Elizabeth David's Perfect Chocolate Cake- Flourless

Submitted by Aunty Dotty

"The classic flourless chocolate cake by Elizabeth David. Needs no tweakin', just eatin' Get the best chocolate and the freshest eggs and it's a no-brainer. This is the cake my 5 yo nephew always asks my sister for and ALL the boys demolish it!!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 250 g bitter dark chocolate
• 150 g caster sugar
• 150 g butter
• 100 g ground almonds
• 5 eggs, free range, separated
• icing sugar

directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Melt chocolate, sugar & butter in a double boiler of your invention
3. Remove from the heat and stir thoroughly to combine. Mix in the almonds, then beat in egg yolks one by one.
4. Beat the whites to stif peaks then fold those in also. It helps to mix in about a quarter of the egg to the mix first to lighten it, then fold in the remainder.
5. Turn into a greased and floured cake tin - 20cm round or square. Bake for 40-50 minutes.
6. Cool in the tin before placing on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar to serve to assembled amazed guests.

Reviews

[susie]

I have made this for my husbands birthday tonight - I haven't eaten it although it smells lovely... BUT!! The cake pan size is off, I used a 20cm round cake pan and it completely filled the pan before I even put it in the oven. I didn't want to risk deflating the egg whites so I left it in there, but it looks odd as it couldn't climb the sides of the pan so it sort of slumped over the sides. My pan had a large rim around it so it didn't run down the sides but I would advise either a larger pan or a taller pan - actually a taller springform pan would be perfect.

 

[Goffbag]

I love Elizabeth David's cookbooks, so I knew this recipe would have to be good, and I wasn't disappointed. The cake has an intense chocolate flavour but it's not sickly sweet. I froze half the cake in slices so I wouldn't eat it all on the day I baked it. It's very good to eat straight from the freezer too - the texture becomes more dense upon freezing, but it's still fantastic. I'll be making this again!

 

[Jo_C.]

This cake really is a classic. It doesn't use any unusual ingredients, is easy to make and tastes great. It's also very good with some proper cream on the side.