Flourless Spicy Dark Chocolate Cake

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"This is the best cake I have ever eaten in my life." - The Hubby
"That is a quote that I will be using in the blog post about this cake." - Me

 

You may have concluded from the lack of desserts, cookies, cakes, pies, squares, brownies, and other sugary indulgences on this blog that I don't have much of a sweet tooth, and you're correct.  Except for ice cream.  OMG ice cream.  The best.  Ice cream is the best.

But, every once in awhile the mood strikes for something a little sugary, and that's why I decided to take on this Flour-less Spicy Dark Chocolate Cake.

My brother's girlfriend also has a food blog, The Bookish Cook, and when we were over at their apartment for dinner one night she served this cake for dessert.  I think she is one of those people who can just, like, invent recipes and doesn't have to follow cookbooks (jealous), and this cake was her brainchild.  It's decadent.  The idea of it being flourless and therefore gluten free was also super appealing.  Because of the chilies, it kind of tastes like the Lindor Chili Chocolate Bar that I also crave on rare occasions.  It must have to do with the idea of a savoury thing being combined with a sweet thing.  I just love that sweet and savoury combo.

The Hubby freaking loved this cake though, even more than me.  He raved about it and its warm and super chocolately goodness with a bite of spice.  So I knew that I had to make it again when his parents came over to our place for dinner one night.

And it turned out pretty well actually...

Nice, normal looking cake.  Nothing to see here.

But the thing with baking is that it can be so frustrating and I'm not very good at it.  I don't understand why.  Baking requires measuring, and I have always been good at math.  Baking is an indoor project, and I've always preferred being inside.  Baking results in food-eating when you are done, and I love food eating.  Baking requires patience and finesse, and I...oh wait, yep, there it is, never mind.

So it wasn't much of a surprise to me, like, at all, when the second time I made the cake for a Mexican themed Supper Club night where I was in charge of the dessert that it turned out like this:

Whyyyyy????????????

What went wrong?!  No, I'm actually asking...can anyone tell me what I did wrong just from this picture?  Did I not achieve stiff peaks (that term always makes me giggle)?  Did I not achieve soft peaks before achieving stiff peaks (still giggling)?  All I know is that I missed some step along the way that turned it into the mess above rather than the perfect cake that I made the first time around.

In any event, the awesome thing is that I have nice friends who told me that 'it's not the look of it that counts,' and 'everyone is too many cervezas and grapefuit tequila cocktails into the evening' to really be able to properly adjudicate my skills.  I don't know why they would say that...

Case in point.

But honestly, it tasted exactly the same as the time that it turned out looking prettier.

Make this cake!!!  You will love it, I just know it.

For another yummy gluten-free baked good, check out my post on Triple Coconut Banana Muffins...scrumdiddlyumptious!

But now for...

Flourless Spicy Dark Chocolate Chili Cake

Serves:  8 - 10

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• 10 ounces extra dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 6 eggs yolks
• 6 egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 hot red chill peppers, plus more for garnish
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for garnish
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• Cayenne pepper powder, for garnish
• Icing sugar, for garnish
• Vanilla ice cream, to serve 

Feeling hot hot hot!

Directions
Preheat oven to 275 F.  Grease a 9-inch round cake pan, and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter over low heat.  Finely mince 3 hot chilies and add to the saucepan, seeds and all.  Simmer over low heat for 15 - 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium microwave-safe bowl, place chocolate pieces and the 3 remaining tablespoons of butter.  Microwave for a few minutes until melted, stirring every 30 seconds or so.  Once the mixture is completely melted, set aside to cool, but don't allow the chocolate to get hard again.  Once the chocolate mixture is slightly cooled, whisk in the egg yolks.

Using a fine mesh strainer, pour the chili pepper butter mixture into the chocolate mixture, being sure not to let the seeds and chili pepper pieces get into the chocolate.  Discard the pieces and seeds.  Fold the chili butter into the mixture, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks begin to form.  Slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg white mixture, but do not over mix.  Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, and stir until just combined.

Pour cake mixture into the greased cake pan, and bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until the sides begin to pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool slightly in the pan, then remove from the pan to a wire rack to cool further.

To garnish, place the cake onto a serving plate.  Dust the cake with icing sugar to cover the cake, then dust again with slightly less cinnamon, then dust very lightly with the cayenne pepper.  Top with chili peppers to garnish.  Serve warm and with vanilla ice cream.

Recipe Source:  My brother's girlfriend Alex, whose recipe for this appeared on her blog, The Bookish Cook. 

 

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