Flourless Chocolate Cake

I was a little overworked this month and just spent the last 4 days recovering from this:


So I hope you'll forgive the tardiness and blurriness of this post and its photos- you have to believe me when I say, this cake very nearly never came to be (and I'm still lacking the homemade ice cream portion of the challenge!)

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

And here is my lame attempt at the cake portion:




I only managed to take one picture of the prep part as the cake came together so quickly! Only 3 ingredients but 3 separate bowls. Since it would only be me and the boyfriend partaking in this rich cake, I halved the recipe and cooked it in my never-before-used bundt cake pan. Is that right? because this thing came with other pans, so I was never quite sure what it was... Either way the pan was perfect and the cake came out with no problems.



I made this cake at about 10pm and by the time we were eating it, it was dark, I was a little tipsy and I'm afraid that pictures may have suffered a little.. Let's just imagine you're getting a real feel for how the cake was actually enjoyed.


Light, rich and super chocolaty- this cake is staying in the repertoire! I only wish I had made time to make the home made ice cream as well but I'm afraid that for this chick, it will have to be another challenge for another day.


Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

• 16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• ½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
• 5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

No ice cream to hand? Coffee is also quite delicious alongside this rich cake.