What's for dinner? Who cares? I want dessert!

Low carb, no carb, low fat, sugar free, organic...they all have their place, but it isn't here.  Some things are just meant to be decadent.  I'm sorry my little health nuts, but that is just the way the cookie, or in this case, cake crumbles.  The recipe featured today is a rustic, flourless chocolate cake. If you ever found a definition of "comfort food" in the dictionary, there would be a picture of this cake beside it. This unpretentious, yet perfect-in-every-way dessert will stop a chocolate craving dead in its tracks. While it does take a little while and some effort to make, it so VERY worth it.

Sooo, let's get started, shall we?

INGREDIENTS:

7 oz. semi sweet chocolate. I used a bag of the Ghirardelli brand semi-sweet chocolate chips minus a couple of handfuls. Remember, no one will know if you ate those handfuls if you don't tell. I'm just sayin'...

4/5 cup of butter-I just did 1 stick of butter plus 6 Tbsp of another stick...close enough.

1 cup granulated white sugar

4 eggs, separated

TOPPING:

1 cup of heavy whipping cream

4 heaping Tbsp. of confectioner's sugar 

You will also need some parchment or wax paper, and a round 9 inch cake pan.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Set the cake pan on top of the parchment, and trace around the bottom. Cut around the circle that you traced, and place it in the bottom of the pan. Next cut a strip of the parchment long enough to wrap around the inner perimeter of the cake pan. Very lightly grease the inside of the cake pan, so that the paper will stick. YES. You have to do this part. Otherwise, you will not be able to remove the cake from the pan. Here is a picture of what it should look like:

After this is done, put the chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Place them in the microwave for 30 second increments, using a whisk in between increments to fully incorporate the melted chocolate and butter together. It should look like this:

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and half of the sugar together until light and creamy, like this:

Mix the melted chocolate in with the egg yolk mixture:

Set the chocolate mixture to the side, and in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy:

Slowly pour  the rest of the sugar into the egg whites while still running the mixer on high speed until they form stiff peaks. Patience, grasshopper. It's going to take a little while:

Last, and this is crucial: SLOWLY fold the egg whites in with the chocolate mixture until it looks like this:

Pour the mixture into the cake pan, and place in the middle of the oven. Bake for 40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. It will puff up considerably (and fall when it cools), but that's where the paper being wrapped around the inside of the pan helps to keep things from being so messy. The cake will still be pretty moist on the inside.  That is what makes it so awesome.  Seriously, this flourless chocolate cake kicks a regular chocolate cake's behind.

After the cake is finished baking, let it cool to the touch.  Removing the cake from the pan can be a little tricky. Just grab a some of the paper, and pull it away from the side of the pan, toward the center of the pan and slowly wedge a spatula in between the paper and the pan, making sure not to separate the paper from the cake. Once the paper is separated from the pan remove the spatula. Take a plate and set it face down on the cake pan, and flip it over so that the cake pan is face down on the plate. Pull the pan off of the plate. Tada! Then you can start removing the paper. Some of the sides of the cake will crumble a little, but no harm done. I promise. Keep in mind that this recipe is for a rustic cake, not a flawless cake:

Now it's time to make the topping. Just pour a cup of heavy whipping cream into a bowl, adding the confectioner's sugar, one tablespoon at a time while mixing on high speed, until thick and creamy. You don;t have to make your own whipped cream, but it really does make a big difference. You've already put this much effort in, so why not just spend the two minutes it takes to make it fresh? When you're finished, slather the cream on top of the cake, leaving the edges exposed:

There is nothing left to do, but enjoy! OH! Except the clean up part is kind of fun too:

Although licking the chocolate off of the bowl is not required, I highly recommend it.

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Have a sinfully sweet day!

Chocolate and fresh cream,

Becca :)