The rambling recipes & travels of a home baker

Copyright 1997 by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. All rights reserved.

Makes one 9-inch single layer cake serving 8, and doubles easily 15 minutes prep time
40 minutes oven time.

Cook to Cook: Break up the last measure of chocolate by removing from its box, but leaving it in its wrapping. Hit with the handle of a knife to shatter the bar into small pieces.

• 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate (two 3.5-ounce bars of Valrhona 71%, Michel Cluizel 67% to 72%, El Rey 70%, Lindt Excellence 70%, Scharffen Berger 70%, Guittard, or Ghirardelli, in that order), broken up
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken up
• 1 stick, plus 2 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 generous tablespoons instant espresso coffee dissolved in 3 tablespoons very hot water
• 5 large eggs
• 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour (measure by dipping and leveling)
• 3.5- to 4-ounce bar bittersweet chocolate, broken into bite-size pieces

Decoration:

• 1 cup powdered sugar in a sifter, or 1 cup heavy cream, whipped

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a shiny 9-inch springform pan.

2. Put the first quantities of chocolate (bittersweet and unsweetened) and the butter together in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl. Melt for 3 to 4 minutes at medium power. Check by stirring. Chocolate holds it shape when microwaved. Or melt in a heatproof bowl over simmering water.

3. With a whisk, beat together the cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, salt, espresso, and eggs until creamy. Stir in the flour to thoroughly blend. Then blend in the chocolate/butter mixture until smooth. Stir in the broken-up chocolate bar. Pour the batter into the springform pan.

4. Bake 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out with a few generous, moist streaks of chocolate. Cool on a rack 30 minutes (you could then wrap the cake and chill it up to 2 days). Serve warm, or at room temperature.

5. To do white lace on the cake, cover it with a doily and sift the powdered sugar over it.

TIPS

• If a recipe calls for a 70% chocolate, don’t assume one with a higher percentage of cocoa solids will be even better. Premium chocolates with high percentages of cocoa solids all behave differently and you can’t necessarily interchange them. Higher percentages do mean more cocoa mass and less sugar, but they also mean more cocoa butter, which will give you a different sort of melt. For instance, if you used an 85% or 90% chocolate for the pieces the recipe has you stir in at the end, aside from being too bitter in flavor, they would melt quickly and you would lose the fudgy semi-melted chocolate effect you want in the cake.
• Pans make a difference. Use a springform pan with a shiny finish rather than a dark one to avoid excessive browning on the bottom and sides of the cake.
• Don’t over bake the cake or you’ll lose the creamy quality from the softly melted bittersweet chocolate. Test with a knife as directed in Step 4.
• Strange as it seems, a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream actually gives balance to rich, intensely flavored sweets like this cake.