Death by Chocolate – A Knockout, Ultra-Chocolatey Cake

That's how it goes sometimes, you run late. I missed Chocolate Day, which was celebrated on April 12. But today I'm sharing a recipe for something ultra-chocolatey to make up for it.

This is a very, very, very, and I mean VERY chocolatey cake. Every chocoholic's dream. Or maybe not? It will either make you happy or put you off chocolate. Before making it, I didn't really get the point of the name. Now I do. This is a bake for the brave, for those who love chocolate with a boundless love. It can "knock you off your feet" with its "chocolateyness." If you don't like chocolate, better not risk it.

Death by chocolate

Even though this cake is very intense in flavor, it is still light. It's made without flour, cocoa, almonds or nuts, which often show up in recipes for chocolate cakes (like my intensely chocolatey brownies). Since all you taste in this cake is chocolate, I recommend choosing the very best quality you can find.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

Break the chocolate into pieces and put it together with the butter in a double boiler bowl (for example a heatproof bowl), then melt the chocolate, stirring often. Be careful that the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water, because then the chocolate will seize. As soon as the chocolate has melted, take the bowl off the pot and let it cool.

Meanwhile, crack the eggs into the bowl of a mixer, add the vanilla, and mix briefly just to break up the eggs (you can use a fork). Add the sugar and beat on the highest speed until you get a thick, fluffy mixture. This will take about 5 minutes. The mixture should form a ribbon when you pour it from the bowl. Add the melted chocolate and fold it into the egg mixture very gently but thoroughly.

Grease a springform pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper. Pour in the batter and bake in the preheated oven for about 35-45 minutes. The center of the cake should still be slightly moist when you take it out of the oven. It will "set" after you remove it. If it bakes for too long, you won't be able to slice it properly and it will crumble a lot. Take the cake out of the oven and place it on a wire rack, gently run a knife around the edge to loosen it from the pan, but leave it in the pan to cool. It may sink slightly. Once it has cooled, turn it out "upside down" onto the springform pan base and prepare the glaze.

Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl together with the cream. Set it over a pot of simmering water, wait until the chocolate has melted, then take it off the pot and whisk until the mixture becomes glossy. Pour the glaze over the cake. Don't spend too long spreading the glaze perfectly, because the chocolate may lose its shine.

Enjoy!

Additional notes:

• The cake tastes even better the next day.
• To mellow the intense chocolate flavor, you can replace some of the dark chocolate with milk chocolate.
• I used a 24 cm pan, so my cake isn't very tall. I recommend a 22 cm pan.
• When you take the cake out of the pan, it may fall apart a little. Don't worry about it.
• To tone down the chocolate flavor a bit, you can serve the cake with sweetened whipped cream and some pieces of fruit.

Source: "The Great British Book of Baking"