The Goldstein Family's Gateau Rolla

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Molly O'Neill is our Food Editor. She is the former food columnist for The New York Times Magazine. O'Neill is the author of three cookbooks, including the best-selling New York Cookbook (Workman Publishing, 1992), A Well Seasoned Appetite (Penguin, 1997), and The Pleasure of Your Company (Viking, 1997). She was the host of the PBS series Great Food, and edited the critically acclaimed anthology American Food Writing (Library of America, 2007). Her latest work, Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball (Scribner, 2006), recounts her childhood of growing up in a Major-League baseball family.

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by Molly O'Neill

For those who request cake, this is her family’s birthday version, says the cookbook author Joyce Goldstein. It is an ideal party cake because it is best made the day before. While gateau rolla resembles a French dacquoise, the absence of an egg-yolk butter cream suggests that the cake may be Italian. It is very rich and will feed 12 people easily.

To Make the Cake Layers:
5 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup grated almonds, untoasted

To Make the Filling:
6 ounces semisweet chocolate such as Valrhona or Sharffenberger
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups sweet butter, softened

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Oil two large baking sheets. Trace 9-inch circles onto four 10-inch squares of baker's parchment paper. Place the paper squares on the baking sheets, pencil side down. Oil the paper lightly.

2. In a large, oil-free bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Gradually beat in 3/4 cup of sugar to create a meringue and continue beating until it is stiff and glossy. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the vanilla and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Use a rubber spatula to fold the almonds into the meringue. Use a pastry bag to pipe this mixture onto the parchment. The circles should be filled and the meringue should be one-quarter inch high. A rubber spatula can also be used to spread the meringue. Bake for one hour. Carefully remove each circle to a rack and, when cool, peel off the parchment paper. If one should break or crack, it can be patched with frosting.

3. To make the frosting, melt the chocolate and cocoa in the top of a double boiler and set aside. With a handheld electric mixer beat the egg whites until they are foamy in a double boiler or in a bowl placed over hot water. Gradually beat in 3/4 cup of sugar, then the softened butter, a bit at a time, then the melted chocolate. Beat the frosting until smooth. Chill until firm enough to spread.

4. Assemble the cake by spreading layers of chocolate frosting between the layers of meringue. Then cover the top and sides with the rest of the chocolate. Refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving. Slice with a serrated knife.

Serves 12.