Mother’s Day is around the corner and I have another recipe for you to try out – Annie Bell’s French Flourless Chocolate Cake. This recipe from Annie Bell can be found in one of my favourite cooking books given to me by my sister many years ago, called the Baking Bible.
Obviously, I am keen to try any alternative recipes available, especially those that are free from flour, with this one being no exception.
You only need a few ingredients to make this fudgy cake, including butter, eggs, chocolate, coffee and caster sugar.
French Flourless Chocolate Cake
Flourless chocolate cakes don’t tend to vary much in the ingredient department: there is chocolate, obviously, plus eggs, sugar and butter.
The difference comes in how they are combined and baked.
As there is no baking powder used, the egg whites and yolks are whisked rigorously with caster sugar to incorporate air into the batter.
The chocolate and butter are melted slowly and the egg whites are then gently folded into the mixture.
Dreamy Chocolate Cake
Annie also warns you that the cake will dip in the centre once removed from the oven.
Once the cake is cooled, a frosting of melted chocolate and coffee is poured over the top, setting hard in the fridge.
This flourless chocolate cake verges into the dessert category, as it has a rich flavour and a dense, fudgy and gooey texture, as opposed to a traditional sponge cake.
This Flourless Chocolate Cake is rustic, messy and its got a decadent chocolate-coffee crater, surrounded by crunchy sides.
I topped mine with fresh raspberries, but you can use whatever fruit you like, or omit the fruit and add chocolate shavings instead.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Happy Baking ❤
Love,
Cat
French Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
for the cake
- 250 g unsalted butter diced
- 250 g dark chocolate broken into pieces
- 6 large eggs seperated
- 120 g caster sugar
for the glaze
- 100 g dark chocolate broken into pieces
- 3 tbsp strong black coffee
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160C and grease a 20cm non-stick cake tin with a removable base
- Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat but keep over the pot of warm water.
- Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl with half the caster sugar until pale and creamy.
- In a separate clean bowl, whisk eggs whites until stiff, ensuring to add the remaining caster sugar in three additions. The mixture should resemble a glossy meringue
- Fold melted chocolate mixture into the egg yolk and sugar mixture and then carefully fold in the meringue in two goes.
- Pout mixture into the prepared tin, tap on a work surface to remove bubbles and then bake for an hour or so (could be done around the 45min mark) until a skewer inserted comes out clean or with very little crumbs
- Let cake cool in the tin
- To make the glaze, melt chocolate in a bowl in the microwave, and then remove and whisk in the hot coffee until you have a smooth glaze.
- Remove cake from tin (i left mine on its base) and pour the glaze into the crater of the cake and top with decorations if desired.
- Cool completely in the fridge before eating
Notes
- You can use an electric hand mixer if you have one, otherwise, a good old fashioned whisk and patience is needed
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