It’s February everyone!! My birthday is right around Valentine’s Day so anything pink and red reminds me of happy memories. When I was young and the Valentine’s decorations would go on display in all the shops and sweets would be made with these vibrant colours I used to think the whole world was decorating for my birthday. Most of my birthday parties and cakes had a definite red and pink theme. So when I made this cake in February it seemed natural to enhance it with a raspberry glaze and fresh raspberries.
When I first shopped for the ingredients for this Valentine’s Flourless Chocolate Cake, I thought that I had surely written the ingredient list down incorrectly. I chose a high quality (Bernard Callebaut) dark chocolate and was stunned to realize that 16 oz. is the entire large bar of baking chocolate. As I made the recipe and added all of the chocolate and counted out the eggs I was definitely questioning whether this would be worth it. Can I shout from the rooftops a ‘hell yeah’!!? This cake is so good. And it lasts. And lasts. I was able to serve this at my birthday party, then I dolled it up for a small dinner party, and I even served this to Kristina and Ryan when they visited. I just kept adding raspberries to the serving plate. The cake never lost its moisture. And it was good to find so many people to love it because it is an investment to make.
I made the raspberry glaze with homemade raspberry coulis and powdered sugar. Yum. As promised in the original recipe, this cake fell. I knew it was coming and I had two choices, leave it as it was or press it flat. I chose to leave it and fill the crevices with raspberry glaze. I have made this cake both with the coffee (I use steaming hot French press) and without (I substituted the coffee with boiling water when making for kids) and it turns out fine both ways. Make this for your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day and they will be one lucky gal or fella!
What You’ll Need:
- 16 oz. (454 g) solid dark chocolate (I chose Bernard Callebaut)
- 1 cup organic light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup organic white cane sugar
- 3/4 cup very hot strong coffee (or use espresso powder in very hot water, or use hot water)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened organic cocoa powder
- 8 large organic free-range eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon bourbon vanilla extract
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare a 10-cup Springform pan by lining the bottom with a circle of buttered parchment. Wrap the outside of the whole pan (underneath, to catch any leaks) with a big piece of foil.
Break up the dark chocolate into pieces and pour the chocolate into the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until the chocolate breaks up into small bits. Add the sugar. Pulse until the chocolate and sugar turns into an even, sandy grain.
Pour the hot water or coffee slowly into the feed tube as you pulse again. Pulse until the chocolate is melted.
Add the butter pieces and the cocoa powder, and pulse to combine. Add the eggs and vanilla, and process till smooth. The batter will be liquid and creamy. Pour the batter into the lined Springform pan.
Bake at 350º F in the center of the oven, till puffed and cracked and lovely – about 60 to 75 minutes. Use a wooden toothpick to check the center of the cake; pick should emerge clean, with maybe a crumb.
Place the cake pan on a wire rack to cool. The cake will deflate. Don’t worry! When cooled a bit, press down on it gently with a spatula to make it even, if you wish. Or not. When the cake is completely cooled, cover, and chill it for at least three hours (best up to eight hours), until serving. Overnight is even better.
Serve thin slices with drizzled chocolate sauce or a sprinkle of sifted powdered sugar. Garnish with a fresh berries or mint leaves.
Yield: 12 to 15 slices
(Originally published January 2007 by Karina Allrich) http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2007/01/flourless-chocolate-cake_11.html#ixzz3P1EzqFsW
Enjoy!
xoxo Jacqui