One of the beautiful things about our faith is how it accompanies us in good times and also in the hard, sorrowful moments of our lives. So many individuals, families, and entire peoples have known such great suffering over the centuries!--but have felt comforted by their faith. The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows commemorates the sufferings in the life of the Virgin, who consoles us in the sorrows of our own lives.
This feast has a complex history which I won't go into here. In any case the seven sorrows commemorated are: 1) The prophesy of Simeon. 2) The flight into Egypt. 3) The three day disappearance of the child Jesus. 4) The painful progress to Calvary. 5) The Crucifixion. 6) The taking down from the cross. 7) The entombment.
For this feast, we propose something bittersweet: a chocolate cake made with bittersweet chocolate. (Thanks to Ann for the idea, and to Rebecca for the great recipe.)
Flourless Chocolate Cake (from Epicurious/ Gourmet mag 1997)
Ingredients:
4 oz. fine quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar
3 large eggs
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus additional for sprinkling
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line
bottom with a round of wax paper and butter paper.
Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or metal bowl set over
a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate with butter, stirring,
until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar
into chocolate mixture. Add eggs and whisk well. Sift ½ cup cocoa powder
over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into pan
and bake in middle of oven for 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin
crust. Cook cake in pan on a rack for 5 minutes and invert onto a serving
plate.
Dust cake with additional cocoa powder.
Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream--or just solo.
NOTE: This is a good dessert recipe for those who suffer from celiac disease.
Let's close with another beautiful image of Our Lady of Sorrows:
(Note: This image is from a website that sells icons: http://www.crosses.org/icon/ )
what an absolutely beautiful post! love the idea of the bittersweet chocolate cake
ReplyDeleteI just made this for a baby shower and it was delicious! We "frosted" it with whipped cream and garnished with fresh mint leaves. YUM!
ReplyDeleteI would recommend lining with parchment paper instead of wax- the wax left a hard to clean residue on my non stick cake pan and the paper did not come off of the cake easily. But topping it with the cream covered up any imperfections!