Yesterday I was looking for an easy dessert I could make for my sisters-in-laws’ birthday cake. I needed something that wouldn’t be affected by the hot weather (although it turned out to be quite cold yesterday!) and that would travel well. I didn’t really want to make a traditional cake, I’m kind of sick of cupcakes, pie didn’t sound very exciting, and brownies didn’t feel very birthdayish. So after a lot of Pinterest browsing for inspiration I settled on a flourless chocolate cake topped with a ton of fresh berries.
The first time I had a flourless chocolate cake was at a restaurant in Minnesota. For whatever reason, Greg and I really didn’t like the food we had ordered so the waitress offered us a free dessert. I picked the flourless chocolate cake topped with strawberries and it was pretty much the most delicious thing I’ve ever had in my life. I was in love. Of course I immediately went home and found a recipe so I could make it whenever I wanted. And then I forgot about it. I love finding new things to bake so much that I very, very rarely make the same thing twice, no matter how good it was the first time. It’s a shame I’ve gone so many years before making another one of these!
Flourless chocolate cakes are decadent, but they’re not very pretty to look at on their own. I chose to make mine in a springform pan so I could move it to another platter to decorate. You could easily make this in a regular cake pan or square pan and just leave it as is. Topping choices are endless. I thought a mountain of fresh berries seemed appropriate for a July birthday, but you could do whipped cream, ice cream, caramel, or just leave it plain with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar. Trust me, any way you eat it, it’s going to be good.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
1 cup butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used one bag of Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips)
5 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder (or…I used ground chocolate…because I like it)
Berries and powdered sugar for topping
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9″ springform pan and dust with cocoa powder.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with 1/4 cup of heavy cream until the butter is melted. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth. When you use chocolate chips this first step is very easy.
3. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and cocoa powder. Slowly pour in the hot chocolate mixture until thoroughly combined.
4. Pour batter into pan and bake until set, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan for one hour. Run knife along edges before taking the outside of the pan off. If you want to transfer to another platter run a large knife under the cake and very slowly slide it over. When completely cool top with berries and a dusting of powdered sugar. Enjoy!
