Flourless Dark Chocolate Cake

Recipe by: Florence Fabricant | from Park Avenue Potluck: Celebrations

Cookstr

Course: Dessert

Total Time: Half Day

Skill Level: Moderate

Cost: Moderate

Photo by: � Ben Fink, from Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations, Rizzoli, 2010

This recipe was given to me many moons ago when I visited some dear Spanish friends in Buenos Aires. It’s for the true chocoholic--very, very rich.

Yield: Makes at least 10 super-rich servings

INGREDIENTS

2 sticks (½ pound) unsalted butter
1 cup raisins or dried currants
½ cup brandy or whiskey, warmed
½ pound good-quality bittersweet chocolate (about 70 percent cacao), cut into pieces
6 large eggs
½ cups superfine sugar
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Unsweetened whipped cream for serving, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Use a little of the butter to grease a 10-inch cake pan.

Place the raisins or currants in a bowl, add the warm brandy or whiskey, and set aside. Place the remaining butter and the chocolate in a saucepan and melt them over low heat. Stir. (The butter and chocolate can also be melted in a microwave oven for about 1 minute.)

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until well blended, pale, and creamy, about 4 minutes. Sift the potato starch and fold it in. Stir in the chocolate and butter mixture, then stir in the raisins or currants and brandy and the vanilla.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until the cake has firmed up on top but a tester does not come out perfectly clean. It should be slightly underdone. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator and unmold it 1 hour before serving.

Notes

If kosher observance prevents you from serving a butter-based cake at the end of a meal, a good-quality margarine (not the soft-spread kind) can be substituted for the butter in the cake. When not making this cake for Passover, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour can be used in place of the potato starch. The cake freezes extremely well.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Nutrients per serving (% daily value)

Nutritional information is based on 10 servings and does not include optional unsweetened whipped cream for serving.

Calories 270kcal (13%)

Calcium 36mg (4%)

Vitamin C 1mg (1%)

Vitamin A 49mcg RAE (2%)

Potassium 262mg

Magnesium 36mg

Protein 5g

Sugar 32g

Fiber 2g