The first time I had flourless chocolate cake I was in Stratford, Ontario. I was there for a week on my own. I had never say down and eaten in a restaurant on my own before. On this day, I sat on the patio, had lunch, and by my second glass of wine I was perfectly settled in my seat on the patio. Stratford is full of tourists in the summer as they come for the theatre festival. I met so many people that afternoon, and didn’t want to leave! So I extended my time there by ordering dessert – flourless chocolate cake.
This was my first attempt at re-creating that wonderful cake. And I decided to use my friends as the guinea pigs. After a wonderful d meal prepared by my husband, I had our friends do a tasting of 2 recipes. The one that follows is the one that won by unanimous decision.
Ingredients:
4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate
1 stick of unsalted butter (1 stick equals ½ cup)
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
½ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Materials:
Double boiler or pot and bowl to fit on top of pot; 8-inch baking pan; measuring cups; measuring spoons; wooden spoon; sifter.
First chop up the chocolate and butter into small pieces. Put both the chocolate and butter in the double boiler or bowl set over the pan of simmering water. Melt the chocolate and butter, stirring frequently until smooth.
When smooth remove mixture from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs and whisk together. Add vanilla and whisk together.
Sift ½ cup of cocoa powder over chocolate mixture. The sifting step here is important. Flourless chocolate cake is very thin and any lumps that are still present will be obvious when the cake is baked.
When mixed well, pour in to prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes in middle of oven. When done it should have formed a thin crust. Cool cake before removing from pan.
You can either dust with cocoa powder or confectioners’ sugar before serving.
This doesn’t keep long – a few days at most – but I wouldn’t worry. I wouldn’t expect any to be left over by the end of the day.
