I was literally sunk. Each vegan version of Julia Child’s favorite chocolate cake I baked was beautiful – until it wasn’t.
After writing, testing, rewriting, and retesting more cakes than my family and neighbors could accept, I began to conclude that a recipe for vegan reine de Saba needs to be designed from the ground up, not transferred from the conventional to vegan baking worlds.
That still may be true. But in the meantime, I made a rectifying discovery:
Fallen chocolate soufflé cake is a thing!
And this particular thing at least tastes exactly like the reine de Saba Julia Child would’ve served.
Stiff Peaks of Hope
I was more than hopeful I could veganize Julia Child’s reine de Saba; after nearly 1,500 macaron tests, I was downright convinced I’d developed a meringue that could handle anything. If it consistently yields success with world’s most finicky cookie, what’s a little sponge cake?
The answer is too much. Too much of what, however, may be determined by someone else. Once I discovered this convex dessert is a desirable creation, my pride stopped collapsing with its middle.
Savor the Science
In other words, trust the process. Almost all the research behind this aquafaba meringue-based cake is taken from my extensive work on vegan macarons.
I mean every word I say in this recipe. That’s not to say you shouldn’t attempt it if you can’t find my recommended brands or equipment! Just be aware that if something is amiss, a seemingly innocuous swap could actually be to blame.
Mise en place
I used to hate mise en place. To me, all it meant was more dishes.
And then raising small children and attending culinary school converged. In order to complete assignments, I had to do what I could when I could no matter how much that might be. That was chopping a single vegetable some days! Yet before long, I could cook a whole meal during their naptime.
They don’t nap anymore, but I still prepare and set ingredients in little bowls until everything for a recipe is ready to go. Some recipes even demand it –
like this one.
Meringue Base and Four Stations
I think Julia Child loved to demo this cake because once you start it, there’s no down time. Thus, it’s great for television! Think of yourself as preparing your set.
My instructions walk you through preparing a meringue base and organizing four stations.
- Mixing Station
- Whipping Station
- Melting Station
- Baking Station
Respectively, these stations correspond to appliances: electric hand beaters, stand mixer, stove, and oven. You’ll manually fold at the mixing station and stir in flavor at the melting station, yet by and large, each one is most clearly defined by a power tool.
Other Veganized Recipes by Julia Child
Perhaps you need lunch and/or dinner? Checkout my other Julia Child inspirations:
Bon appétit!
Vegan Fallen Chocolate Soufflé Cake
Description
A Note on the Ingredients
As eggs can perform multiple functions, they often need to be substituted with multiple ingredients. A single ingredient, aquafaba, replaces the egg whites. But the richness, moisture, and binding properties of the yolks require the interaction of a little extra dairy-free butter, soy or pea milk, and cornstarch respectively.
A Note on the Instructions
Once you start this cake, there's no down time! My instructions thus walk you through preparing a meringue base and organizing four stations.
- Mixing Station
- Whipping Station
- Melting Station
- Baking Station
Respectively, these stations correspond to appliances: electric hand beaters, stand mixer, stove, and oven. You’ll manually fold at the mixing station and stir in flavor at the melting station, yet by and large, each one is most clearly defined by a power tool.
makes one, 8-in (20-cm) cake
Equipment and Ingredients
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
Meringue Base (Make 1-4 days ahead of Cake.)
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Measure granulated sugar into a sm prep bowl and set aside.
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Weigh sm pot in grams. Add 200 to calculate starting weight; 100, goal. Record both calculations.
These numbers are useful if your scale turns itself off when idle for too long. Knowing pot + aquafaba, before and after reducing, can spare you much frustration. -
Shake and open both cans of beans, then strain 200 g aquafaba into pot. (Stash remaining aquafaba and beans as desired for later applications.)
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Place pot over med heat. Simmer while stirring constantly and weighing periodically for 15-20 min, until goal weight is achieved. (If scale is plastic, protect it with a trivet and hit “tare” before weighing.)
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Immediately remove pot from heat and add granulated sugar. Stir 3-5 min, until completely dissolved.
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Transfer sweetened aquafaba to sm covered airtight container. Cool on counter about 2 hrs, until room temperature, then refrigerate a minimum of 4-8 hrs; maximum, 4 nights.
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Place meringue base plus any other chilled ingredients on counter about 4 hrs, until room temperature, before proceeding.
Cake
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Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
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Set the following aside at each station.
- Mixing Station: Have electric hand beaters, lg spatula, and sifter ready. Set 9 ½ Tbsp (142.5 mL/134 g) “butter” in lg mixing bowl. Separately measure “milk” and almond flour into two sm prep bowls, then in a third sm prep bowl, whisk together ½ cup (120 mL/60 g) cake flour and cornstarch.
- Whipping Station: Scrape meringue base into stand mixer bowl. Add cream of tartar, then secure whisk attachment.
- Melting Station: Have sm spatula ready. Break both kinds of chocolate into sm pot, then set pot on stove. In another sm prep bowl, combine coffee and almond extract.
- Baking Station: Line uncoated aluminum 8-in (20-cm) springform pan with parchment, then grease bottom and sides with about 2 tsp (10 mL/ 9 g) “butter” and dust with about 2 Tbsp (30 mL/15 g) flour. Set out wire rack.
As long as your heat is low and stirring is constant in Step 12, you can skip setting up a double boiler at your Melting Station. -
At Mixing Station, beat “butter” on hi about 2 min, until pale and fluffy. Pour in “milk” and beat another 30 sec, until incorporated.
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At Whipping Station, set stand mixer to hi. Whip contents about 10 min, until stiff.
While stiff peaks are definitely possible, the sugar concentration in the meringue base is such that they will look heavy, like whipped marshmallow. -
Meanwhile, at Melting Station, turn burner under pot to lo. Stir constantly until chocolate is completely melted, then immediately remove from heat. Add coffee mixture and continue stirring until smooth.
The coffee mixture will appear to break your chocolate. Keep stirring! It will go from grainy to smooth within a minute. -
Bring chocolate mixture to Mixing Station and scrape into "butter" mixture. Using beaters, thoroughly combine on lo speed. Repeat with almond flour.
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Once meringue is ready, transfer about ⅓ into chocolate batter at Mixing Station. Use lg spatula to fold until almost (but not quite) mixed.
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Sift in ½ of the flour mixture. Similarly fold until almost (but not quite) mixed.
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Repeat Steps 14, 15, and 14 again. After everything is in the lg bowl, fold just until mixed.
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At Baking Station, evenly spread batter into prepared pan. Bake 30 min, until risen and beginning to fall, then move onto wire rack.
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Cool completely, about 2 hrs, before removing collar, garnishing, and serving.
Note
I hypothesize that this cake would work just as well with matzo meal and potato starch for Passover. I plan to test it myself, but if you're feeling brave, finely grind 1/2 cup (120 mL/60 g) matzo meal - plus 2 Tbsp (30 mL/15 g) for dusting the pan - and use instead of cake flour; use potato instead of cornstarch. Then, comment with your results!
Read why I recommend Country Crock Homestyle Dairy Free Butter. And if you can't find it, explore my collection of reverse-engineered products!
Perhaps you need lunch and/or dinner? Checkout my other Julia Child inspirations:
