A Slice Of Chocolate Heaven

If I told you that you could make one of the easiest and most delicious chocolate desserts you will ever eat with just 3 ingredients would you believe me?  Of course you would, because if you are reading this, we are “chums” after all 🙂With Easter only a couple of days ago, many of us have had a good dose of chocolate – what with chocolate Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies and all sorts of other various Easter candies and chocolate desserts.  But if you are a true chocolate lover, is there really ever such a thing as too much chocolate?  The answer of course to that silly question is a resounding “NO”!  So though you may have already consumed your weight in chocolate this past weekend, we have a chocolate dessert you simply have to try….Flourless Chocolate Cake.  This recipe comes from one of my favorite sources, The Best Recipe.

The great thing about this yummy treat is that you can even make it up to 4 days before you want to serve it (though once it is made who in their right mind would wait that long to cut into it?), it has only 3 ingredients, as the title of this post says, it tastes like “A slice of chocolate heaven” and even people with wheat or gluten allergies can enjoy this.  Sounds like a win/win deal to me!

Ultimate Flourless Chocolate Cake

1 lb. semisweet chocolate (use a good quality chocolate, one that has at least a 72% cacao content)
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter
8 eggs
1/4 cup strong coffee or liqueur (optional)

1.  Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line bottom of 8-inch springform pan with parchment and grease pan sides. Cover pan underneath and along sides with sheet of heavy-duty foil and set in large roasting pan. Bring kettle of water to boil.
2. Beat eggs with hand-held mixer at high speed until volume doubles to approximately 1 quart, about 5 minutes. Alternately, beat in bowl of electric mixer fitted with wire whip attachment at medium speed (speed 6 on a KitchenAid) to achieve same result, about 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, melt chocolate and butter (adding coffee or liqueur, if using) in large heat-proof bowl set over pan of almost simmering water, until smooth and very warm (about 115 degrees on an instant-read thermometer), stirring once or twice. (For the microwave, melt chocolate and butter together at 50 percent power until smooth and warm, 4 to 6 minutes, stirring once or twice.) Fold 1/3 of egg foam into chocolate mixture using large rubber spatula until only a few streaks of egg are visible; fold in half of remaining foam, then last of remaining foam, until mixture is totally homogenous.
4. Scrape batter into prepared springform pan and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Set roasting pan on oven rack and pour enough boiling water to come about halfway up side of springform pan. Bake until cake has risen slightly, edges are just beginning to set, a thin glazed crust (like a brownie) has formed on surface, 22 to 25 minutes. Remove cake pan from water bath and set on wire rack; cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate overnight to mellow (can be covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days).
5. About 30 minutes before serving, remove springform pan sides, invert cake on sheet of waxed paper, peel off parchment pan liner, and turn cake right side up on serving platter. Sieve light sprinkling of Confectioners’ sugar or unsweetened cocoa powder over cake to decorate, if desired.  Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.