Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze, served with raspberries and vanilla ice cream!!
What do you give your parents when their birthdays coincide with one another and with Christmas? What do you give your parents when they already have everything they need or want?

When they are my parents, you make a donation in their honor to Sacred Heart Community Services and prepare a really nice three course meal for them. And you do it with your two sisters and your brother-in-law, and promise to play nice all day. I mean it, all day. :)


Today is my Mom’s birthday and my Dad’s was on Friday. Yesterday, I took a drive over to Sacred Heart, checkbook in hand, and made a donation in honor of my parents, Steve and Carol. My Dad also contributed to the donation as part of his birthday gift to my Mom. Needless to say, it was a pretty substantial donation, which is why I went down there in person, rather than just donate online. I wanted to see who our donation would be helping and see the response from the volunteers and people that work tirelessly everyday at Sacred Heart. There were people lined up around the block, in the cold, waiting for the food, clothes, and possible Christmas gifts that Sacred Heart could provide. Our donation will help so many families this holiday season, and that is the greatest gift we could give the people who have given us so much in the past 31 years. When the woman saw the amount of the check, she was overwhelmed and gave me a big huge. Best thank you ever. :)

Anyway, we still wanted to do something for them, which is why Erin was busy in the kitchen all afternoon cooking up courses one and two. Since I am Buttercup and I have this blog, I was given the honor of making dessert. Originally I had hoped to bake a yellow cake with chocolate frosting because it is my Dad’s favorite, but the family had more decadent desires for this birthday meal. Erin found this recipe on the Whole Foods website and it is the perfect dessert for our meal.

We decided on a Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze. I’m pretty excited about this cake because it is gluten-free and one of my most faithful readers, Marie, is g-free. So, this recipe is a bit of a holiday shout-out to her as well. I was also happy to find such a cake with a glaze because my sister Lauren and I LOVE frosting. I feel like this cake is just perfect for everyone in my family! We served it with raspberries and vanilla ice cream—what could be more perfect? Seriously, this cake was so scrumptious and chocolatey. Oh goodness me, I’m so impressed with this cake. And it was so easy! If you like chocolate, you will LOVE this cake!

Side note: we went a little picture crazy with this dessert (perks of having my family around to help me with the photography aspect of a food blog) , so I apologize for the length of this post. The complete series of pictures can be found on Facebook!

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) plus 3 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
1¼ cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray, then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Spray the paper with cooking spray, too, then set the pan aside.

Place 8 ounces of the chocolate and 1 cup (2 sticks) of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat.

Bittersweet Chocolate Chips and Butter...MMMM.

Stirring often, melt chocolate with butter until completely blended.

Completely blended = nice and smooooooooth.
Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Add sugar and mix well.

From bittersweet to sweet!

Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition.

Whisking was pretty fun, especially because it ensured the batter was silkly smooth!

Sift cocoa into bowl and stir until just blended.


Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until cake has risen and top has formed a thin crust.

Poured into the springform pan and ready for the oven!
The cake should be just firm in the center when done. Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate, removing sides of springform pan. Remove and discard parchment paper and set cake aside to cool completely.

Cooling on the cake stand, waiting for the glaze. Where did the dent come from?

Meanwhile, make the chocolate glaze. Melt remaining 4 ounces chocolate and 3 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, then stir in milk, honey and vanilla. Set aside to cool slightly.

When cake has cooled, pour glaze onto the center.

Thanks to Erin for this action shot!

Using a spatula or the back of a spoon, very gently smooth glaze along the top and sides of the cake.

Easily the most fun part of making this cake!
Possibly one of my favorite pictures!!! :)

Chill cake, uncovered, for 30 to 60 minutes before serving to set the glaze and make the cake easier to slice.

A slice served with just raspberries.
Thanks for stopping by today!!

<3 Buttercup

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