Flourless Chocolate Cake

[OpalCat]

I found a couple of past threads about this, but I didn't want to resurrect something ancient.

There is a restaurant in Atlanta called Apres Diem that has a flourless chocolate cake that is to DIE for. It's like if chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache had a baby. It's not super sweet--definitely a semisweet chocolate. Very dense, but creamy at the same time. It's very firm, not sticky or gooey but not unpleasantly dry either, and it has a consistent consistency throughout--there is no sense of a crust on the top or bottom.

It's something like that that I am trying to accomplish.

I made a flourless chocolate cake yesterday from a recipe I found on the internet. It has a very definite crunchy crust on the top and bottom and on the edges, and the middle part has the taste and consistency of a brownie.

In other words, it's totally not even close to what I wanted.

So does anyone have a recipe they have personally used that comes out similar to what I described? Please do not just look up something on Google or a recipe site and say "this sounds similar...." because I've already done that and it wasn't anything like what I was looking for. I don't want to waste a bunch of time, money, and calories experimenting with recipes that may or may not bear any similarity to what I want. I am hoping for people who have personally made a cake similar to what I am looking for, and can share that recipe with me.

Thanks!

[Liberal]

Opal, it may not be the recipe. It took me a long time to bake one of these cakes successfully, and it turned out to be my oven temp that was the problem all along. If you haven't calibrated your oven thermostat in a while, bake a thermometer at a pre-heated 350 for about ten minutes and then adjust your settings accordingly. Try the same recipe again. Good luck!

[OpalCat]

No, it is the recipe. The recipe even said that the cake would "fall and look like a pie" which does not fit with what I wanted, but I gave it a shot in case it was good anyway. Now I know that the recipe is not the kind of cake I want, because the cake I am talking about was very dense and an even thickness all the way across. This one that I made was full of stiffly beaten egg whites and it doubled in thickness before I took it out of the oven, after which if fell to about 1/3 of that height. Which, as I said, is what it was supposed to do according to the recipe. Whatever the cake they have at Apres Diem is, it clearly never rose and fell. It is very dense, almost like a fudge, and I'd be surprised if it ever rose at all above the level of the batter.

Also the oven temp was dead on at 350--I always use an oven thermometer because it's a gas oven.

[Meros]

This recipe has served me pretty well in the past and sounds like it might be what you're looking for. It does contain a LOT of eggs and butter though, in fact the eggs are pretty much the only thing holding it together.

it has a very dense, smooth texture, more like fudge than like cake.

Just a note, do NOT depan it until it's cooled down quite a bit, if you don't wait you'll simply have a plate full of (delicious) melted chocolate sludge.

[romansperson]

Originally Posted by Meros

This recipe has served me pretty well in the past and sounds like it might be what you're looking for. It does contain a LOT of eggs and butter though, in fact the eggs are pretty much the only thing holding it together.

it has a very dense, smooth texture, more like fudge than like cake.

Just a note, do NOT depan it until it's cooled down quite a bit, if you don't wait you'll simply have a plate full of (delicious) melted chocolate sludge.

I have a recipe at home that is very similar, and in order to get it out of the pan properly it needs to be chilled overnight and then the bottom of the pan is dipped in hot water before you try to get it out.

The texture is more like a fudge or a smooth cheesecake, and is baked in a water bath like a cheesecake. It is very dense, very rich and very chocolate-y.

[Hippy Hollow]

This is my go-to recipe for flourless chocolate cake. People always flip out after I make it... all I do is follow the recipe, and as mentioned upthread, get yourself a oven thermometer to accurately bake it to perfection.

Nigella knows what she's doing!

[OpalCat]

And as I mentioned upthread I already have and always use an oven thermometer. Thanks for the recipe I'm a little concerned though because it says it will "sink in" in the middle, and refers to it as being a "dense, damp cake" which kind of describes the one I made (more of a moist brownie texture) and not at all like the one at Apres Diem that I'm trying to mimic. That one's texture is kind of hard to describe accurately. It's not DRY but it's not sticky/damp/moist either.

[Hippy Hollow]

Originally Posted by OpalCat

And as I mentioned upthread I already have and always use an oven thermometer. Thanks for the recipe I'm a little concerned though because it says it will "sink in" in the middle, and refers to it as being a "dense, damp cake" which kind of describes the one I made (more of a moist brownie texture) and not at all like the one at Apres Diem that I'm trying to mimic. That one's texture is kind of hard to describe accurately. It's not DRY but it's not sticky/damp/moist either.

I've made it many times, and I prefer the texture you're describing. If you take it out too early, it does stay gooey. But if you give it enough time it comes out... airy? I'm not sure how to describe it. I do like it gooey, but my favorite version is the "drier" version. Not sticky. Give it a try... I'll bet it comes close.

[OpalCat]

One thing I like about that recipe is there is no 15 minutes of beating egg whites. (I only have a hand mixer...)

[Dangerosa]

A flourless chocolate cake is functionally a custard. Baking it in a waterbath will change what it is. If the recipe doesn't have a waterbath, you'll end up with something drier and flakier - waterbath and you'll end up with something that crosses between cake and fudge.

[OpalCat]

the whole water bath thing... is it anything more complicated than having a larger pan, with water in it, with your cake pan inside of that? For example, do you need to do something to give the water some room under the pan, etc?

[parthenokinesis]

Originally Posted by OpalCat

the whole water bath thing... is it anything more complicated than having a larger pan, with water in it, with your cake pan inside of that? For example, do you need to do something to give the water some room under the pan, etc?

I usually put a dishtowel in the bottom of the bath pan whenever I make custardy things. I imagine you could improvise some kind of spacer with wooden chopsticks as well.

[Meros]

nope, that's about all there is to it, at least in my experience. Put the cake pan in the larger pan, making sure it doesn't touch the sides and pour hot (I use boiling) water into the pan, being careful that you don't let water get higher than your cake pan.

I have a disposable foil roasting pan I use for just for waterbaths, I tend to prefer it because when the cooking's done I can fold a corner down (or just poke a hole in the bottom) to drain the water a bit so I don't scald myself taking the cakepan out of the oven.

[Khadro]

Is it possible that the cake they make is not really flourless, but uses something like almond meal?

One of the coffee places around here sells something they label as "flourless cake", but as my wife is gluten intolerant, we still needed to ask before trying it. Turns out the flourless is simply "does not contain plain or self-raising flour". It did have almond meal, and I think tapioca starch in it. It's definitely cake-y, but it's also extremely dense and thick.

We bought a whole one for her birthday recently, and it was widely regarded as one of the best chocolate cakes that everyone had eaten.

[Dangerosa]

Originally Posted by Khadro

Is it possible that the cake they make is not really flourless, but uses something like almond meal?

One of the coffee places around here sells something they label as "flourless cake", but as my wife is gluten intolerant, we still needed to ask before trying it. Turns out the flourless is simply "does not contain plain or self-raising flour". It did have almond meal, and I think tapioca starch in it. It's definitely cake-y, but it's also extremely dense and thick.

We bought a whole one for her birthday recently, and it was widely regarded as one of the best chocolate cakes that everyone had eaten.

There are gluten free cakes (I'm gluten intolerant as well) made with rice flour and/or tapioca and/or almond and/or something else. But a flourless chocolate cake is generally understood to mean no flour of any kind - not gluten based flours nor non-gluten based flours. General ingrediant list: butter, chocolate, eggs. Flourless chocolate cakes are gluten free, but gluten free cakes are not generally considered flourless - if they have a starch in them.

[Angua]

Originally Posted by OpalCat

There is a restaurant in Atlanta called Apres Diem that has a flourless chocolate cake that is to DIE for. It's like if chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache had a baby. It's not super sweet--definitely a semisweet chocolate. Very dense, but creamy at the same time. It's very firm, not sticky or gooey but not unpleasantly dry either, and it has a consistent consistency throughout--there is no sense of a crust on the top or bottom.

This sounds very similar to the fondant au chocolat that I make, but there is a tiny amount of flour in that, so its probably not quite what you're looking for. I can post the recipe if anyone's interested though.

[Terrorcotta]

OpalCat - is it the flour you don't want or the texture/consistancy you do want?

My Offspring ordered the One Bite Brownie at Applebee's this week and I was astounded at how not-brownie, not-cake fudge-like consistency it was. Delicious! They have a copy-cat recipe at cdkitchen.com but I don't know how close it is.

[OpalCat]

Terrorcotta: I have nothing against flour, I just am obsessed with this cake. I like the taste and the texture.

[OpalCat]

Originally Posted by Angua

This sounds very similar to the fondant au chocolat that I make, but there is a tiny amount of flour in that, so its probably not quite what you're looking for. I can post the recipe if anyone's interested though.

Oh sure post it. I'm not after this cake *because* it's flourless. I couldn't care less if it has flour in it. It's just that the cake I'm trying to duplicate happens to be flourless.

[jjimm]

I made a flourless chocolate cake for my wedding. It was fantastically good though I say so myself.

Ingredients (from memory):

38 eggs (32 separated)
2 kg (~4.4 lb) 70%-cocoa chocolate
2 kg (~4.4 lb) sugar
2.5 kg (~5.5 lb) ground almonds

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie. This takes a couple of hours. Meanwhile beat the 32 egg whites to a soft peak. Allow the chocolate to cool just to solidification point and beat in the 6 unseparated eggs, sugar, and the ground almonds. Pour the egg whites into the chocolate - not the other way round - and gently fold together until consistently mixed. Pour into oiled tins and bake at 175C (~350F) for about 1.5 hours (for the largest tin - reduce for smaller ones). Makes four big cakes.

I'm scaling this down to about 25% tomorrow to make my buddy's 35th birthday cake for Saturday.

[Dangerosa]

Originally Posted by jjimm

I made a flourless chocolate cake for my wedding. It was fantastically good though I say so myself.

Ingredients (from memory):

38 eggs (32 separated)
2 kg (~4.4 lb) 70%-cocoa chocolate
2 kg (~4.4 lb) sugar
2.5 kg (~5.5 lb) ground almonds

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie. This takes a couple of hours. Meanwhile beat the 32 egg whites to a soft peak. Allow the chocolate to cool just to solidification point and beat in the 6 unseparated eggs, sugar, and the ground almonds. Pour the egg whites into the chocolate - not the other way round - and gently fold together until consistently mixed. Pour into oiled tins and bake at 175C (~350F) for about 1.5 hours (for the largest tin - reduce for smaller ones). Makes four big cakes.

I'm scaling this down to about 25% tomorrow to make my buddy's 35th birthday cake for Saturday.

Mine is 1 lb chocolate (dark), 1/2 lb butter, 6 eggs. Melt the chocolate and butter together and beat the crap out of the eggs (whites and yolks) until the triple in volume and get as stiff as they'll get with the yolks in them. Fold gently - a little at a time - then bake for five minutes uncovered in a waterbath at 425 - cover with buttered foil and bake another 10 minutes. Fridge overnight and unmold (use a springform pan)

[Angua]

My chocolate cake recipe. I made this yesterday for work in fact, and I've never seen chocolate cake disappear so quickly.

125g dark chocolate
125g butter
3 eggs separated
125g sugar
60g flour

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over barely simmering water. Once the chocolate is melted, add the butter, and mix well. Add the sugar, and mix till dissolved. Add the egg yolks, and mix till the mixture looks glossy. Then add the flour, and leave to rest whilst you beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Fold in the egg whites and pour into a 20cm greased cake tin. Bake in an oven preheated to 160C for approximately 15 minutes.

[OpalCat]

Ok the 160 I can figure out easily enough... the other measurements are going to be tricky though. That seems to be by weight, which isn't how I am used to measuring ingredients. In fact, I have no way to weigh ingredients--the only scale I have is the one in the bathroom. Is there a site that would translate this into cups/tsp/tbsp etc?

[Angua]

I've been using this site, which I think is pretty good. Hope that helps.

[OpalCat]

Oh man that is an awesome site *bookmarks it*

[jjimm]

Got one in the oven right now.

And a second one when that one's done (and I've cleaned the spring tin).

[jjimm]

For your delight, here's a picture of the chocolate cake I made for my friend's birthday last night while half drunk. A bit stuck to the tin as I was taking it out of the tin, that I gave to WriterChick to taste, and I am not joking when I say her eyes filled with tears at how good it tasted. I haven't tried any yet - am looking forward to unveiling it at the cookout we're about to go to.

Here's the adapted recipe I made up:

10 eggs (8 separated)
500g 70%+ cocoa chocolate
400g ground almonds
250g caster sugar

I beat the 8 egg whites with half the sugar until it formed soft peaks. Meanwhile I melted the chocolate in a bain marie. Took chocolate off the heat, allowed to cool, beat in the egg yolks and two other eggs, then mixed in the rest of the sugar and the almonds. This was much thicker than normal, and I was worried it would compromise the foaminess of the egg whites. Contrary to the above directions, due to a bowl mixup and laziness caused by being half drunk, I mixed the chocolate into the whites and it worked out just fine. I cooked half at a time for 45 minutes each, 30 mins at 175C and 15 mins at 160C, and then used some Betty Crocker chocolate frosting to ice the two parts together and the top; and made my own glacé icing for the kind word of affection to my buddy.

I am acknowledgedly arrogant about my cooking, but am honest when I say that I can't wait to taste this.

[Harriet the Spry]

I suggest the Bete Noir from epicurious http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/views/235831

I got results similar to what you describe as the cake you want, and it was very easy. I think I wound up using a mix of bittersweet and semisweet chocoloate for the cake, and bittersweet for the ganache.

[OpalCat]

You know, my arteries are hardening just from reading this thread.

[jjimm]

Well it went down well. My friend announced to the party: "Thank you all for coming. Please help yourself to the twat cake."