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Butter and flour a 9-1/2 inch (22.5cm) spring form pan.

2. Sift together the flour and the salt onto a piece of waxed or parchment paper.

3. In a small, heavy-bottomed pan melt the butter over medium heat. Place the chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl. When the butter is melted, pour it over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate has melted into the butter.

4. In another large bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar just until thoroughly combined – do not whisk them to a pale yellow. Whisk in the chocolate and the butter mixture, then quickly whisk in the flour and the salt. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, set the pan on a baking sheet and bake in the center of the oven until the edges of the cake are baked but the center is still soft and tender, 30 to 40 minutes.

5. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing it from the mold and transferring it to a serving platter. Dust the cake with the confectioners’ sugar, and garnish with the flowers if desired.

6 to 8 servings