bunny bakes!

As far as I’m concerned, chocolate and raspberries is one of the greatest food combinations ever. The richness of the chocolate goes fantastically with the sweet, slightly tart flavor of raspberries. I’ve had incredible desserts at various restaurants with the same type of theme that I needed to recreate: a dense chocolate cake with a raspberry coulis (a thick sauce).
I flipped through Joy of Cooking to find this recipe, and when I saw it, I couldn’t pass it up. Seriously, can anyone who even remotely likes chocolate pass up a name like Chocolate Decadence?

I’m so glad I didn’t. The cake is dense and wonderfully chocolatey and raspberry coulis adds a punch of sweetness with a hint of tartness from the lemon. The vanilla bean ice cream is an excellent end note and clears your palate for the next bite. I’m pretty sure this is bliss in desserts right here. As much as I want to indulge (gorge), the cake is rather rich, so smaller servings would be the way to go.

I did actually goof on making this! The recipe calls for a waterbath but I in my infinite wisdom skipped over that. Nice. The cake ended up being pretty much spot on regardless so it’s up to you whether you’d want to do that or not. I also was pretty impatient and didn’t refrigerate the cake after cooling it on the rack. I also left out the powdered sugar on top. Basically, your mileage may vary!

Flourless Chocolate Decadence Cake
Ingredients:
1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used semisweet)
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
5 large egg yolks
5 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon sugar
Confectioner’s sugar (optional)

Directions:
Have all ingredients at room temperature. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8 x 2-inch round cake pan (not a springform) and line the bottom with wax or parchment paper.

Combine the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl in a large skillet of barely simmering water and stir often until the chocolate and butter are warm, melted, and smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, beating on high speed until the peaks are stiff but not dry.

Use a rubber spatula to fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remaining whites. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Set the pan in a large shallow baking dish or roasting pan in the oven, and pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for exactly 30 minutes; the top of the cake will have a thin crust and the interior will still be gooey.

Set the cake pan on a rack to cool completely, then refrigerate until chilled, or overnight. To unmold, slide a thin knife around the edge of the cake to detach it from the pan. Invert the cake and peel off the paper liner. Reinvert onto a serving platter. Using a doily or a hand cut stencil, sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

Store in the refrigerator, but remove 1 hour or more before serving to soften.

Raspberry Coulis
(from MyRecipes)
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries (I used fresh, if you use frozen get the kind that isn’t in syrup!)
About 1/2 cup sugar
About 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:
In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, bring raspberries and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture starts to thicken, about 15 minutes. (Mine didn’t take this long.)

Press mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, using a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard seeds and skins. Stir in lemon juice. Add more sugar or lemon juice if necessary to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.