Decadent Flourless Chocolate Cake
This delightful little cake is moist and decadent! It comes from a little cafe in Sedona, AZ, where people enjoy it on their outdoor patio. It is very easy, yet sophisticated enough to serve on a special occasion! I like to serve it with chocolate sauce or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.
This delightful little cake is moist and decadent! It comes from a little cafe in Sedona, AZ, where people enjoy it on their outdoor patio. It is very easy, yet sophisticated enough to serve on a special occasion! I like to serve it with chocolate sauce or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.
- Carbohydrate 30.67594 g
- Cholesterol 862.268333333333 mg
- Fat 32.7373233333333 g
- Fiber 1.3216000213623 g
- Protein 26.1651166666667 g
- Saturated Fat 14.0608453333333 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (245g)
- Sodium 283.296333333333 mg
- Sugar 29.3543399786377 g
- Trans Fat 4.05886733333333 g
- Calories 506 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Grease an 8 " springform pan.
- Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and then let cool.
- In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together at low speed until mixed.
- Set butter/sugar mixture aside in a separate bowl.
- Remove beaters from your electric mixer, and clean thoroughly so that all residue from butter and sugar is completely cleaned off and then dry.
- Replace beaters into your electric mixer and then continue.
- Beat the egg whites on medium until soft peaks form; set aside this mixture into a separate bowl.
- Clean mixer bowl and beaters again.
- Mix the cooled chocolate and egg yolks in the mixer on low speed until smooth and then add the reserved butter-sugar mixture and continue mixing until smooth.
- Increase the speed to medium and mix for another 2 minutes.
- Gently fold in your egg white mixture, doing 1/3 at a time, until all incorporated.
- Pour the batter into your prepared springform pan and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out almost clean and just barely moist.
- Remove your cake from the oven and let cool for 20-25 minutes before removing from springform pan.
- Slice cake into 10 wedges and serve.
Bakers frequently err by failing to achieve complete fat removal from mixing bowls and beaters before whipping egg whites. Egg whites contain proteins that lower surface tension around trapped air bubbles, but lipids act as hydrophobic barriers that prevent proteins from uncoiling and forming stable intermolecular networks. Even microscopic grease traces prevent albumin from trapping air.
Aeration Without Gluten
Without wheat flour to build a structural matrix, this style of cake relies entirely on thermal expansion of trapped gas inside whipped eggs. Melting eight ounces of bittersweet chocolate over a gentle double boiler prevents scorching while ensuring lipids liquefy uniformly. Room-temperature unsalted butter creams smoothly with granulated sugar at low speed, incorporating minute air pockets that aid mechanical leavening. Folding the meringue in three separate additions preserves air cells; stirring too aggressively ruptures the delicate foam and yields a dense, heavy disc rather than a velvety crumb. Baking at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for twenty to thirty minutes allows trapped steam and air to expand safely before proteins coagulate permanently.
- Grease residue on beaters halts protein bonding and ruins meringue stability.
- Cooling the melted chocolate completely prevents premature thermal coagulation of egg yolks.
- Checking doneness requires a toothpick inserted centrally to emerge nearly clean with slight moisture.
