Perfect Flourless Chocolate Cake
photo by Liza at Food.com
- Ready In:
- 1hr 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Serves:
-
12
ingredients
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 8 large eggs (separated)
- 2⁄3 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil or 1 tablespoon cooking spray, for greasing pan
- 2 tablespoons flour or 2 tablespoons rice flour, for dusting pan
directions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Oil and flour a 9-inch springform cake round.
- Cut a piece of wax paper or parchment to fit inside the bottom of the pan, place the paper in the bottom of the pan.
- In a double-boiler on gentle heat, melt the butter and chocolate together until smooth.
- Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a clean mixing bowl (make sure there is no oil residue on the bowl or mixer attachments) beat the egg whites until they become cloudy and frothy; about 30 seconds.
- Continue beating while adding the brown sugar and cream of tartar.
- Beat until stiff peaks form- be careful not to over beat--this is most important!
- If the eggs curdle, throw them away and start over with new egg whites, seriously.
- Whisk the egg yolks and vanilla into the melted chocolate mixture in a large mixing bowl.
- Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate (start by folding in about 1/3rd of the whites, then gently fold in the remaining whites), the mixture should end up fluffy and light.
- Pour into the prepared pan.
- Wrap the bottom of the pan with foil and place the pan in a deep cooking sheet with about 1/2 to 1 inch of water in it.
- Bake the cake for about 60-70 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
- Remove cake from oven and allow to cool for about an hour.
- Gently run a knife around the edge of the pan, and then carefully invert the cake onto a flat plate or other surface.
- Remove the paper from the bottom (now the top) of the cake.
- Invert again onto the final plate for displaying the cake.
- The cake can be eaten right away but it may fall slightly when it is cut- for best results, it should be refrigerated for at least 6 hours before serving.
Questions & Replies
Reviews
-
Catfish Charlie is right. The recipe and the cake are "Perfect". Since the only flavor is chocolate, be sure to use the very best chocolate you can find. Here are the tweaks I used when I made this: I lined the bottom and the sides of my springform pan with parchment, buttered it and dusted it with cocoa instead of flour. Along with the melted chocolate, I whisked a tablespoon of powdered instant coffee into the egg yolks for deeper chocolate flavor. I tied a double thickness of foil around the pan with string. I let the cake cool in the pan on a rack to room temperature (about three hours) then chilled it overnight in the pan. Next day, it was a snap to remove the pan and the parchment liners. Since nothing succeeds like excess, I frosted the finished cake with chocolate ganache (Recipe #37844) and served it with slightly sweetened whipped cream. Was it a hit? Eight of eight diners called it, "The best cake I have ever eaten...ever." Attaboy Charlie, and thank you.
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Catfish, Yum! Just baked the recipe and have repeated it three times. This was for a school party! The first cake cme out as a mousse and was served as is. The second I added a ganache as recommended earlier and it was yummy also. My ganache is chocolate but with chopped nuts mixed in before setting. The thrird was a three layer cake of different mousses and this cake was the bottom layer. Well....! Was I a hit. I think I baked more than I can chew. Many thanks! Jim
see 15 more reviews
Tweaks
-
Catfish Charlie is right. The recipe and the cake are "Perfect". Since the only flavor is chocolate, be sure to use the very best chocolate you can find. Here are the tweaks I used when I made this: I lined the bottom and the sides of my springform pan with parchment, buttered it and dusted it with cocoa instead of flour. Along with the melted chocolate, I whisked a tablespoon of powdered instant coffee into the egg yolks for deeper chocolate flavor. I tied a double thickness of foil around the pan with string. I let the cake cool in the pan on a rack to room temperature (about three hours) then chilled it overnight in the pan. Next day, it was a snap to remove the pan and the parchment liners. Since nothing succeeds like excess, I frosted the finished cake with chocolate ganache (Recipe #37844) and served it with slightly sweetened whipped cream. Was it a hit? Eight of eight diners called it, "The best cake I have ever eaten...ever." Attaboy Charlie, and thank you.
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YUMMY! I would definitely give it 5 stars, except I monkeyed with it, and cannot fairly judge it as written. I added 1/2 lb of chopped dried apricots, along with 1/2 jar apricot preserves. When it was cool, I glazed it with the rest of the preserves boiled with a little OJ. It was really delicious, but the texture of mine made for very messy slicing. Probably due to the apricot chunks, as it was chilled overnight. I wasn't sure exactly what constitutes "bittersweet" chocolate, but I used a mix of chocolate averaging 65% cocoa. The chocolate and sweetness were perfect! And, since I was making it for Passover, I dusted the sides with cocoa instead of flour, and this worked fine. Anyway, it was so good that I will surely make this again, but without chunks. Thanks for posting!