I showed up to my dear friend’s for dinner last night to find that there were indeed four of us for dinner instead of two. The more the merrier! Steve had made desserts so it was no problem that I only took enough for two. He promptly opened his fridge to show me the sugarless mousse au chocolat. He then said, “I also baked a floorless chocolate cake”.
I wasn’t quite sure what he meant. I tried to imagine but,… a chocolate cake without a bottom? Not physically possible unless he’s mastered anti-gravity baking and his cake exist in a two-dimensional world.
Throughout dinner he mentioned this “floorless” chocolate cake a few times so my curiosity peaked. Finally he brought out the casserole dish he had baked it in and I understood. This was Trish Deseine’s almost FLOURLESS chocolate cake!
His French accent is so adorable!
He did a brilliant job at baking it. Another friend, Miss S was dining with us. Miss S is responsible for the chocolate tastings offered by La Maison du Chocolat in Paris. She has agreed to give me a brief, “How to Taste Chocolate” course. I will be writing about it, no doubt.
By the time Miss S and I headed out into the night, I noticed something. Death by chocolate is not nearly as uncomfortable when there is almost no flour in the cake or additional sugar in the mousse au chocolat. Here is my adaption of Trish Deseine’s Gâteau au chocolat fondant de Nathalie. recipe:
Required time: about 40 minutes
Ingredients:
200 g un-salted butter
200 g high quality dark chocolate (70 % cacao)
250 g sugar (original recipe calls for 200 g)
4 eggs
3 rounded tablespoon of flour (original recipe calls for just 1 tablespoon. I prefer 3 level tablespoons)
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Line an 8-inch (20cm) round cake pan with parchment paper (no need to if you’re using a non-stick pan).
Melt together the butter with the chocolate in a double-boiler. Transfer into a medium mixing-bowl. Add in the sugar, stir with a wooden spoon and let cool a little. Add in the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition. Finally, add in the flour and mix well.
Pour the dough into the pan, and put into the oven to bake for 22 to 35 minutes, until the center is set but still a little wobbly. Turn the oven off but leave the cake inside for another ten minutes, then put the pan on a cooling rack on the counter to cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate, and take it out about an hour before serving.
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