Satisfying those chocolate cravings.
My Instagram followers have seen me post photos (@williampollardjr) of my favorite dessert for over a year. Possibly, I've posted the original recipe to Instagram. If you ask, I usually do.
After success and failures, I've learned that this dessert does not always deliver desired results. With some effort, I've figured out why, and the remedy.
Yes, I've been gently tweaking the recipe. Adjusting ingredients. Modifying and streamlining the process. With mixed results. Confiding with my wife, she gave me a tip that finally nailed this recipe down. I'm happy to share this recipe with modifications. It's truly a lovely dessert. My favorite.
Enjoy responsibly.
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| Just out of the oven flourless chocolate torte. |
Recipe: Flourless Chocolate Torte
An easy recipe to follow. You will need an oven, mixer, spring form pan and a double boiler. While you can eat this torte warm, I prefer to let it cool down and refrigerate it overnight.For me, just baked, the torte is far to soft and fluffy to enjoy. Chilled, the torte is firm, not hard, the cake like crust yields to a wonderful dense, creamy interior, with deep, luscious chocolate flavor.
Ingredients:
12 tablespoons salted butter (1.5 sticks) cut in small pieces12 oz bittersweet chocolate (I use Ghiradelli 60% cacao chocolate)
6 eggs
1/2 cup sugar (I prefer brown sugar)
1 tsp instant coffee
1 tsp coco powder
1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
1. preheat the oven to 350 F. |
| Parchment paper for the bottom of the pan. |
2. butter/spray an 8.5" x 2.5" spring form pan.
Note: I now use a non-stick oil spray to coat the interior of the pan. To make it easier to remove the baked torte, and clean the pan, I cut out a piece of parchment paper for the bottom of the pan. Use a pencil and the bottom of the pan to trace a circle on the parchment paper. Cut out the circle and place the paper at the bottom. The oil/butter helps the parchment paper stick.
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| Important to do this before melting chocolate. |
3. Eggs and sugar: to the mixers mixing bowl, add all 6 eggs, then add the 1/2 cup sugar on top. Using a fork, gently combine the eggs and sugar until all yokes are broken and sugar covers all of the eggs. Now ignore.
Note: My wife told me that the sugar gently breaks down the protein of the eggs. Which helps give the proper texture to this dessert. If you don't do this, the texture can be gritty and unpleasant. As I learned.
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| Cut butter in small pieces, it will melt faster in double boiler. |
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| Shiny chocolate and all melted. |
4. Melting chocolate: to the bowl sitting on the hot double boiler add:
chocolate, butter, instant coffee, coco powder. When butter and chocolate begin melting, gently stir with a spatula, when the chocolate is nearly fully melted, add the vanilla. Stir constantly and gently until chocolate is fully melted. Carefully remove the hot bowl from the double boiler and set aside the melted chocolate.
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| Beating eggs and sugar. Looking for fluffy peaks. |
5. Mixer: beat the eggs and sugar mixture in the mixer for 5-7 minutes. You want a pale, thick, fluffy consistency. This is probably the trickiest part of the recipe. I use medium-low to start, then medium to medium-plus to finish.
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| When the eggs are ready, the chocolate should still be fluid. |
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| Chocolate blended with eggs and sugar mixture. |
6. slowly add the now warm chocolate to the egg mixture. Stir thoroughly with a spatula until well blended and you have an even chocolate color.
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| Pouring batter in the spring form pan. |
7. Bake: pour batter into the spring form pan. Bake at 350F for 35-45 minutes.
Note: After several efforts to bake this dessert and a new oven. I now bake for 40 minutes. And let the cake rest in the oven for an additional 5 minutes. Helps if you have a good timer on the oven.
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| Dusted with coco powder and powdered sugar. |
8. remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. After an hour, release the spring form and slice the torte while it is still warm, soft and fluffy. You can also garnish, dress, decorate the torte too.
Once it is cooled to room temperature, cover, refrigerate or freeze. Yes, you can eat it too.
Note: If you prefer your torte soft and fluffy, take a chilled slice and zap it for 20 seconds or so in the microwave oven. Warm, soft, fluffy restored.
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| Classic - Raspberry Coulis drizzled over the Flourless Chocolate Torte. |
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| Strawberry compote and fresh with the chocolate torte also works. |
I hope you enjoy this recipe as well as I. There's still room for you to experiment and modify this recipe. You could add nuts, liquor, flavorings, etc. This dessert is so dense and rich, it's perfect with strong black coffee.
And ice cream.
And raspberry coulis.
And strawberry reduction sauce.
Or cherry sauce.
Or...you get the idea.
Take care. Blessings. #shelterinplace
Cheers!