Flourless Chocolate Cakes

[chefmoni]

I'm want to make a rich, yet airy flourless chocolate cake and have come across many different recipes. I am first wondering what the difference between a fallen souffle cake, truffle cake and typical flourless chocolate cake are. Second, does anyone have a fabulous recipe??

Thanks!
Monica

[Zukerig]

The variations of flourless chocolate tortes in my recipe collection are legion. I have often made this one:

10 large free-range eggs, separated and at room temp.
¾ cup plus 2 Tbsps granulated white sugar
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted slowly over hot water then cooled (I use Callebaut)
2 cups finely chopped (not ground) toasted pecans

Set oven to 350° F.

Beat the egg yolks & sugar until very thick and lemon colored. Stir in the chocolate. Fold in the nuts.

Whip the egg whites until stiff-but-not-dry peaks are achieved; fold them into the chocolate-nut mixture. Turn into a greased 10-inch spring-form pan and bake about 1 hour, or until the center springs back when lightly touched with the fingertips.

Cool in pan. Serve with sauce anglaise swirled with raspberry coulis:

One 12-ounce bag (Q.I.F. – “quick-individual-frozen”) raspberries (I prefer Cascadian Farm Organic brand)
½ cup superfine sugar
1 Tbsp black-raspberry liqueur (Chambord is premium)

Soften the unthawed berries with the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a spoon until the sugar is completely dissolved. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. Stir in the liqueur.

Here are some noteworthy flourless-chocolate-torte recipe titles sourced from my book shelves:

Instructions for a genuine "Chocolate Truffle Cake" (yes, you make the truffles first!) are included in Terra: Cooking from the Heart of Napa Valley by Hiro Sone & Lissa Doumani.

Refer to Alice Medrich’s recipe for "Fallen Chocolate Soufflé Cake" in Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts.

“Flourless Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with Milk-Chocolate Drizzle" (Boyle & Moriarty: Chocolate Passion).

Mary Lou Simmelink’s "Boca Negra with White Chocolate Cream" (Baking with Julia)

"Chocolate Budino Cake" (Published in both Heron’s Rose Pistola Cookbook & Anya von Bremzen’s The Greatest Dishes!)

"Chocolate Pudding Cake" (well, it contains a mere 2 Tbsps flour) in Michele Urvater’s Chocolate Cake: 150 Recipes from Simple to Sublime.

"Flourless Almond Cake" (Spain Gourmantour – Food, Wine, & Travel Magazine)

Lawrence