Flourless Chocolate Cake

This is a wonderful rich chocolate cake that can be dressed up as a dessert for a dinner party or simply enjoyed as a treat.

Preparation Time:      20-30 minutes
Cooking Time:      45-50 minutes
Serves:     10-12 people

250 Grams Unsalted Butter
375 Grams Dark Cooking Chocolate (Buttons)
7 Eggs  (separated)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence
1/2 cup Castor Sugar

Preheat your oven at 180° for approximately 15-20 minutes.  Grease a 25cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.  You may need to stir occasionally to ensure that the butter and chocolate melt evenly.  When completely melted, place aside and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Beat the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla essence until pale and creamy,  add the chocolate mixture and mix well to combine.

Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold the whisked egg whites into the chocolate mixture and combine well.

Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes.  Allow to cool in the tin before turning out.

Dust with icing sugar and serve with cream.  You may wish to dress this cake up to serve as a special dessert.  It is delicious served with  strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Cook’s Tips

I used dark cooking chocolate buttons for this recipe however, it is perfectly fine if you use a block of dark chocolate.  You will need to break the block up into small pieces.

Whilst the chocolate and butter mixture is cooling for a few minutes start preparing the other ingredients.  Start whisking the  egg whites.  For this I use my Kitchen Aid.  In a separate bowl I cream the egg yolks, vanilla essence and sugar using a  small electric hand mixer.  This saves a little bit of time.  However, if you only have one appliance start with whisking the egg whites and place them in a separate bowl.  Then cream the butter, sugar and vanilla essence.

When mixing the chocolate mixture with creamed egg yolks and sugar do this gently in a figure eight motion until completely combined.  Follow the same process when adding the egg white mixture.  Add the whisked egg whites gradually a little at a time.  Mix well and then add a little more until it has all been added and combined and mixed well.

Whilst the cake is baking do keep an eye on it.  If you find it is browning around the edges place some aluminum foil on top to prevent this.  This will ensure it doesn’t brown too quickly.  It will also cook more evenly in the centre.  Turn the oven temperature down a little to prevent this.  Once cooked you can test it with a skewer.  If the skewer comes out clean the cake is ready.

I have also used a rectangle tin to bake the same size cake (33cm x 23cm).  It works just as well and is great when entertaining larger groups.  If you are using a larger baking tin the cake will take less time to bake.

Enjoy!