I love chocolate as much as the next gal, but I must admit I've never been a connoisseur of flourless chocolate cakes. I've never imagined making one and I haven't paid close attention to the ones I've had in the past. My mother-in-law was visiting, and so I asked her what kind of cake she liked. When she said, "Chocolate," a flourless chocolate cake seemed the way to go.
This one was from my Moosewood cookbook - pretty reliable for having well-tested recipes. It described the cake as, "Less
dense than most flourless cakes, this one has a drier, mousse-like texture."
It didn't take me long to realize why I had never made a flourless chocolate cake before. I'm totally spooked by the process of folding in whipped egg whites. I understand the idea - you create volume by beating the egg whites, and then you have to maintain the volume, so you don't stir too much which would deflate the beaten whites; instead you have to fold gently so as to blend without deflating. I anticipated the folding step with concern. Apparently I don't like the idea of a recipe where I could fail. But having started a cake challenge, I wasn't going to let apprehension about deflated egg whites stop me now.
As I was doing it, I wasn't at all sure I was folding properly, and all the while I was thinking - have I gone too far, have I mixed instead of folded, is this right?! But it looked beautiful, and the batter did taste quite yummy. [I lick the bowl and beaters with every cake I make. My daughter finds it one of life's injustices that I get to eat batter with "raw" in it and she doesn't.]
When the cake came out of the oven it was puffed and gorgeous just like a souffle. Over the next several minutes, I could watch it shrink before my eyes. After an hour, my husband said it looked like it had shrunk at the dry cleaners.
I made a vanilla bean whipped cream (heavy cream, powdered sugar, and the inside of a vanilla bean) and the combination of cool whipped cream and the rich chocolate cake was pretty amazing. Later in the week I served it with a store-bought raspberry sauce and that was pretty phenomenal too. It can be eaten alone, but I found something to contrast the intense chocolate made it better. An almond or mocha flavored whipped cream could be good too.
As I wrote on facebook about how a flourless chocolate cake was out of my comfort zone, a friend posted that she had a recipe for a great one her grandmother makes. I've got to get her recipe and see how it compares.
Flourless Chocolate
Cake
½ cup butter
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (measure by
weight)
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (measure by
weight)
8 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2.
In a saucepan on low heat, melt the butter with
the semisweet and unsweetened chocolates, stirring constantly to facilitate
melting and prevent scorching. [Or melt
in the microwave in short intervals of 20-30 seconds, at 50% power.] Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
3.
While the chocolate is cooling, butter and flour
a 9-inch springform pan. [Can use cocoa
powder instead of flour.]
4.
Separate the egg whites and yolks into two
bowls. [Crack each egg into a clean
bowl, then add to the others. That way
if a yolk breaks, it only ruins one white, instead of all of them.] Using an electric mixer with clean and dry
beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating
until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
5.
When the chocolate has cooled, stir it into the
egg yolks along with the vanilla and salt and mix thoroughly. Fold in the egg whites until no trace of the
whites remain. Pour the batter into the
prepared pan and bake until the center is set, about 1 hour. Cool in the springform pan before removing to
a serving dish – the cake may fall somewhat as it cools.
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