For the Love of Chocolate.

One of the resolutions I’ve made in attempt to go through the year a little healthier is to hop on my treadmill or cross-trainer at least twice a week.

Like everyone else I suppose, some days, I’m raving to work out a sweat. Other days, I literally have to drag myself to start the workout and hope that time flies by. Lucky for me, I have a little help in the form of my ever faithful tv, specifically my neverending list of shows I’ve recorded over the last year.

My choice of show lately has been Willie’s Chocolate Factory, an incredibly inspiring 3 part documentary about a man who, fuelled by his passion for chocolate, pumped his family’s savings and then some into his dream of producing cacao from bean to bar.

Throughout each hour long episode, Willie whips up various delicious, homey dishes, both sweet and savoury, using his 100% cacoa bars. But the one recipe he showcases that really caught my eye was a particularly luscious chocolate cake. And just like that, I had chocolate cake on my brain all week.

It’s just as well that another of my resolutions involves cooking and baking from cookbooks that have barely seen the outside of my bookcases for this particular recipe for a chocolate torte souffle comes from my practically unused copy of Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Chocolate Dessert.

Baked for well over an hour in low heat, this flourless chocolate cake baked up incredibly moist with a crackly, slightly chewy crust. It certainly had all the intensity of a flourless chocolate cake and the delicateness of a souffle- the best of both worlds, if you ask me.

If this cake is anything to go by, I’ve clearly been missing out on some amazing chocolate desserts the last year this book has been sitting on my shelves. It’s certainly not too late to make up for lost time though and you can bet I’m planning on doing just that.

Chocolate Torte Souffle [adapted from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts]

Ingredients
120g unsweetened chocolate, chopped
180g dark chocolate, chopped
150g unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp caster sugar, divided
7 eggs, seperated
3 tbsp Frangelino
Pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven at 150C. Line the base of a 10-inch springform baking pan with baking paper or aluminium foil, grease the pan well with butter and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk the chocolate and butter together over low heat until a smooth mixture forms. Set the chocolate mixture aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Add 1/2 cup and 1 tbsp of sugar to the yolks, whisking well until the mixture turns thick and pale yellow. Add the Frangelino and gradually add the cooled chocolate mixture to the yolks mixture, whisking until combined.
4. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites together with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and beat the egg whites till they hold their shape but are not dry.
5. Fold the egg whites in three batches into the yolk mixture only until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
6. Bake for an hour before lowering the oven temperature to 120C and baking for an additional 30 minutes. When the cake is done baking, turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven to cool, leaving the oven door slightly ajar until the cake comes to room temperature. Serves 12 small portions

Posted by thecoffeesnob on January 17, 2010

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