Flourless Chocolate Cake - Secret Recipe

by Barry Hooper

Flourless chocolate cakes are to be found on the menus of many
sophisticated restaurants nowadays. The following recipe is a
family secret. It was handed down to me by my grandmother's
sister, whose husband was a master chef. She passed the recipe
on to him (her only son) when she died, having withheld it for
years from her daughter-in-law.

The recipe is not difficult to follow, and the results are
nothing short of heavenly. Falling somewhere between a super
moist chocolate soufflé, with a delicately crisp crust, this
cake will inflate while baking. It will fall as it cools, so
don't panic. It absolutely must have a minimum of twenty minutes
to cool before you remove the baking tin, or even though
sublimely tasty, it will be almost impossible to slice.

Classic Flourless
Chocolate Cake (Topped with a Cloud of Whipped Cream)

5 eggs 1 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup coffee liqueur 1 cup
unsalted butter, at room temperature 8 ounces bittersweet
chocolate, melted in a Bain Marie 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar, (icing sugar) for dusting 2 cups whipped cream,
as accompaniment 4 oz unmelted bitter chocolate (for topping)

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 10-inch baking tray (with a
loose bottom, and spring clipped side) with a smear of melted
butter. A tip; wrap the outside of the whole tray with foil to
prevent leakage.

Cut two circles of greaseproof paper the size of the base of the
tin, and place over the bottom of the pan. Smear generously
again with melted butter.

Grate the 4oz of chocolate using a coarse grater. Tip; place the
chocolate in the freezer for half an hour, before grating.
Ensure you place the covered bowl containing the grated
chocolate back into the freezer as soon as it is ready. About
half an hour before you are ready to decorate the whipped cream
topping, remove the grated chocolate from the
freezer, and leave covered in the fridge.

Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a food processor or
mixer fitted with the whipping attachment, and whip on high
speed, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, until
the mixture is very thick and fluffy. This will take at least
ten minutes, and is important you take your time here, or the
cake will be undersized. Fold in the liqueur and mix well.

With the mixer on medium speed, add the butter, a few pieces at
a time, and beat until well blended. The mix may look separated
at this point, but do not worry. The chocolate will blend with
the butter correcting this. With the processor on low speed, add
the chocolate and vanilla extract, and mix until smooth. Pour
the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake moves
as one mass when you gently wiggle the pan, which is usually
around half an hour. If anything, err on the side of
under-baking. All it means is that the middle will be a bit
gooier than usual, not disastrous by any means. As irresistible
as it is, you absolutely MUST let it cool for at least twenty
minutes. Then, remove the foil and outer ring from the baking
tin, and allow to sit at least another half an hour.

Now you have options: you may wish to simply dust the top of the
cake with white powdered (icing) sugar, then scatter the grated
chocolate on the top, or you may wish to apply masses of soft
whipped cream to the top, and then the grated chocolate. If you
go for the whipped cream topping, you should do this just before
serving.

The cake is supposed to serve twelve. It rarely lasts longer
than two days with my family!