Flourless Chocolate Cake

Mmm chocolate. What would the world be like without chocolate? It's a fate I dare not ponder. Instead, I'll dwell in a brighter world where everyone gets to eat flourless chocolate cake for their birthday.

That's what Conservative Mom got for her birthday on Wednesday. Kid Sister made a delicious Mexican dinner. I made the cake.


And since I received a lovely 9-inch springform pan from My Parents for my birthday, I decided it was a great opportunity to break it in. Chocolate required.

Flourless chocolate cake has only three ingredients, yet making it isn't exactly a quick process. Still, it's worth it in the end, when you indulge in a tiny sliver of heaven.

I opted to follow the recipe I found on Annie's Eats, although I know there are a slew of other options out there. This one was pretty darn tasty though, so why mess with what works?

You start by preheating the oven to 325° F and adjusting an oven rack to the lower-middle position.

Next, grease the sides of your springform pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and wrap the outside of the pan with heavy-duty foil. Set the springform pan in a larger baking pan and start boiling a bit pot of water. You'll come back to this later.


Now it's time to coarsely chop one pound of bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. (I used semisweet, and worked very hard not to let pieces fly on the floor, because Butter knows that if he waits beside me in the kitchen eventually I will drop something on the floor.)

Then you cut 16 tablespoons of unsalted butter into 16 pieces.

Combine the chocolate and butter in a double broiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water) until it all melts and is very warm, stirring occasionally.


Meanwhile, beat 8 large, cold eggs (yes, 8!). Ideally, they'll go in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Or if you don't have one, you'll just use a handheld mixer and mix on high speed until the volume doubles to about 1 quart (it takes about 5 to 10 minutes), or until your arm falls off, whichever comes first.


Once the eggs are sufficiently whipped and the chocolate melted, fold one third of the eggs into the chocolate mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until only a few streaks of egg are visible (still working on it below).


Repeat with half of the egg mixture that's left, then the rest. When you're done, you should be staring at a beautiful bowl of smooth chocolate without a hint of egg or butter.

Scrape the batter into your pan and smooth the surface with your spatula. Now pour that boiling water you've been ignoring into the big pan in which your spingform pan is sitting until the water comes about halfway up the springform pan.

Now it's time to bake the cake—for about 22-25 minutes in an 8-inch pan or 18-22 minutes in a 9-inch pan. The cake should have risen slightly with edges just beginning to set. Using an instant-read thermometer and baking until it reads 140° F in the center is recommended.

But of course I didn't do that. I'm a rebel, remember?

Once you pull your beautiful baby from the oven, remove the springform pan from the water bath and set it on a wire rack to cool to room temperature. Make sure to take some blurry photos.

Cover and refrigerate. Then, 30 minutes prior to serving, remove the cake from the pan and sprinkle the top with confectioner's sugar. Or forget, like I did. It's up to you. I promise it will be tasty either way.