Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Chocolate Valentino (Flourless Chocolate Cake)


I am no Daring Baker (it was their February baking challenge) but with three ingredients, how could I not try this recipe? I'm not a huge dessert person, nor am I a baker, so really the only appeal of this recipe was the fact that it only had three ingredients. Fortunately, this was a very successful recipe for this non-baker.

Notes: I halved the recipe and filled three 5" ramekins (the kind you would use for creme brulee). Only half of each cake could be eaten at a time. These are SO RICH! Since I couldn't halve an egg, I used 2 eggs separated, and added 1/8 cup of Egg Beaters to the egg yolk bowl. I also didn't line the sides of my ramekins with parchment (they were scalloped...I can't be bothered with the time it would have taken), so I sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and the cakes unmolded perfectly. Tasted perfect too, fake egg and all.

16 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 large eggs, separated

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. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan (an 8" or 9" spring form pan works best, or six 5 ramekins) and line with parchment, then butter the parchment.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls. 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). With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate. Fold (don't stir!) 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.

Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375 degrees 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.) Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

do you know how many points they are?

Dori said...

haha...these are so NOT WW-friendly that the idea of figuring out the points was a distant thought.

i figured it to be 7 points per serving (based on 6 servings) IF you halve the recipe.

Martha said...

Dori, what size pan does the recipe call for? I don't see that listed.

Dori said...

oops. thanks for catching that Martha. i fixed the recipe to indicate the proper size pan.

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

I am big on flourless cakes. This looks good and I want to try it.