I’d always enjoyed flourless chocolate cakes in restaurants, but I’d never quite gotten around to making one – until now. The request came in for a party I was cooking for, and while I don’t consider myself a baker, I definitely was excited about the challenge. Turns out, as any chocoholic will tell you, you don’t have to do that much to chocolate to make people love it.
Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus additional
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus additional
1 ½ cups heavy cream
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup crushed Texas pecans
2 tablespoons cognac or other brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
¼ cup confectioners sugar
Sauce:
1 cup raspberries
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup water
½ cup cognac or other brandy
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch Springform pan and dust with cocoa powder. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with 1 cup heavy cream. Add the chocolate pieces and stir until thoroughly melted. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar and cocoa powder. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture, followed by the pecans, 1 tablespoon cognac, vanilla and almond. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until set, 40-45 minutes. Let cool in pan for 1 hour, then run knife around the edges and invert onto a serving dish.
To make whipped cream, pour the remaining heavy cream and confectioners sugar into a chilled metal bowl and beat with a chilled metal whisk, until thickened with soft peaks forming. Whisk in remaining cognac. To make the sauce, stir the raspberries with the sugar and water over medium-high until bubbly, then carefully pour in the cognac and flambé until the flame burns out. Spoon raspberries and sauce over wedges of cake. Top with whipped cream. Serves 10-12.
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