I frequently wonder what started the flourless chocolate cake trend. Are we that afraid to serve brownies in nice restaurants? After all, a flourless chocolate cake is basically a brownie minus the flour, and with the eggs divided to be whipped separately. Other than that, they are quite similar. As a matter of fact, when I presented my coworkers with this cake, a few of them said "thanks for bringing in the brownies." Sillies! Don't they think that if I were going to bring in brownies, I would choose the best brownies ever? (Okay, that was shameless self-promotion, you can click here to get the recipe from Food Network.)
I can see why some people eat flourless chocolate cake; my father, for instance, has Celiac disease, and cannot have any gluten at all. He is the perfect candidate for flourless chocolate cake. Other than that, I think I'll take my cake with flour. I stand alone, however, because any time we have flourless chocolate cake on the dessert menu in the restaurant, people go gaga.
And so, if you find yourself on the baking end of a flourless chocolate cake, here are a few things to remember, primarily about egg whites: 1. in order to properly whip your egg whites, there must be NO fat in the egg whites; be sure your spatula, whisk, and bowl are very clean, and do not get any egg yolk in with the whites, as it contains fat. Fat keeps the proteins from foaming properly, leading to a weak whip. 2. Do not overwhip your whites, which will lead to a crumbling mess after baking. Your whites should be at soft peak stage, meaning that when the whisk is raised from the surface of the whites, the whites on the whisk and the whites in the bowl will separate rather quickly, with the whites in the bowl sinking to a sort of slouchy, mountain-peak shape - but soft, not pointy. Save pointy for meringue.
This recipe, adapted from Williams Sonoma's Essentials of Baking book, was very nice; not too cloyingly sweet like some flourless chocolate cakes (could be the use of 71% solids), but nicely rich. The perfect companion to a good, strong cup of coffee or cold glass of milk. I think it would really benefit from a tart red raspberry sauce and some good plain yogurt or creme fraiche; the tartness would offset the richness very nicely.
Recipe follows in the extended post . . .
Flourless Chocolate Cake
1/2 cup almond, walnut, or hazelnut meal (or whole nuts, blitzed to a powder in food processor with the sugar)
1/2 cup sugar
10 ounces semi- or bittersweet chocolate, I used 71% solids, with good result
1/2 cup unsalted butter
8 large eggs, separated & at room temperature
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray (or butter it) and line the bottom with parchment paper; spray the paper. (To learn how to line a round pan with parchment, click here)
Combine the nuts and sugar.
Place the butter and chocolate in a double boiler over hot water and melt, stirring frequently. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium high speed to soft peak stage, checking frequently to ensure that you have not overbeaten.
Add the egg yolks to the chocolate/butter mixture and whisk to combine. Gently fold in 1/4 of the egg whites. Fold in the nut/sugar mixture, and then fold in the rest of the egg whites, being gentle but making sure that the whites are fully incorporated. Pour the mixture into the pan.
Bake until the cake is almost completely set; (their recipe said until it jiggles only very slightly, but I would go just a bit longer; mine was still a little batter-y in the center) about 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack. Cool for a few minutes and then removed springform. Invert the cake onto a plate and carefully remove the bottom of the pan and the parchment. Cool completely and eat. Enjoy.
