Gotthelftorte
This is a deeply satisfyingly chocolate cake with a moist, almost fudgy middle. It tastes great warm from the oven, or after a few days in the fridge.
It is named for the famous Swiss writer Jeremias Gotthelf, a pastor who lived and wrote about the Emmental and went on to become one of the most important German writers of the 19th century. More on him in my post here.
Although his writing often fought against the romanticized image of the countryside and farm life, his name has become synonymous with a wholesome nostalgia for the past. In the Emmental bakeries make bread bearing his name, Gotthelfbrot, and dairies sell Gotthelf cheeses. There is a yearly Gotthelf market in Sumiswald, and Lützelflüh has a museum dedicated to his life.
That kind of nostalgia—for a simpler time, for a simpler chocolate cake (like Grosi used to make), with wholesome ingredients like fresh Emmental eggs and butter—is part of the attraction of this cake.
I found this cake in a cookbook of old Emmental recipes, which stated that it came from the recipe book of Gotthelf’s daughter. It was the birthday cake of choice in the clergy house in Lützelflüh.
There are a couple of other versions online, but they don’t seem to vary much. Who could argue with equal parts butter, sugar, chocolate and flour? I’ve added a splash of coffee to bring out the chocolate flavour (you can also use kirsch) and suggest using a very dark chocolate for maximum enjoyment.
250 g dark chocolate, chopped
250 g butter, soft
250 g sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
30 ml strong coffee
250 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F / gas mark 4.
Line the bottom of a 24 cm (9 inch) springform pan with parchment paper and lightly butter the sides.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave, or
Bain marie: Place a pot of water on high heat and set a bowl on top of it (stainless steel works best). Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat, then add the chocolate to the bowl on top. This should melt with the residual heat (be patient), but if it is taking too long, briefly turn the heat back on.
Once you have a smooth chocolate mixture, take the bowl off the pot and let cool.
In the meantime, beat the butter until fluffy, then beat in the sugar. Keep beating until this is pale and fluffly, 4-5 minutes. Beat in the eggs.
Beat in the coffee and chocolate.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gently fold this into the chocolate mixture.
Spread into the prepared pan.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until you can smell the cake, the top has set and the cake is pulling away from the sides of the pan.
My favourite chocolate to use is Frey 72% dark chocolate from the Migros. I like a darker chocolate here, around 70%. I have also used a Crémant (typically around 50%), but that is just a shade too sweet for me.
Make sure to really beat the butter and sugar. It may look a little grainy at first, but after you add the melted chocolate it should resemble whipped chocolate frosting.
You can use kirsch or another booze in place of the coffee.
The top of this cake usually cracks a little. I hide this with my garnish.
There are many possible garnishes. I like to use a ring of raspberries, or a simple dusting of icing sugar. You can cut out a template with parchment paper, see photos above.
The cake keeps well in the fridge for a few days.
Another easy bake?
Marmor Cake
