Flourless Chocolate Mousse Cake
Perfect for your gluten-free friends or your Passover seder.
The recipe you’ve been looking for is here! Enjoy this simple cake!
I’ve been making this cake for years, and it’s a big crowd-pleaser. Its light texture is very unique - similar to a soufflé - and it has a lot of flavor. This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart.
Ingredients
8oz bittersweet chocolate (Use chocolate bars, chips contain stabilizers)
6 tbsp (85g) unsalted butter
6 large eggs
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp instant espresso powder (optional)
Pinch of salt
Whipped cream or ice cream for serving
Extra chocolate or cocoa powder
Method
Preheat the oven to 275° F (not a typo!), grease a round spring-form pan.
In a medium sized (at least a quart) microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring with a fork after each until it is melted. (To make sure not to burn the chocolate, I like to stop when the chocolate still isn't 100% melted because the residual heat will melt it). Stir in the espresso powder. It's okay if it doesn't dissolve totally.
Separate the eggs. (I separate the eggs in a small bowl first and then transfer then the whites to big bowl one at a time, and the yolks to another to ensure that all of my whites are yolk-free. The smallest amount of yolk mixed into the whites will keep the whites from whipping up.)
Mix the yolks in with the chocolate mixture. Add the vanilla extract.
Whip the egg whites and the pinch of salt to soft peaks with a stand mixer, hand mixer, or large whisk.
After they reach soft peaks, gradually add the sugar while beating until a thick, glossy meringue is reached.
Stir about a cup of the meringue with the chocolate before pouring the chocolate mixture into the meringue and folding it through. Stirring the initial bit lightens up the chocolate mixture and makes it easier to fold and maintain the lightness of the rest of the meringue.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 45-50 minutes until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and it is set in the middle.
Cool to room temperature, release the sides of the pan, top with freshly whipped cream, and use a sieve to decorate with cocoa powder or a microplane grater to shave regular chocolate over the top.