Though this recipe for sableuse runs the risk of being filed under "Coals to Newcastle," it is decadent sophistication on a dessert plate, so heck, why not present it under the Culinarium dateline?
For those not yet following along, the Culinarium is House Beautiful's first-ever SF Design Center culinary event with a dream line-up of kitchen luxuries: Miele convection-steam oven anyone? Me, I'm lusting after their induction cook tops. Lordy, it takes me so long to get my big ol' pots a' water up to a good boil come canning times. Plus Toshiba flat screens, Silestone countertops, McGuire furniture, Ann Sacks black splashes, Peacock Cabinetry, Riedel Crystal, more, more, more.
So from my temporary outpost in the land of Wolfgang and Waters and the impossibly charming and talented Tyler Florence (more about him and his lovely wife Tolan later), I offer this New York import: Sableuse aux Fruits. .
Everyone should have a go-to cake recipe and baby, I've just found mine. A famous dessert from the wizardry of Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the sableuse is a supremely elegant loaf of silky smoothness. A perfect foil for berries, or a dollop of whipped cream, maybe a scoop of ice cream or just as is. You can add a dusting of powdered sugar to dress up otherwise unadorned slices. But be careful not to overpower the sableuse, the ethereal taste and texture are the true stars here.
Based on looks alone, skeptics might dismiss this as just another pound cake. Admittedly it has that familiar loaf shape and pale yellow coloring. But the similarity stops there.
Sableuse is half-cake, half custard. There's no crumble to it, it sheds nary a crumb. Delicate but with just enough integrity to hold its shape in thin slices, each forkful melts in the mouth.
The unusual recipe hints at the the lush results. Nine egg yolks (!) plus another whole egg are beaten with sugar for 20 minutes (!!) until thick, voluminous and ivory colored (a reminder of the alchemy of egg yolks… how can something so yellow have all the color beaten out of it?). Then a slow incorporation of flour, cornstarch and butter. An hour or so in the oven and there you have it.
Jean-Georges suggests subtle flavorings such as vanilla, ginger or lemon. I opted for fresh vanilla beans, the little specks scraped from the fragrant pod. And then a dose of my secret ingredient, grated tonka bean, resulting in an aromatic, ethereal and a happily generously-sized cake.
Oh the shame and regret of all those Sara Lee frozen pound cakes of days past. But I will only glance back at the wreckage of my culinary past; I will not stare. Why should I? A bright future stretches ahead, me and my sableuse. Just the name alone — Sableuse! — sends shivers, an irresistible siren's call.
To dress this one up, I made an easy berry sauce. Started with a big spoonful of Beach Plum Jelly, so well suited as a foil for other fruits. Beach Plum's tartness and slight astringency amp up the sweetness of the strawberries and blackberries. Cooked it all gently until the fruit softened but still held its shape. Best served while still slightly warm.
By the way, did you know that vanilla is the second most expensive spice, after saffron? Small wonder, given the complexity of successful cultivation. After you get the orchids to grow, a feat in itself, hand-pollination within the small window of time of the flower's blooming and careful of harvesting of the beans at the just the right peak of ripeness are required. Next, halting further growth of the bean (sadly, called "killing" the bean) is followed by sun-drying. And after that, a few months of conditioning the beans to maximize flavor is required.
If you're interested, I did my little dissertation on tonka beans a few posts back in Pistachio Sticky Buns.
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Click here to print Recipe for Sableuse.
