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.

These were so fun to make! After making the sugar cookie dough, I colored parts of it using Wilton’s Color Gels. Using gels instead of the liquid food coloring we’re all used to allows for deeper, more vibrant colors. Mine didn’t turn out as colorful as I would have liked, but the point still came across! Making the ones that I did took quite a bit of time; I can only imagine how long it took bluntmeticulous.

The recipe I used was Martha Stewart’s Ideal Sugar Cookies. They turned out wonderful! They’re lightly sweet, softer in the middle, and firmer on the edges. It’s an excellent recipe for shaped cookies.

Martha Stewart’s Ideal Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons brandy, or milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated. With mixer running, add egg, brandy (or milk), and vanilla; mix until incorporated.

Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

1-Up!

I’m Bunny. I’m a 19 year old student and I absolutely love to bake and cook. I’m not super pro but I manage to do well enough!

Bunny Bakes! is a blog about… baking. You surprised yet? I’ve been inspired to bake more (due to my awesome new Kitchenaid stand mixer) and I wanted to start documenting my experiments and misadventures, and share with you what works (or doesn’t work!) for me. I hope you’ll get some good recipes out of this and hopefully enjoy the read.

As much as I’d like to fire up my oven right now and show you guys some good stuff, it’s 11:48 pm. I think I’ll wait a little bit.

Happy baking everybody!

-Bunny