smitten kitchen recipe recommendations I: flourless chocolate cake
I love Smitten Kitchen and I've been making a lot of her recipes lately. First up:
melt in your mouth flourless chocolate cake
http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/04/heavenly-chocolate-cake-roll/
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/03/the-best-chocolate-cake-expletive-free/
This is not like other flourless chocolate cakes. There is no pretense of flour by using ground nuts, or any other flour substitutes. In fact, it is little more than melted chocolate suspended in egg foam (in a similar process to making chiffons, if you're familiar.) I first made this for my friend who was diagnosed with Celiac disease. It is fantastic. It's light and tasting deeply of chocolate, and the whipped cream makes it seem even lighter.
(Aside: why do so many recipes for whipped cream ask for powdered sugar? I always use regular sugar. It dissolves fine, and then whips up no problem, even when I've resorted to doing it by hand. Not exactly no problem by hand, but it does work.)
Her family clipped it from the New York Times back in 1975 and has been making it ever since. It was presented then as a roll cake (and she has incorporated reader tips on how to best avoid cake cracking,) but you can also make it as a layer cake. However, I don't see the need for a 9" four layer double recipe version which requires a dozen eggs like in her second link. I've so far served it as single 9" layers which is perfectly elegant, especially with fresh strawberries on the side, and as a cute little double layer 6" cake. The recipe below is for a double layer 9" cake, which I think easily serves 10. You could halve it or just save leftover layers for later snacking if you're serving fewer, which is what I do.
For two 9" layers (see first link for roll cake instructions)
6 oz. / 170 g dark chocolate chopped or 1 cup semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons water or strong coffee
6 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp sugar, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 to 2 tablespoons liqueur of your choice, such as Grand Marnier
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Oil and line a pair of 9" cake pans with parchement paper (or four 6" pans.)
Melt the chocolate and water over very low heat or using bursts in the microwave until nearly melted, then remove from heat and stir to melt completely. Set aside to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, beat yolks and sugar at high speed until pale and ribbony (this means that when you lift the beaters, what drips back in is so thick it it doesn't disappear immediately. It will be paler than pale butter.) Genltly stir in the melted chocolate/water mixture.
With a clean bowl and beaters, sprinkle the salt over the egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form. Transfer about 1/4 of it to the chocolate/yolk mix and gently stir it in. Gently fold in the remaining whites in 3 additions until more or less no white poufs remain. (If you're scared of over handling, it's okay. The white poufs will show, but it will bake fine. If you're not scared of raw eggs, and no sueing me if you get sick! taste the batter. The taste and texture are heavenly.)
Divide the batter evenly in the two pans and smooth the top as evenly as possible, because it will bake to pretty much exactly that shape, but with a rise around the edges after it sinks on cooling. I use a small offset spatula. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick poked in the centre comes out clean and the top feels velvetty and dry. (It'll seem a little underdone if you also use the finger poke test, like me.)
Remove from the oven and cool on racks. Run a knife around the edges at some point. You can leave it in the pans until you're ready to frost, in the fridge overnight if necessary. Freeze for an hour before frosting to make the delicate thin cake layer easier to handle if you're stacking. (Not really necessary for the little 6" cake.)
For frosting, add sugar and optional flavourings to the cream, give it a stir to help the sugar dissolve, and whip to the desired consistency. I like stiff peaks. (If you're stacking, I think you definitely need stiff, but if not just whip it as much as you like.) Spread slightly less than half the whipped cream on the top of one layer, top with the second, and spread the remaining cream on top. Give it an artful swirly fluffy appearance if you can, and leave the sides naked. Refridgerate until ready to serve. It could probably use an hour or two to make sure the cake layers are no longer frozen if you did that.
melt in your mouth flourless chocolate cake
http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/04/heavenly-chocolate-cake-roll/
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/03/the-best-chocolate-cake-expletive-free/
This is not like other flourless chocolate cakes. There is no pretense of flour by using ground nuts, or any other flour substitutes. In fact, it is little more than melted chocolate suspended in egg foam (in a similar process to making chiffons, if you're familiar.) I first made this for my friend who was diagnosed with Celiac disease. It is fantastic. It's light and tasting deeply of chocolate, and the whipped cream makes it seem even lighter.
(Aside: why do so many recipes for whipped cream ask for powdered sugar? I always use regular sugar. It dissolves fine, and then whips up no problem, even when I've resorted to doing it by hand. Not exactly no problem by hand, but it does work.)
Her family clipped it from the New York Times back in 1975 and has been making it ever since. It was presented then as a roll cake (and she has incorporated reader tips on how to best avoid cake cracking,) but you can also make it as a layer cake. However, I don't see the need for a 9" four layer double recipe version which requires a dozen eggs like in her second link. I've so far served it as single 9" layers which is perfectly elegant, especially with fresh strawberries on the side, and as a cute little double layer 6" cake. The recipe below is for a double layer 9" cake, which I think easily serves 10. You could halve it or just save leftover layers for later snacking if you're serving fewer, which is what I do.
For two 9" layers (see first link for roll cake instructions)
6 oz. / 170 g dark chocolate chopped or 1 cup semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons water or strong coffee
6 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp sugar, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 to 2 tablespoons liqueur of your choice, such as Grand Marnier
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Oil and line a pair of 9" cake pans with parchement paper (or four 6" pans.)
Melt the chocolate and water over very low heat or using bursts in the microwave until nearly melted, then remove from heat and stir to melt completely. Set aside to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, beat yolks and sugar at high speed until pale and ribbony (this means that when you lift the beaters, what drips back in is so thick it it doesn't disappear immediately. It will be paler than pale butter.) Genltly stir in the melted chocolate/water mixture.
With a clean bowl and beaters, sprinkle the salt over the egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form. Transfer about 1/4 of it to the chocolate/yolk mix and gently stir it in. Gently fold in the remaining whites in 3 additions until more or less no white poufs remain. (If you're scared of over handling, it's okay. The white poufs will show, but it will bake fine. If you're not scared of raw eggs, and no sueing me if you get sick! taste the batter. The taste and texture are heavenly.)
Divide the batter evenly in the two pans and smooth the top as evenly as possible, because it will bake to pretty much exactly that shape, but with a rise around the edges after it sinks on cooling. I use a small offset spatula. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick poked in the centre comes out clean and the top feels velvetty and dry. (It'll seem a little underdone if you also use the finger poke test, like me.)
Remove from the oven and cool on racks. Run a knife around the edges at some point. You can leave it in the pans until you're ready to frost, in the fridge overnight if necessary. Freeze for an hour before frosting to make the delicate thin cake layer easier to handle if you're stacking. (Not really necessary for the little 6" cake.)
For frosting, add sugar and optional flavourings to the cream, give it a stir to help the sugar dissolve, and whip to the desired consistency. I like stiff peaks. (If you're stacking, I think you definitely need stiff, but if not just whip it as much as you like.) Spread slightly less than half the whipped cream on the top of one layer, top with the second, and spread the remaining cream on top. Give it an artful swirly fluffy appearance if you can, and leave the sides naked. Refridgerate until ready to serve. It could probably use an hour or two to make sure the cake layers are no longer frozen if you did that.