From my mother, Ann Kern: Leontine Moore worked for my family in New Orleans for as long as I can remember. She was always in the kitchen when I visited my grandmother, who lived right next door. Whenever she made this cake, I always got to stick my finger in the delicious chocolate fudge icing that puddled around the bottom. Now my children and my grandchildren do the same thing. The cake just wouldn’t taste the same if it didn’t have little fingerprints all around the edges! While her chocolate cake is legendary, perhaps even more so was her rich, brown gravy that seemed to accompany everything from pot roast (which she called daube), to stewed chicken and smothered pork chops. Many of my fondest memories are being in the kitchen watching Leontine create wonderful smells and the best tasting food that to this day can’t be matched.
From Michelle: I spent a lot of time at my grandmother's house in New Orleans in the early '70s. AND my great-grandmother's house! Most of the memories I have from that time include Leontine. She started working for my great-grandmother as a teenager, later she worked for my grandmother... and she taught my mother everything she knows about cooking. And when I say my mom's one of the best cooks you'll ever come across, I'm not lying - and we have Leontine to thank for that! To this day, there's not a family celebration with food where Leontine's name doesn't come up. I wish she could still be with us to see how her recipes are a part of our family to this day, and how we honor her memory every time we make them -- especially this cake. And that's why I'd like to share it with you.
Leontine’s Chocolate Cake
This family favorite recipe has been passed down for 4 generations and is a requirement for all of our special family celebrations!
German Sweet Chocolate Cake
1 pkg. (4 oz.) Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate
½ cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
4 egg whites stiffly beaten
Melt chocolate in boiling water. Cool. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add yolks one at a time, beating well after each. Blend in vanilla and melted chocolate. Sift flour with soda and salt; add alternately with buttermilk to chocolate mixture, beating after each addition until smooth. Fold in beaten egg whites. Pour into three 9 inch layer cake pans, greased and lined on bottom with wax paper. Bake at 350 * for 30 – 35 minutes. Cool and frost with icing below.
Fudge Icing (The most important part!)
6 squares bitter chocolate (unsweetened)
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
1 cup water
2 tablespoons vanilla
Pinch of salt
Box of powdered sugar (sifted)
Boil sugar, water and butter a few minutes. Add chocolate. Remove from heat. Add sifted powdered sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Frost between layers and pour over top and sides of cake. There will be enough icing to form a puddle around the edge of the cake plate.
