The Friday Baking Project

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Yield: 1 8-inch cake

# of Servings: 12

Ingredients:
8.25 oz (234 g) heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

7 ½ oz (213 g) chocolate, 55% to 61%, wafers or chopped

6 oz (170 g / 3 ½ large) eggs (see note below)
2 ¼ oz (64 g / 4 large) egg yolks
2 ¾ oz (78 g / â…“ cup + 2 tsp) sugar
1 pinch salt

¾ tsp vanilla extract

Confectioners’ sugar, as needed

Optional:
1 ½ cups heavy cream
2 to 3 tbl sugar

Special tools and equipment needed

• Baking scale
• One 8†by 2†cake pan with 8†parchment circle liner.
• One baking/roasting pan with at least 1†clearance on all sides.
• Instant read thermometer.
• Small saucepan for a double boiler.
• Countertop mixer with whip attachment, or handheld mixer.

Pre-recipe preparations:

• Place machine bowl and whip in the refrigerator.
• Butter the cake pan, line with parchment circle, and butter the circle.
• Fill a water kettle and bring to the boil.
• Preheat over the 400 °F

Directions:

1. In chilled bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks. Set aside in the refrigerator.
2. In a small metal bowl over a double boiler, or in a glass bowl in the microwave, melt the chocolate. Keep warm.
3. Place the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt in the machine bowl and whisk together.  Place over double boiler and gently whisk until the mixture reaches 110 °F.
4. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate, and vanilla extract.
5. On medium speed (Kitchen Aid #6) whip until cool, 5 to 6 minutes.
6. Remove from the mixer and fold in the whipped cream in two stages. The first half of the whipped cream will lighten the batter, making it easier to fold in the second half.  At the end, fold just until no white streaks of whipped cream remain.
7. Pour into prepared cake pan and place in baking/roasting pan. Pour hot water around the cake pan until a depth of one inch.
8. Bake in the water bath until the top the cake feels firm to the touch, approximately 25 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven, place the cake pan on a cooling rack, and let cool completely.
10. To remove cake from the pan you will need; a clean 8†parchment circle or plastic film, an 8†cardboard circle, and a flat cake plate 9†or greater in diameter.
11. Place the parchment circle or plastic film over the top of the cake and turn upside down onto the 8†cardboard circle.
12. Once you feel that the cake has released, remove the cake pan, and peel off the bottom parchment circle. Place the cake plate over the bottom, flip over so the cake is right side up. If the cake doesn’t easily release, use a kitchen torch on sides and bottom, or briefly dip the cake pan in a bowl of very hot water.
13. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just prior to serving.  Cut into thin pieces.
14. Whip cream and sugar to just soft peaks. Place in a bowl or a small dollop on each plate.
15. Store the cake at room temperature.

Baking Note: The interior of a large egg is approximately 1.7 oz, so you will need 3 ½ eggs for the 6 oz by weight. To measure the half egg, beat the 4^th egg into a small measuring cup and add to the scale until it reaches 6 oz.