July 28, 2007
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
Timothy Leary's response to the premise of this week's Recipe Carnival was that it wasn't polite to "just say no" and thus one should always remember to say "no thank you". When gluten sensitivity became an issue in our household, I took no interest in the concerted scientific effort to develop an amaranth - potato flour cake with a texture more appetizing than the crust of an undercooked frozen pizza. I instead reminisced about the super intense flourless chocolate cake our son had baked for competition a couple of years earlier from a recipe going around at the time. The following is my wee wifey's take on that recipe, which she is still inclined to bake for the one foster-nephew's birthday, long after interest in regulating his gluten intake has, rightly or wrongly, been abandoned.
16 oz. Belgian dark chocolate or good semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups cane sugar [or 1 cup light brown sugar and 1/2 cup white cane sugar]
3/4 cup boiling water or very hot coffee
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
8 large free-range organic eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon good vanilla extract [yes, a tablespoon!]
Buttercream:
1 cup unsalted butter -- softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar -- sifted
1 cup cocoa powder -- sifted
1/3 cup water or coffee
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by lining the bottom with parchment, and buttering it.
Break up the dark chocolate into pieces and pour the chocolate into the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until the chocolate breaks up into small bits. Add the sugar. Pulse until the chocolate and sugar turns into an even, sandy grain.
Pour the hot water or coffee slowly into the feed tube as you pulse again. Pulse until the chocolate is melted. Magic!
Add butter pieces and the cocoa powder, and pulse to combine. Add the eggs and vanilla, and process till smooth. The batter will be liquid and creamy.
Pour the batter into the lined springform pan. Wrap the outside of the whole pan with a big piece of foil. Bake at 350 degrees in the center of the oven, till puffed and cracked and lovely - about 55 minutes to an hour or even more. Use a wooden toothpick to check the center of the cake.
Place the cake pan on a wire rack to cool. The cake will deflate. Don't worry! When cooled a bit, press down on it gently with a spatula to make it even, if you wish. Or not.
When the cake is completely cooled, cover, and chill it for three hours [up to eight hours] until serving. Release the cake from the springform pan. Slice and serve.
Serve slices with drizzled chocolate sauce or a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Add a few berries or mint leaves to the plate, if you like.
Makes 12 - 15 slices. It is rich!
For the buttercream, cream the butter until smooth. Sift the sugar and
cocoa powder over the butter, add 1/3 cup water, and slowly mix
until smooth.