Flourless Chocolate Cake: Take Two

The last time I made a flourless chocolate cake I accidentally forgot to line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and the cake stuck like crazy.  The two slices I photographed were the only two I was able to pry off of the base of the pan intact.  The rest of the cake crumbled into pieces.  Though the cake was delicious, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for.  The cake was dark, moist and heavy.  It was like a slab of decadent chocolate mousse.  Delicious, but not cakelike.  Having had such good results with Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness Cake I looked again to her recipe collection for her take on a flourless chocolate cake.  The following recipe is an adaptation of her Chocolate Cloud Cake.  This cake is on the opposite end of the spectrum from the flourless chocolate cake I made the last time.  The exterior is crater-like and cracked to reveal a moist but light interior.  The whipped cream topping is barely sweet and is a perfect counter point to the cocolatey cake.  This recipe is going into the keep file.

Guinness Chocolate Cake

I was thumbing through Nigella Lawson's Feast recently and slowed down when I hit the Chocolate Guinness Cake.  I figured what better time to try Chocolate Guinness Cake than right before St. Patrick's day.  I'm not a beer drinker, I am pretty sure this is the first Guinness that's ever passed my lips.  While I can't say I'll change my drinking habits any time soon I can certainly say there's certainly going to be more of this cake in my future.  The batter comes together in a snap.  Once baked the cake is dense without being heavy and moist without being fudgy.  The icing helps add some sweetness that is missing in the cake but is otherwise slightly disappointing.  I love cream cheese frosting but I don't think it complements the chocolate cake (the contrast also makes the cake extremely difficult to photograph with my iPhone) beyond adding sweetness which helps balance the slight bitterness of the cocoa in the cake.  When I make this again I am going to top the cake with chocolate ganache instead.

Original German Chocolate Cake

The man of the house will tell you that there are three desserts that he really likes; thin and chewy chocolate chip cookies, pecan pie and German Chocolate Cake.  The German Chocolate Cake he grew up with is the original recipe printed on Baker's brand German Chocolate bars.  Apparently this is the cake he requested for all of his childhood birthdays and I didn't want to go messin' with a good thing when I made this German Chocolate Cake last weekend.  I was honestly surprised at the complexity of the cake recipe found inside the box.  I figured this recipe would be one step removed from the boxed, add water, eggs and oil variety, but soon found out that I would be whipping egg whites into stiff little peaks and stirring constantly at my stovetop to make the gooey coconut-pecan filling that elevates German Chocolate Cake to crave-worthy status.  The chocolate cake layers are light and are not overwhelmingly chocolate-y.  They are a perfect counterpoint to the sinfully rich and decadent coconut pecan filling.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

 

I am way late to the party, but this was actually my first time making a flourless chocolate cake.  I attempted to make a flourless chocolate waffle like the ones featured in the Great American restaurants a few years back, but that turned out to be more of a flourless chocolate omelet.

As I've mentioned before, my boss has a serious sweet tooth and, in the interest of office harmony and future raises, I try to bring him a little treat here and there.  This week he chose a flourless chocolate cake after I denied his first request for the, impossible to duplicate, flourless chocolate waffle.  I ultimately selected the following recipe at random after realizing no two cooks makes the ubiquitous dessert the same way and all of the reviews for all of the variations were entirely positive.  The preparation for this recipe is simple and quick.  The cake.. worth savoring.  Because this recipe requires that the cake be refrigerated overnight it's a perfect make-ahead dessert for events where you won't have a free oven until long after dinner is over.