Flourless Chocolate Cake

I was invited to a friend's party for her son's birthday some months ago and I offered to bring some desserts. I had only planned to bring one kind dessert; my (quite famous??) white chocolate cheesecake with fresh fruits and somehow I screwed up the recipe and instead of getting enough ingredients for 2 cheesecakes, I only had enough ingredients for one. Short of time and reluctant to head to the store again, I decided to check my pantry and worked with what I had. I didn't just want to bring brownies, I wanted to bring something a little special...especially since it was a birthday party after all. Googling and once again www.allrecipes.com saved my life as I found a delicious Flourless Chocolate Cake  recipe. The cake was a big hit! It was perfect for some one who's allergic to gluten or just want to watch their weight? =) Very very rich, so a little piece for everyone was just perfect.

Good quality chocolate is very important when you make such a chocolaty dessert. If you can afford some Valrhona or Callebaut Chocolate, go for it! The next best thing in my opinion if you can't afford the brands I've just mentioned is my all-time favorite (at affordable price); Ghiradelli Chocolates which you could easily get at most grocery stores. I've tried different chocolate brands from the grocery stores and still prefer to use Ghirardelli even though they do cost a little more than the other brands like Nestle and Hershey. =) To me it's worth the extra buck or two.

Here's the recipe for the Flourless Chocolate Cake adapted from www.allrecipes.com.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 18 Oz Good Quality Bittersweet Chocolate
• 2 Tsp Coffee Granules (Optional)
• 1 Cup Unsalted Butter
• 6 Eggs
• 1/4 Cup Toasted Sliced Almonds (Optional)
• 1/4 Cup Good Quality Cocoa Powder (Optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 300 F. Grease one 10 inch round cake pan and set aside. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine water, salt, sugar and optional coffee granules. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside. Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven, melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer. Cut butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in hot sugar mixture. Then slowly beat in eggs one at a time.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in a water bath. Bake cake in the water bath at 300 F for 45-50 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unfold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

If your cake does not look too appealing at this point, sift some good quality cocoa powder over the top to cover the blemishes. You can also use the sliced almonds to cover the sides.

June's Comments: I had some problem removing the cake, so I used a thin knife to quickly go around the edge of the cake and had to soak the came a little longer than 10 seconds. Don't do it too long, as you will melt the cake. The almond slices and cocoa powder came in very handy to glamorize the cake and hid some imperfections!.

Simply June