Flourless Chocolate Cake – A Treat for Spring Holidays

Editors note: From time to time the MJCuisine Blog shares recipes with Splash Magazines Worldwide. Instructions and photos here from Mary Jo McMillin

Here we are again with those jellybeans, Peeps, and chocolate eggs tempting us from the shopping aisles. Everywhere there’s chocolate beckoning and even I, who seldom chooses it, find myself stopping to look.

Children today most likely don’t remember those grapefruit sized chocolate dipped creamy fruit and nut fondant filled eggs decorated with flowers, leaves and one’s name. Oh, how I wished for one. It never arrived, nor would I have asked for such an extravagance. Then one day when I was in my 50’s, our lady mayor, not knowing my childhood wish, came into my shop with a white box containing a beautiful handcrafted, filled and decorated chocolate egg nesting in green cellophane grass. A long forgotten fantasy fulfilled, I relished it in small slices for weeks. These days, consuming that amount of sugar would make my teeth hurt, but the memory is sweet.

Perhaps specialty candy makers still prepare filled chocolate eggs for Easter, but for the most part we see what Cadbury, Mars, Hershey’s and Fannie May send out.

Chocolate seems to be at the top of most lists of favorite sweets, and if you are looking for a dessert or tea cake to make ahead for Easter or Passover, look no further than this flourless chocolate almond cake that has proved it’s success over many years. This cake fills several dietary limitations, stays moist for several days making it suitable for do-ahead baking, can be frozen and is lovely served as is with a dusting of powdered suga, topped with ganache or a cloud of whipped cream.

Flourless Chocolate Cake or Chocolate Almond Torte

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate (or semisweet), not chips

4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter

3 tablespoons coffee, rum, or a liqueur of compatible flavor

½ teaspoon almond extract or vanilla

5 ¼ oz.  (3/4 cup) sugar

4 eggs, separated

3 oz. ground almonds (3/4 cup)

2 teaspoons potato starch or cornstarch

pinch salt

Line a 9 or 10-inch cake tin with a circle of parchment. Lightly butter the sides of the tin.

Preheat the oven to 325°.

Place a Pyrex or other heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Add the broken chocolate and sliced butter. Melt slowly stirring from time to time. While the chocolate is melting, sift the ground almonds and starch to remove any lumps. Once the chocolate has fully melted, turn off the heat, stir in the coffee or liqueur, extract and all the sugar except 1 tablespoon. Whisk in the yolks one at a time. Keep the mixture warm by leaving the bowl over the turned off saucepan with water.

For simple serving dust the top with powdered sugar and cut into wedges or finger-food pieces. To serve as an after dinner dessert, add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and a sprinkling of fresh raspberries.  Makes 32 finger-food pieces or 12-14 dessert wedges.

Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until foamy. Sprinkle in the remaining tablespoon of sugar and whisk until the egg whites mound in soft peaks. The whites are stiff enough when you can turn the bowl sideways and they do not slip.  Using the French whisk, gently fold 1/3 of the whites and 1/3 of the almond mixture into the chocolate. Repeat this gentle mixing until all ingredients are combined.

Use a plastic spatula to scoop the batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth it evenly in the pan. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until you see the cake slightly pulling away from the sides of the tin and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with just a few crumbs clinging.  Remove from the oven and allow the cake to rest for 10 minutes before turning it out of the tin onto a wire cooling rack. Peel away the parchment from the bottom and reverse the cake onto another rack right side up. Cool completely before sliding the cake onto a serving platter. Wrap and store in a cool place or freeze until ready to serve or frost.