When I saw this cake recipe, I instantly thought of my friend/old roommate Mark. About halfway though our summer, he discovered he could no longer enjoy the world of gluten (and then some). So, Mark, if you are reading this you should make this cake. It is amazing. Seriously.
To everyone else, this cake is epic and completely worth every ounce of work put into it. I am still in shock at how flippin delicious this was. I would have paid $5.95 for this and tipped the crap outta the server that recommended it.
This is the recipe right out of the magazine. My tweak was toppings and making individual cakes. I took a large cupcake tin and placed a piece of buttered parchment paper in each. I tried my best to shove the paper down that it lie smoothly, but it was difficult. Also, make sure the batter touches the side with the butter.
Cake
1/2 C unsalted butter (softened) plus a little extra for greasing pan
3/4 C plus 2 Tbls Sugar (separated) along with extra for dusting
10 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
6 eggs
2 Tbls coco powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt
Topping
1 C chilled heavy cream
1/2 C mascarpone (room temp)
3 Tbls powdered sugar
9"- diameter springform pan
Start, as always, by preheating your oven to 350 F. Lightly butter the springform pan and dust with sugar, tapping out the excess.
Combine chocolate, oil, and 1/2 C butter in a large heatproof bowl. Set over a saucepan of simmering water and heat, stirring often, until melted. Remove from heat.
Separate 4 eggs, putting whites in yolks in separate medium bowls. Add coco powder, vanilla, salt, 1/4 C sugar, and remaining 2 eggs to bowl with yolks. Whisk till smooth. Gradually whisk yolk mixture into chocolate mixture, blending well.
Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites on high until frothy. With mixer running slowly add 1/2 C sugar and beat till firm peaks form. (You can test peaks by turning off mixer, putting beater into egg whites, and lifting. If a peak forms and stays then your firm. If it starts to sag, it is soft.)
GENTLY fold egg whites into chocolate mixture in 2 batches, folding until incorporated between additions.
It should look something like this.
Scrape batter into pan, smooth the top and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbls sugar. Put in the oven and bake till the top is puffed and starting to crack. The cake should be pulling away from the edge of the pan (about 35-45 minutes). If your having doubts, use the toothpick test. When done, transfer to a wire rack and let cake cool completely in the pan (sadly, the cake will collapse in the center and crack further).
The rise
And fall
If you put the in the muffin tins like me, let the cake cool for about 10 minutes. CAREFULLY lift the cakes from the tin, lifting from the parchment paper. Let those cool on the wire rack COMPLETELY. Very slowly and carefully peel the parchment paper from each cake (if you are serving and not saving them).
The naked cake
Topping is pretty simple. Using an electric mixer on Med-high speed, beat the chilled cream, mascarpone, and powdered sugar in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Remove sides of springform pan from cake. Mound whipped cream mixture in center of cake.
I suggest adding some fruit. I used raspberries but strawberries would be good too. It is a nice contrast for such a rich cake.
I got real fancy and whipped up a chocolate sauce to drizzle over top. Chocolate syrup would do just as well.
Epic goodness. No joke.
Until Next Time
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