Flourless Chocolate Cake

January 16, 2014

Flourless chocolate cake is one of those desserts I've ordered at restaurants at least a half a dozen times, but never considered making myself. Last weekend I came across a recipe and realized I not only had all the ingredients I needed, I also had the time to do some baking. The cake was beautiful, dense and chocolatey--perfect in every way. I served it with fresh strawberries and whipped cream this time, but it would also be really good with vanilla bean or coffee ice cream.


Flourless Chocolate Cake
6 ounces semisweet chocolate (use good quality chocolate; I like Valrhona) 
½ cup unsalted butter 
¾ cup granulated sugar 
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs, separated 
½ teaspoon baking powder
confectioner's sugar for dusting
whipped cream, berries, mint, ice cream for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° and prepare a 9-inch springform pan: line the bottom the pan with parchment paper, butter the paper, add a bit of flour and toss it around to coat, then shake out excess flour. 


Break up the chocolate and melt in a double boiler (I just put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and placed it over a pot of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl didn't touch the water). Once chocolate is melted, remove from heat and stir in butter, a little bit at a time, until thoroughly blended and smooth. Transfer the chocolate to a mixing bowl, add the sugar and salt, and mix until smooth. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat well, then fold in the baking powder. 

In a separate, large bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add a quarter of the chocolate mix to the whipped eggs, then fold the egg white mixture into the remaining chocolate. 


Pour the batter into the springform pan and bake for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 250° and bake an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the rim and invert onto a serving plate or cake stand. Remove the parchment paper. When cake is completely cool dust the top with confectioner's sugar. Serve with any of the listed garnishes.

2 comments:

Thank you so much for your comments! I always enjoy reading them.
xo,
Angelica

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