[Sca-cooks] Flourless chocolate cake, was History -- pecan pie recipe

[Judith Epstein]

On 20 Nov 2009, at 2:09 PM, Craig Daniel wrote:

> The [flourless chocolate cake] I'm most accustomed to is very dense, and I wouldn't describe it as "airy" at all. The flavor is usually intensely chocolate (much more so than any normal cake), and the slices are generally quite small owing to the richness of the dessert. It's usually served un-iced, though I've encountered a restaurant version that had a thin layer of tempered chocolate covering the exterior. The texture is hard to compare to much else - in some ways it's similar to both ganache and cheesecake, though it's not really like either. I think of it as a cake in name only, but certainly something very good.

That's the kind I know, and that's what I make for Passover or any other occasion in which someone requests chocolate from me. It's dense, heavy... very much like the pretty, charming love-child of a cheesecake and a fudge. Perfectly dreamy. I make mine in mini-muffin cups instead of a big cake pan, because they're so much cuter and easier to serve in the tiny amounts that people can handle. I garnish with a sprinkle of powdered sugar, cocoa, and/or nutmeg, or a drizzle of chocolate or caramel or berry puree. Sometimes I also put a melon-baller-sized scoop of ice cream or sorbet with it, if it's summertime and cold desserts are welcome; in wintertime, perhaps with a demitasse of Turkish coffee spiced with cardamom.

But then, I'm not a fan of chocolate cake, so a flourless chocolate cake that mimics regular chocolate cake is unappealing to me. The only cakes I really dig are yellow, white, red velvet (rarely), German chocolate (only, I like it with the frosting for a German chocolate cake, but the cake itself should be yellow), sometimes lemon, and an olive oil cake dressed with a sweet honey-rosemary-lemon drizzle.

Dang, now I want cake. Oh, wait, I get to have cake tonight! Man, I love Fridays. :)

Judith / no SCA name yet
Master Albrecht Waldfurster's Egg
Middle Kingdom, Midlands, Ayreton, Tree-Girt-Sea (Chicago, IL)