2011 Cooking Club Week 7 - Flourless chocolate cake

I was having friends over one night and wanted to make a sweet treat of sorts, but it had to be gluten-free as there was a coeliac attending. I stumbled upon this recipe and it has become a firm favourite in my house ever since. It's very very chocolatey without being overly sweet, and unlike wheat cakes it's almost better the next day. Serve on it's own or with a lovely big dollop of whipped cream.



Ingredients:

10.5oz (three large bars) dark chocolate (get good quality 70% cocoa stuff)
5oz butter
6 eggs
2oz caster sugar



Turn on the oven to 160 degrees if using a fan oven; 180 if conventional. Grease and line a springform baking tin.



Break up the chocolate into squares and chuck it into a large bowl.



Melt the chocolate gently. I use the microwave for convenience. Melt until its almost totally liquid and then add in the chopped butter.




Zap it in the microwave again to melt the butter and then mix together well until smooth and glossy.



Set the chocolate mixture aside to cool.

Get two more mixing bowls; a large one and a smaller one. Separate the eggs and put the whites in the large bowl. I find the easiest way to separate eggs is to crack open the egg as follows:



And then chuck the yolk into your hand and let the whites drain through your fingers.



Add 2 tablespoons of the caster sugar into the egg yolks and beat well with an electric mixer.



Keep going for a few minutes until the mixture turns really pale and thick like this:




Pour this mixture into the cooled chocolate and mix well.







Clean the paddles of your electric beater really well and get started on the egg whites. Beat them until soft peaks form; add in the remaining sugar and beat for another minute.



Using a metal spoon, put one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and fold in really gently. Be patient with this, it's worth it.