look ma, no flour!

a friend of mine is allergic to gluten. it was her birthday last week. i couldn’t give her something she couldn’t eat. so i made something i never thought i’d ever make: a flour-less chocolate cake. it has the consistency of cheesecake with a bit of fudge. and it was amazing.

very rich, and very difficult to photograph

flour-less chocolate cake (modified from trish boyle’s cake book)

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 62% cocoa), finely chopped
3 sticks  unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup sugar
6 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

heat oven to 350º F. butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan. line the bottom with a parchment round and butter the parchment.

place chopped chocolate in a large bowl.

in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stir butter, sugar until the butter is melted and mixture is boiling. pour the hot mixture over your chopped chocolate. gently stir until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

in a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. add in the vanilla and salt. slowly add about 3/4 cup hot chocolate mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly. (this is tempering- tempering the eggs with a little bit of the hot chocolate mixture will prevent “scrambled eggs” when combining the two mixtures.) continue slowly adding the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until combined.

strain the batter through a sieve (if you want, i didn’t) and then pour batter into prepared pan. set cake pan in a large roasting pan and fill the pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. bake for 35-45 minutes, until the center is shiny and set but still a bit jiggly. transfer cake pan to a cooling rack and cool for 20 minutes.

run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Place a cardboard round, or plate, on top of the pan and invert the cake onto it. remove pan and carefully remove the parchment paper. refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours before glazing with chocolate glaze.

bittersweet chocolate ganache
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl.

in a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. pour cream over chocolate and mix until smooth. stir in the vanilla. let cool for 5 minutes at room temperature before using. after glazing let cake chill for at least one hour.