Flourless Chocolate Cake

Please find it in your hearts to forgive the lack of posts over the last few days. I think I can make it up to you though... with a post about chocolate. Because who doesn't like that? The whole choco-extravaganza you see below took place at my friend Addie's house. I love love love her kitchen. Many a scrumptious (and ambitious) New Year's dinner has been cooked there, and (as you'll see below) I always learn or find something new. 


We made this cake to celebrate our friend Sarah's belated birthday. Sarah really loves chocolate, and is gluten-free. Hence a flourless chocolate cake!  Read on for a real live double boiler from the 1940s, a new trick for buttering and "flouring" cake pans, recycling brooms as baking items, and 167 things (okay, just 2 things) to do with leftover melted chocolate. 

This is a foolproof cake. Seriously--it has never failed me, or Addie, Sarah, or Hannah (the third ringleader of this chocolate gang). There are five ingredients, all of which you are likely to have on hand if you've baked in the last five years. Your mise en place includes eggs, butter, bittersweet chocolate, cocoa powder, and sugar. That's it! Let's make it!

First you'll need to make sure you can actually get the cake out of the pan at the end of baking. Most recipes suggest buttering the pan, some suggest buttering and then flouring. But Addie taught me this fabulous trick: for extra-chocolatey flavor, and to keep the cake gluten-free, you can use cocoa powder instead of flower. See Addie's hands. See Addie's hands perfectly demonstrating the technique to "flour" a pan. Just put your "flouring" agent in the buttered pan, shake it around to cover the bottom, and then rotate the pan in a circle with your left hand while tapping it with your right to cover the sides. You'll probably want to follow Addie's example and do this over the sink. 

Oh, and did I mention that this was a one-pan dessert (aside from the baking pan)? Yeah. Pretty cool. This here is a REAL double boiler that belonged to Addie's grandmother in the 1940s. You might remember my homemade double boiler from the Chocolate Tofu Pudding post. Either is fine for this recipe. So melt your chocolate and butter...

 Remove from the heat and let it cool a bit before adding the eggs. Otherwise you will have  scrambled eggs covered in butter and chocolate. Gross!

 Mix in the sugar and cocoa powder. Taste the batter and die from happiness. 

 See Addie's hands. See Addie be a badass pouring that chocolate batter into the pan...

 It just keeps going...

 And going. 

 And there's your cake! You can eat it now! (No, just kidding. Pop that sucker into the oven...it's worth the wait). 

Set a timer for 25 minutes. Some of you smart-alecks out there are sure to notice that the timer currently reads 22 minutes. That's because I spent 3 minutes licking the spatula. This is a judge-free zone, people.  

Oh right. So while your cake is in the oven, you may start to REALLY crave that chocolate...and have some extra melted on the stove. What to do? Chocolate-covered fruit is an excellent option (not pictures because my hands were covered in chocolate, obviously), as it chocolate covered popcorn. 

 Dee-lish. 

So it's been 25 minutes. Test to make sure your cake is done. I usually use a toothpick, but Addie's family smartly uses the clean end of straws from a broom. Who knew!? 

Now here's where things get crazy. You can eat it plain, or topped with powdered sugar...but I find that it needs something "light" so to speak to cut the richness of the chocolate. And by "light" I mean fruit like strawberries or raspberries...whipped cream...or vanilla ice cream (my personal favorite). Of course using all of these toppings is an option, too. Live a little! Long live chocolate, and Happy Belated Birthday to Sarah! 




Flourless Chocolate Cake

• 4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus a few tablespoons for "flouring" the pan
• Powdered sugar and strawberries (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Butter and cocoa powder an 8-inch round baking pan.
2. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. When melted, remove from the heat and stir in sugar. 
3. Let cool a little, then mix in the eggs until fully combined.
4. Add cocoa powder and mix in.
5. Pour batter into the pan. Bake 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar and strawberries or raspberries if desired.