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The 2021 Cake Challenge has afforded some great opportunities to experiment in the kitchen. And the kitchens of Full Moon Cuisine love a good challenge. So what if we were to take a classic like chocolate cake and re-imagine it. What if we concentrated the flavor of chocolate into a dark, dense, delectable treat? And what's more, what if we made it gluten free so more people could enjoy it? And the best part? This cake can be a one-bowl wonder that you can put together in no time flat. Here's what you'll need:
- 6 oz bittersweet baking chocolate (I used Baker's Chocolate)
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter at room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 Dutch process cocoa powder (I found this at my regular grocery store)
- Pinch of salt
To begin, preheat your oven to 350°F. Next, give your chocolate a fine chop into small pieces and place it and the butter into a large, microwave safe bowl. Quick note here, if you have a large bowl you won't need to dirty any other dishes in prepping the cake. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring well after each period. Continue until the butter and chocolate have melted and combined (this took mine about 1 minute). Set aside on the counter to cool for a few minutes. Next, add in the sugar and espresso powder, mixing together using a whisk or an electric mixer. Proceed to incorporate the eggs one at a time, mixing until combined. Carefully add in the cocoa powder, vanilla and salt (the cocoa powder can get everywhere, so mix slowly at first).
Use a nonstick cooking spray and a round of parchment paper on a 9" cake pan and pour in the batter, using a spatula to spread it evenly. Note, the batter will be thick, almost like brownie batter. Now, to help the cake stay moist, pour boiling water into a large baking dish (like a roasting pan) and place on the bottom rack of your oven. This will produce steam and help keep the cake moist. Place the cake pan in your oven and bake for 35 minutes. If you're using an 8" cake pan it will take a few extra minutes. Either way, start checking to see if the cake is done at 25 minutes by using a toothpick (you're looking for the toothpick to draw back out with a few moist crumbs) and check every 3-minutes until done. Once the cake is done, allow to cool on a wire rack for 10-minutes before turning out onto a cake plate and allow to cool completely.
Now this cake may not look like much, being one-layer and thin... so how about we turn the volume up a bit? Earlier in the challenge, we made a chocolate ganache. But we already have chocolate as the star, so what can we do to help make this cake more exciting? What if we infused it with something to compliment the chocolate, like orange? For an easy chocolate orange ganache, here's what you'll need:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Zest of 1 orange
- 8 oz semisweet chocolate chips
In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream and orange zest over medium heat until you see small bubbles appearing around the edge. Make sure you do not bring the cream to a full boil! Once you have the bubbles, pour over the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and let sit for 3-minutes. Next, begin to stir and stir and stir. It won't look right at first, but just keep stirring and the ganache will come together. Pour over the cooled cake and use a spatula to help draw the ganache to the edge of the cake without having it spill over. You may not need all of the ganache, if so you can store it in the fridge for several days. Let cool in the fridge until ready to serve. You can also add some whipped cream if you'd like, but the flavor of orange and chocolate together is already pretty perfect!
Chocolate is a wonderful flavor to highlight. And by adding the hint of orange and removing the flour, chocolate truly becomes the star. And, perhaps in the future, maybe instead of the espresso powder we could substitute chipotle powder to make a chili-orange flourless chocolate cake. Either way if you make this cake, any of your friends will be in for a real treat and they won't even miss the gluten. To make sure there's plenty of chocolate to go around the kitchen will be staying open late tonight. Care to place an order?
Want to know what the 2021 Cake Challenge is all about? Check out my journal on the subject and maybe submit a suggestion for a future recipe the Cake Challenge is on!
- 6 oz bittersweet baking chocolate (I used Baker's Chocolate)
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter at room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 Dutch process cocoa powder (I found this at my regular grocery store)
- Pinch of salt
To begin, preheat your oven to 350°F. Next, give your chocolate a fine chop into small pieces and place it and the butter into a large, microwave safe bowl. Quick note here, if you have a large bowl you won't need to dirty any other dishes in prepping the cake. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring well after each period. Continue until the butter and chocolate have melted and combined (this took mine about 1 minute). Set aside on the counter to cool for a few minutes. Next, add in the sugar and espresso powder, mixing together using a whisk or an electric mixer. Proceed to incorporate the eggs one at a time, mixing until combined. Carefully add in the cocoa powder, vanilla and salt (the cocoa powder can get everywhere, so mix slowly at first).
Use a nonstick cooking spray and a round of parchment paper on a 9" cake pan and pour in the batter, using a spatula to spread it evenly. Note, the batter will be thick, almost like brownie batter. Now, to help the cake stay moist, pour boiling water into a large baking dish (like a roasting pan) and place on the bottom rack of your oven. This will produce steam and help keep the cake moist. Place the cake pan in your oven and bake for 35 minutes. If you're using an 8" cake pan it will take a few extra minutes. Either way, start checking to see if the cake is done at 25 minutes by using a toothpick (you're looking for the toothpick to draw back out with a few moist crumbs) and check every 3-minutes until done. Once the cake is done, allow to cool on a wire rack for 10-minutes before turning out onto a cake plate and allow to cool completely.
Now this cake may not look like much, being one-layer and thin... so how about we turn the volume up a bit? Earlier in the challenge, we made a chocolate ganache. But we already have chocolate as the star, so what can we do to help make this cake more exciting? What if we infused it with something to compliment the chocolate, like orange? For an easy chocolate orange ganache, here's what you'll need:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Zest of 1 orange
- 8 oz semisweet chocolate chips
In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream and orange zest over medium heat until you see small bubbles appearing around the edge. Make sure you do not bring the cream to a full boil! Once you have the bubbles, pour over the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and let sit for 3-minutes. Next, begin to stir and stir and stir. It won't look right at first, but just keep stirring and the ganache will come together. Pour over the cooled cake and use a spatula to help draw the ganache to the edge of the cake without having it spill over. You may not need all of the ganache, if so you can store it in the fridge for several days. Let cool in the fridge until ready to serve. You can also add some whipped cream if you'd like, but the flavor of orange and chocolate together is already pretty perfect!
Chocolate is a wonderful flavor to highlight. And by adding the hint of orange and removing the flour, chocolate truly becomes the star. And, perhaps in the future, maybe instead of the espresso powder we could substitute chipotle powder to make a chili-orange flourless chocolate cake. Either way if you make this cake, any of your friends will be in for a real treat and they won't even miss the gluten. To make sure there's plenty of chocolate to go around the kitchen will be staying open late tonight. Care to place an order?
Want to know what the 2021 Cake Challenge is all about? Check out my journal on the subject and maybe submit a suggestion for a future recipe the Cake Challenge is on!
Category Food / Recipes / Still Life
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Huh! I'm always intrigued seeing more flourless chocolate cake recipes! The one my aunt taught me required gently melting 18oz semisweet chocolate chips with 1-1.25c butter, preferably melting the butter in the microwave and just pouring onto the chocolate, waiting, and stirring. Then in a mixer bowl beating 6 eggs plus a half teaspoon of an extract such as orange on high until tripled in bulk, 5-6+ minutes, then carefully tempering the eggs with the partly cooled chocolate mixture before folding it all together and spreading that. No added sugar or cocoa powder.
I was actually surprised your recipe didn't require beating or whipping the eggs as a result! But I wonder if the cocoa powder itself helps give structure to some extent as flour would in order to make it all work nicely. That ganache-like glaze sounds fantastic with it! Will give this whole recipe a try the next time I want to make a flourless chocolate cake!
I was actually surprised your recipe didn't require beating or whipping the eggs as a result! But I wonder if the cocoa powder itself helps give structure to some extent as flour would in order to make it all work nicely. That ganache-like glaze sounds fantastic with it! Will give this whole recipe a try the next time I want to make a flourless chocolate cake!
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