Celebrating Beethoven's birthday

The contemporary American composer Ned Rorem has called Beethoven's Ninth Symphony "the first piece of junk in the grand style." He is in a decided minority.

To many, Beethoven's Ninth is arguably the greatest symphony ever written. It's the reason a CD holds 74 minutes of music and not just an hour's worth. The technology's inventors wanted to be able to get the entire symphony on one disc.

Not a few music lovers and scholars would claim that even without the Ninth, Beethoven was nonetheless the greatest composer of all time. For example, his Fifth Symphony, featuring the most recognizable musical motif ever penned, is one of the pillars of Western music. I'm listening to it as I write this and it never ceases to astonish.

No wonder this month millions will celebrate Beethoven's 250th birthday. As one for whom food has always been a consuming passion, I hope they won't overlook his eating habits. Brillat-Savarin's adage, "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are," applies to musicians too. Thus, Geoffrey Larson of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra notes, Mozart, like most Austrians of his day, was not a light eater and, similarly, he favored heavy orchestrations of his works.

Beethoven, on the other hand, was not especially interested in food, sometimes skipping meals altogether when working on a piece. He didn't know much about cooking, though there is one recorded instance of him donning an apron and preparing a meal for some friends. One of his biographers reports that it was a complete disaster.

Ludwig van Beethoven liked to make his own coffee as well as his own symphonies, so coffee beans and Hershey's Symphony bars are perfect additions to a cake with which to celebrate the composer's 250th birthday this month.Tom Harte

Nonetheless, he had culinary preferences. Macaroni and cheese might have been his favorite dish, not the ready-made orange stuff you get out of a box these days, but the real thing, made with what was then expensive pasta and imported Italian cheese. He liked simple stews and preferred fish to meat.

As pedestrian as Beethoven's tastes may appear, there was one thing about which he was especially particular. He was one of the great coffee drinkers of history (surpassed in this regard only by Bach, who, after all, wrote a Coffee Cantata). His friend Anton Schindler recalled, "Coffee seems to have been his most indispensable food, and he prepared it as scrupulously as a Turk."

Though he had a cook, he always made his own coffee. He calculated that a good cup of the brew must start with exactly 60 beans, and he counted them out, one by one. He would grind them and, using what has been described as a "glass contraption," infuse them with hot water. Not surprising for a man who when composing, his marked up scores reveal, always sought perfection.

Now if you're looking for a showstopper dessert to serve over the holidays, consider the following exceedingly rich chocolate espresso cake which I devised to celebrate Beethoven's 250th birthday. Whatever the composer's diet tells us about his music, like this cake, his works are immensely satisfying. When it comes to either, I'm always ready for seconds.

Ode to Beethoven Cake

Any birthday or holiday party will be joyous when you serve this cake. Based on a recipe in Dorie Greenspan's "Baking Chez Moi," its frosting is spiked with coffee, a beverage about which the composer was persnickety, and it's topped with shards of Symphony bars.

• 3 1/2sticks butter
• 23 ounces bittersweet chocolate, divided
• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups cream
• 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
• 6 ounces chopped Hershey's Symphony Bars with almonds and toffee chips

Melt together butter and 14 ounces chocolate. Beat eggs and sugar at medium speed until light in color. On low speed gradually mix in flour and then the chocolate mixture. Divide batter evenly among three 9-inch pans which have been greased and floured and lined on the bottom with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-19 minutes until toothpick inserted in centers comes out slightly moist. Cool three minutes and remove from pan, peeling off parchment paper. Cool completely. Melt together remaining 9 ounces chocolate, cream, and coffee granules. Let cool, stirring often, until thick enough to spread. Spread frosting between cake layers, frost top and sides, and sprinkle chopped candy bars on top.