flourless chocolate cake at 10,000 feet!

[durangojo]

hi all,
i am making a flourless chocolate cake with a chambord ganache..we serve it with a simple creme anglaise..simple enough, but the cake it doing funny things in the oven..recipe calls for 12 oz chocolate, 1 cup of sugar, 6 eggs and 1/2 lb of butter...so far, so good..i put it in a round cake pan with parchment paper under, then put it in a water bath, then tightly foil the whole thing and bake for 1 hr 15 minutes. when i lift the foil, the cake has gone over its sides and very high in the meddde.. it settles down as it cools and its servable,, but when i turn it over to put on the ganache, the bottom is then not even,,its created a 'rim' so that the piece doesn't sit evenly on the plate..does this make sense?..my suspicion is that the eggs are doing something at this altitude..should i cut down on the amount? beat them less?do i need the foil on so tightly or can i sort of 'tent' it?.i try just to beatthe eggs just soft to incorporate them into the chocolate...any help or suggestions would be appreciated..thanks...
joey

[tommybza]

why the foil?
to much steam
The time sounds good,
try just yolks and see what happens,
fold in whip cream in place of the whites .
try to trim the cake and level her off before plating .
T

[pastrymama]

I make a similar torte and have done so at high altitude. My recipe comes from the Cake Bible and uses 16 oz of bittersweet chocolate, 8 oz butter and 6 eggs, no sugar. It calls to warm the eggs and beat to ribbon stage. I always warm them but just beat with a whisk just to blend the yolks into the whites. I try not to add any air to them, then blend in the chocolate and butter. Pour into the lined pan and bake at 425 degrees in a baine marie uncovered for 5 minutes. Then cover with foil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more. The cake will still jiggle in the center. Let it cool down and chill or freeze overnight. This always comes out nice and doesn't puff up unless you forget and bake it too long. Even when it has baked too long, I just slice off the uneven part and put the top as the bottom. I hope this will be helpful.

[Pattycake2007]

Hey Durango Joe,

I own a chocolate/pastry company in Telluride - right up the road from Durango and also at 10,000 feet and have baked up here for 14 years so these are my suggestions.

All kinds of cakes I've had plenty of trouble with up here until I adjusted the recipee. However, I've never had trouble with flourless cakes at altitude except when I did them in a convection oven. Are you baking the cake in a convection oven?

Also, check the temp on your oven - is it accurate? Temperature is critical with flourless. My flourless chocolate cake does rise very high and then fall to a lower level after it cools. I'm not sure, but I think this is the way flourless cakes work - can't remember doing them at a lower altitude - I've lived up here for 14 years.

Additionally, at this altitude I find that other factors in weather affect cakes - especially barometric pressure. Other bakers up here have noticed this also. I have one genoise that won't work at all if it's raining. Have you only made this once? What was the weather?

On another note - I may be needing a pastry chef in a few months. Do you know anyone interested?

[durangojo]

hi pattycake,,
funny you should ask what the weather was like when i was baking the 'orbit' cake..20 feet of snow so far this winter, so bet it was snowing!...my oven is fine and i have baked lots of cakes, including flourless ones in it..difference was i have always baked my flourless ones in a sprinform pan with foil in a water bath..this 'orbit' cake(its suppose to send poeple into orbit!) recipe called for the cake to be baked in a 9 x 2" round cake pan..i have a 9 x1.5 pan so i think thats the difference..since i don't have a 9x2, do you think i can use the sprinform pan for this? i don't see why not, but you're the expert! i tried not covering the cake with foil as one poster suggested and the cake 'crusted up'..i think the foil does indeed steam it, but i think that is what i want.whats your opinion?..thanks for the baking info you shared..i am up by the ski area(purgatory) and have been here for 16 years. have been running a seasonal restaurant for 15 years(summertime) at electra lake..do you know it? aah, telluride...another colorado town i can't afford to live in!!! i may be coming your way to ski before the area closes..maybe i can stop by..what's the name of your bakery? again, thanks for the help
joey(i'm a she!)

[Pattycake2007]

Durango Jo,

Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you - I got BUSY. Easter and spring break at the same time. But in answer to your question about what my shop is called - it's Telluride Truffle. Come by and see us when you come up. I'm at the Farmer's Market every Friday and Sunday we're closed.