This flourless chocolate cake has become a staple in my baking repertoire. A snap to throw together and always sure to please, this cake packs intense chocolate flavor. The cake is not as cloyingly sweet as fudge nor as cakey as brownies, but it possesses a sophistication of its own. Strips or circles of wax paper serve as stencils for the cocoa powder dusting. A dollop of whipped cream and cup of coffee complete a splendid dessert.
Ingredients
4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus additional for sprinkling
Whipped cream to serve
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°F and butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line bottom with a round of wax paper and butter paper.
Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs and whisk well. Sift 1/2 cup cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate.
Dust cake with additional cocoa powder and serve with sorbet if desired. (Cake keeps, after being cooled completely, in an airtight container, 1 week.)
from Gourmet November 1997
Hello! My name is Andrea, and I’m a freelance writer living in the lovely, hilly city of San Francisco with my husband Sam.
One Comment
Mmm…the classic!
(Also, typo: “possesses”)