Friday, August 27, 2010

My favourite fluorless dark chocolate cake

Bon Appetit!

This is a moist chocolate fluorless cake that has a just nice density yet light texture. Not sweet.

Ingredients
350g dark chocolate
160g almond or walnut meal.
5 eggs, yolks and white separated
2 egg whites
125g butter
80g raw sugar
2 tsp orange oil
3 tsp mandarin flavoured vodka
1 tsp of tawny port
1 orange zest

Steps
Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
Line bottom of a non stick square cake tin with baking paper. (If not using non stick, rub evenly a very light layer of butter on sides). I do this first so that I am not frantically trying to get this done when my batter is all ready to go into the oven!
Pour chocolate into a steel bowl sitting onto a pot of simmering hot water - make sure bowl doesnt touch steel bowl. I used Belgian cooking dark chocolate drops. If using from a bar of chocolate, chop chocolate to small pieces first, for easier melting.
Chop butter. Add to chocolate, and let both melt, stirring to blend both evenly.
When chocolate and butter are melted and no longer in lumps, set aside away from heat, to prevent over heating. Stir in all the orange flavouring and port.
Measure almond meal and sugar.
Separate the egg yolks.
Whisk egg yolk with sugar until it turns pale and creamy.
Pour it into melted chocolate and butter in 3 batches, and fold together.
Add almond meal and fold in.
Whisk egg white until it forms a soft white peak which can fall over.
Add egg white to the other chocolate batter in 3 batches and fold in till even.
Pour mixture into cake tin.
Put into oven for 30 minutes at 160 deg.
When time is up, take it out and cool down for at least 1 hour before serving.

The cake will be moist and melting with chocolate in the middle.

Tip: Cut individual serving piece into 4 cm x 4 cm pieces and microwave about 12 seconds each to "warm up" the chocolate - it makes the cake lighter and softer!

Can increase or decrease quantum of walnut/almond meal by up to 40g, depending on whether you want the cake to be lighter or more densed:-)

Option: Sprinkle toasted almond flakes on cake with icing sugar.

Option: For less rich chocolate cake, can reduce chocolate to 300g, and use 6 eggs, and 8 egg whites. Can also omit walnut meal, and replace with more butter ie 175g.
Increase oven time to 35 minutes.

Enjoy!