That may be the best food quote I've ever come across.
I adapted this cake from a recipe I found on the Internet ages ago. I haven't made this in years and years, probably since before Scott and I got married, but I came across it in one of my notebooks while looking for a dessert to take to someones house recently.
Scott and I not really dessert people. We never order dessert when we go out to dinner, and we rarely have it at home. Most of the sweet stuff you see here is either made for company we are having or gets whisked off to my office the next day. But who doesn't like something chocolaty from time to time? To me, this is the most decadent dessert out there. Flourless chocolate cake is so incredibly rich that you only need the smallest slice. (Yeah right!)
This is the nicest picture I have; we didn't eat it at home.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
6 eggs, separated
12 tb sugar
1 tb vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate
Spray a 9 1/2" springform pan with non stick spray. Line the bottom of the springform pan with waxed paper or parchment paper and lightly spray the paper. Wrap the outside of the pan in aluminium foil. Set aside.
In a large pan or pot heat the butter and chocolate over medium heat until melted and combined. Set aside to cool.
Using electric beaters or a stand mixer Whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly beat in 6 tb of sugar and continue to whip until the eggs reach firm peaks.
In another bowl beat the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar until the yolks are thick and pale yellow. Mix in the vanilla. With a spatula, mix in the chocolate and butter. Fold one quarter of the egg whites in very gently. Fold in the rest of the whites in 3 more additions.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350' for 50 - 60 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick - it should be fairly clean with a bit of crumb.
Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack. The centre of the cake will fall - gently press down the sides with a spatula or wooden spoon. Let cool for at least 2 or 3 hours.
Remove the pan sides and carefully invert the cake back onto the rack. It is fragile, so be very careful. Remove the pan bottom and wax paper. Leave to cool completely.
In a small pot or in the microwave melt the chocolate and heavy cream together until smooth. Pour over the cake to glaze the top.
So now I ask you - what is your very favorite dessert?
I adapted this cake from a recipe I found on the Internet ages ago. I haven't made this in years and years, probably since before Scott and I got married, but I came across it in one of my notebooks while looking for a dessert to take to someones house recently.
Scott and I not really dessert people. We never order dessert when we go out to dinner, and we rarely have it at home. Most of the sweet stuff you see here is either made for company we are having or gets whisked off to my office the next day. But who doesn't like something chocolaty from time to time? To me, this is the most decadent dessert out there. Flourless chocolate cake is so incredibly rich that you only need the smallest slice. (Yeah right!)
This is the nicest picture I have; we didn't eat it at home.Flourless Chocolate Cake
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
6 eggs, separated
12 tb sugar
1 tb vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate
Spray a 9 1/2" springform pan with non stick spray. Line the bottom of the springform pan with waxed paper or parchment paper and lightly spray the paper. Wrap the outside of the pan in aluminium foil. Set aside.
In a large pan or pot heat the butter and chocolate over medium heat until melted and combined. Set aside to cool.
Using electric beaters or a stand mixer Whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly beat in 6 tb of sugar and continue to whip until the eggs reach firm peaks.
In another bowl beat the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar until the yolks are thick and pale yellow. Mix in the vanilla. With a spatula, mix in the chocolate and butter. Fold one quarter of the egg whites in very gently. Fold in the rest of the whites in 3 more additions.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350' for 50 - 60 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick - it should be fairly clean with a bit of crumb.
Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack. The centre of the cake will fall - gently press down the sides with a spatula or wooden spoon. Let cool for at least 2 or 3 hours.
Remove the pan sides and carefully invert the cake back onto the rack. It is fragile, so be very careful. Remove the pan bottom and wax paper. Leave to cool completely.
In a small pot or in the microwave melt the chocolate and heavy cream together until smooth. Pour over the cake to glaze the top.
So now I ask you - what is your very favorite dessert?
22 comments:
Flourless chocolate cakes are my fall-back dessert. So easy, and you just have to toss on some whipped cream and berries to make them extra impressive. Lovely.
Sara, love - Your flourless chocolate cake looks wonderful. I bet it was gone in seconds. I am a sucker for a good tiramisu or really well-made ice cream. Nigella has a microwave chocolate cake that is quite rich and dreamy (it is in her "How To Eat"), and that has been popular with our guests in the past - it was the first dessert I made.
I am opposite - I could eat dessert every day if my thighs wouldn't get bigger!! I don't think I could even choose my favorite, but ice cream is always a good treat.
Paige - we did take whip cream and berries with us. The people we were with don't know about this blog, so I didn't want to take my camera over and take pictures. It was much prettier cut and plopped with cream!
Shaun - thank you, it was divine. And I managed to stick to one small piece, which is more than I can say for the other guests. Mmmm, tiramisu ...this might not have been a good question for me to ask!
Deborah - have you ever been to Marble Slab?
Sara, I have different categories for favourite desserts. For example, my favourite choc dessert is molten choc cake. And then there is my fav. fruit dessert which is crumble with any kind of fruit, and then.... (you get the picture). :-) Flourless choc cake was one of my fav. a few years ago but I never made it myself, so now is a good time to start. Thanks for the recipe.
I have to pick one???!!! Does any recipe with chocolate or marzipan in it count as one? Or how about the entire Dorie Greenspan Baking From My Home to Yours?? No??!! Sigh...ok, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. I love the sweet sour combo. And maybe carrot cake. Then there is raspberry linzer cookies and...
Hmm... chocolate enriched...
Yep, that's me! :)
Great quote! Beautiful cake!
Favorite one is simply an oxymoron. Not overweight . . . chocolate enriched . . . I think we're headed in the right direction.
The cake looks lovely.
Not overweight, chocolate enriched . . . sounds like the right direction to me. The cake looks grand.
The toughest of tough questions. I would have to say really good ice cream or chocolate cake or preferably both together. Then there's my mum's trifle. Or yummy crispy meringues. Oh it's too hard.
I will have to try this - the cake looks yummy. Although I am putting aside desserts most of the time as I lose weight - I love chocolate cake with white mountain frosting and vanilla ice cream which is my favorite. Then again there is cheesecake.
Now, writing that made me forget why I don't eat them right now - oh yea... :-)
Tam
I love dessert, my favorites are bread pudding (any kind), trifle and tiramisu. I would also like to give an honorable mention to creme brulee, cream puffs, boston cream pie, coconut cream pie, chocolate mousse, apple crisp, apple dumplings, cheese cake, baklava... OK I better stop, there is no end to this list in sight!
My new favourite is panna cota - my love affair with milky desserts is both long and painful (damn lactose intolerance). Huge fan of things like crème caramel and crème brulee, too. Sigh. However, I do have a recipe for crème caramel that just used coconut milk and another for panna cotta that uses coconut milk and (lactose free) milk, so that's fabulous.
Not being able to handle dairy DRASTICALLY reduces your dessert options, especially at a restaurant.
Ice cream. I think I could eat it until I explode.
Nora B - different categories, very true. My favorite fruit dessert would be pineapple, and my favorite non chocolate dessert would be cheesecake. But in reality I don't eat cheesecake or chocolate cake practically ever, so my real favorites are probably hobnobs and Hershey's kisses.
BC- carrot cake! How could I forget about that!
CC - thanks!
Tanna - Absolutely!
KJ - lovely answers, all of them.
Tam - do what I do, only make stuff like this when you can pawn it off on other people.
Janet - you win for longest list!
PW - coconut milk is such an excellent idea. Can you use soy milk for panna cotta?
Brilynn - yes I agree. I have been craving strawberry ice cream for weeks now.
My bf and I aren't really 'dessert people' either, though we both LOVE sweets. The sensible healthy side of me usually wins out on that war. But I would have to say that my favourite dessert is my MIL's peanut butter pie. I could eat it every day.
Oooh that flourless chocolate cake looks fabulous!
i've only made a flourless chocolate cake once and it was incredible. i love how easy they are and so impressive too. looks awesome, sara!
I am soooo loving that quote!!!
Gorgeous cake, Sara.. I'm drooling over here. (down here?) and I agree.. there is no such thing as a sliver of chocolate cake. heheee
I'd have to go with your plain jane chocolate cake with chocolate frosting as my ultimate favorite - and I am still looking for that ultimate recipe.. although I've come close twice now.. I'd just be happy to keep coming close for the rest of my days. hehe
xoxo
Judy - peanut butter pie! sounds interesting.
Jes - thanks!
Kickpleat - you are right, they are not as much work as they look. thanks!
Peabody - me too!
Lis - the hunting for the perfect recipe is the most fun sometimes!
You probably can, though I had terrible luck with a soy creme caramel a few years ago - it tasted like a soy omlette with sugar, but that's the recipe's fault. Give that there's only a cup of milk to (i think) a can of coconut milk, I'm sure soy would work. The recipe is from Heidi Swanson's Supernatural Cooking book.
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