For 4 people: 100 g semi-sweet chocolate, 0.1 l cream, 1 vanilla pod, 6 capsules brown cardamom, 2 tsp arrowroot flour, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 stick of butter and 2 tsp sugar for greasing and spreading the tin.
Sauce: 100 g brown sugar, 0.1 l very strong coffee, 6 capsules green cardamom, 150 g crème fraîche.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Butter a loaf tin and sprinkle with sugar. Slit the vanilla pod lengthwise and bring to the boil in the cream with the slightly crushed cardamom pods, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes. Strain and reheat. Add the chocolate, broken into pieces and wait until it has melted, stir until smooth and pour into a bowl. Add the arrowroot flour and stir again until smooth. Allow to cool completely. Separate the eggs, chill the egg whites in a mixing bowl, add the two yolks one at a time to the chocolate and beat well. Beat the egg whites until stiff, gradually adding the sugar. First stir 1 tbsp of this vigorously into the chocolate mixture to make it smoother, then gently fold in the remaining beaten egg whites. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 40 minutes. Then let the cake rest for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. Allow to cool to room temperature.
For the sauce, place the sugar in a pan, add the lightly crushed cardamom and 2 tablespoons of water and cook until a rich brown caramel forms. Stir in the coffee and crème fraîche well, leave to cool slightly, fish out the cardamom and serve the sauce lukewarm with the cake.
With Waldemar Thomas at the water in Fachingen on the Lahn
Dr. Birgit Eschenbruch takes care of public relations, Dr. Manfred Eichner calls himself "Wasserkaschper" with a wink. She is a nutritionist, he is a chemist, because Fachinger water is not only mineral water but also healing water, and particularly strict standards are applied. When it was discovered in 1742, it was long before the seltzer boom, which didn't start until the 19th century. Very close by, by the way. Both Selters on the Lahn, and Nieder- and Oberselters in the Taunus are not far from Fachingen.
In Fachingen, at the junction between the Taunus and the Westerwald, the water emerges directly on the Lahn with natural carbonic acid. From which depths exactly, nobody knows, it "sickert by the rock ", is called that with water specialist Eichner. By no means does it gush out violently, rather it has to be drilled for from time to time, and by no means everything that runs out of the boreholes is allowed to bear the name "Fachinger Wasser". It is rather scarce, and notably more than is currently sold cannot be extracted.
There are not many branded products that can be found in every better German restaurant as well as in every supermarket around the corner, Fachinger water is one of them. It is simply "a strong brand", says Dr. Eschenbruch, "a niche product that everyone knows". "And everyone needs", she adds. But it is such a thing, because the Fachinger would like to get away from the image of a water for those with weak stomachs, a mere healing water for the sick. That's why the advertising emphasizes the water's high mineral content and, in particular, its extraordinary wealth of hydrogen carbonate. This, so studies resulted, could increase the perseverance achievement of athletes "entscheidendlich. Of more general importance, however, are the beneficial effects on the balance between acids and bases in the human organism. In our diet, which is consistently too rich in protein, Fachinger water helps to balance out the over-acidification of the body. Wine drinkers, especially those who are affected by tartaric acid, also appreciate this; consequently, there is a partnership between the Association of German Quality Wine Estates (VDP) and Fachinger Water.
If you want to try out the beneficial power of water, bring chocolate cake with cardamom to the table as the crowning glory of the Christmas menu. It has it in itself, the Mokkasauce in addition still more, because coffee sours considerably. Those who have previously prepared their stomachs with Fachinger water will rise from the table more exhilarated than those who have drunk nothing but sweet wine with the cake. Port or Banyuls, by the way, accompany it at its best.
Fachingen
Heil- und Mineralbrunnen AG
Brunnenstr. 11
65626 Fachingen (near Diez/Lahn)
Infoservice: 01802-150150
Internet: <link http: www.fachingen.de _blank>www.fachingen.de
from Waldemar Thomas