Valentine’s Day Flourless Chocolate Torte
This simple but decadent dessert is as good as the ingredients you use. Be sure your butter and eggs are very fresh and buy the best chocolate you can afford. It is also extraordinarily rich, so you might like to cut this into 10 or 12 servings. Leftovers can be refrigerated for several days.
Ingredients
350 grams (12 ounces) bittersweet chocolate chips (or cut into chunks)
225 grams (8 ounces) unsalted butter
100 ml/ 3 ½ ounces water
13 ounces brown sugar (9-ounce + 4-ounce portions)
5 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extra or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Equipment
10-inch springform pan
3 or 4-inch-deep roasting pan to accommodate springform pan and serve as a bain marie
Garnish Ideas
Melissa’s Chocolate, Caramel, and/or Raspberry Dessert Sauces
Powdered Sugar
Fresh mint leaves
Fresh raspberries
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and line the base of springform pan with parchment paper. To prevent possible leakage, I like to seal the lower outer perimeter of springform pan with aluminum foil.
Over a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate slowly over simmering heat. Stir occasionally and remove mixture from double boiler when almost melted. Stir well and set aside. Reserve the hot water for the bain marie.
Heat 100ml water to a boil with 9 ounces of the brown sugar. Stir well and simmer for about one minute longer. Whisk into the chocolate butter mixture and allow to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, beat the 5 eggs and the remaining 4 ounces of brown sugar with a whisk attachment. Beat until the mixture is tripled in volume, about 5 minutes.
Slowly pour the chocolate butter mixture into the egg mixture, beating just until combined. Add vanilla and mix again.
Pour batter into prepared springform pan and set inside roasting pan. Pour reserved hot water from double boiler into roasting pan. Add additional hot water as needed to reach 60% up the sides of the springform pan.
Place in preheated oven and bake for approximately one hour and 45 minutes or until the cake is just set. The cake will just be starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Turn off the oven and leave the door open and the pan on the oven rack. Allow to cool there for an hour. Remove springform pan from roasting pan and allow to cool to room temperature. Wrap springform pan well with plastic wrap (without touching surface of the cake). Refrigerate overnight and chill for up to a day or two before serving.
To serve: remove cake from the refrigerator at least an hour before serving. Slice cake into pieces and transfer to serving plates. Garnish as desired.
