12-12-2005, 07:08 PM
rgG- trust me, the cake you had was not a good one. Flourless chocolate cake, made properly, is like having a piece of really good cheesecake. It should be smooth, moist, dense and delicious.
As to the question if it is any more healthy- no. It still has tons of sugar and fat.
Here is a recipe I have used in the past. It is decadent and expensive and is always a big hit. The recipe here has an orange flavor, but feel free to use raspberry, strawberry, almond or any other flavoring you like.
This cake is very moist and will seem underdone. It is not. Make sure it is completely cooled before cutting.
4 Sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter or margarine
1/2 C frozen Orange Juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 Cup Orange Liqueur (can be omitted if avoiding alcohol. Use a bit of orange extract instead.)
1/4 Cup grated Orange Zest
1 lb. bittersweet chocolate, coarsley chopped
8 large eggs, room temp (I have had mixed results with using egg beater type products, so experiment at your own risk!)
1 Cup plus 1/4 Cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla sugar (can be found at specialty food stores or just mix 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring to egg mixture)
1/4 tsp. Salt
Peel of 1 orange, julienned
Confectioners sugar
1. Heat oven to 350. Melt margarine with orange juice, liqueur and orange zest in heavy pan over low heat (or on top of double boiler) mixing well. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate until it melts. Allow chocolate to cool to room temp.
2. Beat eggs, 1 Cup sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in bowl of electric mixer on high speed until mixture doubles (about 10 minutes). Whisk in 1/3 of cooled chocolate mixture until thoroughly incorporated. Fold in remaining chocolate mixture and mix well.
3. Line the bottom of a 9" Springform pan with parchment paper and pour mixture into pan.
4. Bake until top has a crust and seems set (50-55 minutes). The cake will rise and fall- this is ok. Cool cake to room temp, cover with plastic wrap and regfrigerate overnight.
5. To make candied orange zest garnish- heat a small pan of water to boil. Blanch orange zest for 15 minutes, strain and rinse with cold water. Do this process 2x to remove all bitterness from zest.
6. Heat remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup water to boil over medium heat. Add zest, simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. Strain and dry slightly on wax paper. Sprinkle cake with confectioners sugar and garnish with candied zest.
DM
As to the question if it is any more healthy- no. It still has tons of sugar and fat.
Here is a recipe I have used in the past. It is decadent and expensive and is always a big hit. The recipe here has an orange flavor, but feel free to use raspberry, strawberry, almond or any other flavoring you like.
This cake is very moist and will seem underdone. It is not. Make sure it is completely cooled before cutting.
4 Sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter or margarine
1/2 C frozen Orange Juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 Cup Orange Liqueur (can be omitted if avoiding alcohol. Use a bit of orange extract instead.)
1/4 Cup grated Orange Zest
1 lb. bittersweet chocolate, coarsley chopped
8 large eggs, room temp (I have had mixed results with using egg beater type products, so experiment at your own risk!)
1 Cup plus 1/4 Cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla sugar (can be found at specialty food stores or just mix 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring to egg mixture)
1/4 tsp. Salt
Peel of 1 orange, julienned
Confectioners sugar
1. Heat oven to 350. Melt margarine with orange juice, liqueur and orange zest in heavy pan over low heat (or on top of double boiler) mixing well. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate until it melts. Allow chocolate to cool to room temp.
2. Beat eggs, 1 Cup sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in bowl of electric mixer on high speed until mixture doubles (about 10 minutes). Whisk in 1/3 of cooled chocolate mixture until thoroughly incorporated. Fold in remaining chocolate mixture and mix well.
3. Line the bottom of a 9" Springform pan with parchment paper and pour mixture into pan.
4. Bake until top has a crust and seems set (50-55 minutes). The cake will rise and fall- this is ok. Cool cake to room temp, cover with plastic wrap and regfrigerate overnight.
5. To make candied orange zest garnish- heat a small pan of water to boil. Blanch orange zest for 15 minutes, strain and rinse with cold water. Do this process 2x to remove all bitterness from zest.
6. Heat remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup water to boil over medium heat. Add zest, simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. Strain and dry slightly on wax paper. Sprinkle cake with confectioners sugar and garnish with candied zest.
DM