On a Mission for a Cake

I have been on a mission to make a perfect flourless chocolate cake. I have made many attempts at this mission but have yet to achieve success. Typically, my product tastes good, but doesn't look edible. This happened last holiday season when I found an easy basic recipe. It was the best tasting chocolate dessert I had ever made ... it did not see the light outside of my immediate family member because I clearly did not whip the egg whites enough and it deflated and looked like a very sad mess.

So, when I saw the flourless chocolate cake recipe in my Baked cookbook, I knew one day I would need to try and conquer my mission once again. I love the Baked books, there is something whimsical to their recipes -- just a special spin to take something familiar and give it an edge. They've yet to do me wrong. So, I braced myself and decided last weekend to dive in.

Let's face it ... you typically can't go wrong when your recipe starts with this:

Melted chocolate ready, I whipped my egg whites, mixed my yolks with my sugar and basically took my time. The resulting cake came out very lovely (I forgot to take a picture before the next step ...) Which leads me to the hidden secret of the beauty of this cake. There is a "hidden" layer of chocolate ganache on the top before you pour on the glaze. So if the cake wasn't fudgy or chocolatey enough for you ... this secret layer is surely to do the trick ...

After you let it sit in the freezer for five minutes to have the ganache set ... you then pour the rest of the glaze on the cake for a pretty chocolate masterpiece.

In the end, I was just happy to have finally made a flourless chocolate cake that both looked and tasted good. I think I could have baked it for a few more minutes, but I wanted to make sure I didn't burn it (they warn you about that in the recipe ... and goodness knows, I don't want to take chances.)

The true testament to the cake though came a few days later, when D told me a friend had stopped by, commented that the cake looked good, so then D offered him a slice. The response was that it tasted good, too. I can't pass up unsolicited praise, and am just glad that I may have a chocolate lovers' treat that I can whip up in a couple of hours!