- Hey, guys, today I'm gonna show you
how to made a decadent flourless chocolate cake
with a creme anglaise.
It is definitely one decadent, chocolate
Valentine's Day dessert that just looks extra special
with the creme anglaise and the raspberry hearts.
Let me show you how to put it together.
So we're gonna be baking this cake
in a springform cheesecake pan.
This is what's gonna give this cake its height
and make it easy to release once it's baked.
But because it is a sticky cake,
you want to prep the pan in a few ways first.
So, we're gonna spray the whole thing with baking spray
and just distribute it with a pastry brush.
Then you want to line the bottom of it with parchment paper.
And you want it to be a really nice snug fit
because, when we release the cake,
you're gonna be left with the parchment paper.
So, if you can cut it in a way
that you won't see the parchment paper underneath,
it will just make for a prettier presentation
once you have it on your cakestand.
Then in a large, microwave-safe bowl
you want to add 12 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips.
Now most bags of chocolate chips actually come 12 ounces,
but do look because some of them do also come 10 ounces.
So you just want to make sure.
And then you're also gonna add a cup of unsalted butter.
You can go ahead and microwave that at 30 second increments
just until everything is melted, and then go in
with a wire whisk to whisk that all up
until you have a nice smooth chocolate mixture.
Then you're gonna add a tablespoon of vanilla extract,
3/4 teaspoon of salt
and 1/3 of a cup of just plain white sugar.
And then you can whisk that all up until combined.
Then, we're gonna be using six eggs,
so we're gonna use six egg yolks in this chocolate mixture,
and you want to reserve the whites
because we're gonna fold those in later.
So, I find an easy way to do this is crack your egg
in the center because the weakest part
of an egg is actually in the center.
That will give you a really clean cut to separate the egg
because it can be really tricky
when you're trying to separate the egg from the yolk
if your shells are different sizes, and this will assure
that you have two equal size cups there.
Then with an electric mixer, you want to whip up
your egg whites, and once the egg whites start
to turn opaque then you can add 1/3 of a cup of sugar slowly
just until they become nice and glossy and stiff.
Then we are gonna add our egg whites
to the chocolate mixture, just in thirds.
And I say in thirds because,
if you add it a little bit at a time,
you'll end up just whipping that batter too much,
and you'll deflate your egg whites.
So try to divide it into thirds.
And then, once it's all combined,
you can just go ahead and add it to your pan.
And then you want to put this
at a 325 degree Fahrenheit oven.
I say 325 because this is such a light cake.
It actually does better
at a slightly lower temperature than 350.
And then resist the temptation of opening the door
to keep checking on it (light laugh)
because it is a very delicate cake at this stage.
So, I would only check on it at the 45-minute mark
'cause it'll take anywhere from 45 minutes to 50 minutes,
and you'll know that it's ready to take out
when the top starts to crack a little bit,
and then when you stick a skewer in, it'll come out crumbly.
Then take it out because the risk is,
is if you let this go too long,
it will actually create a very dry cake that is not as good
as a very moist, chocolate and fudgy cake.
Now, here comes the dramatic part of this cake.
As it cools, it will start to crack
and create a huge crater, and you'll think
you've gone horribly wrong with this cake.
But this is actually what these flourless cakes do
because there is no flour,
there's really no structure to this cake.
But I find that as it concaves in
it actually looks beautiful
and creates a very dramatic presentation.
While our cake is cooling,
let me show you how to make the creme anglaise.
So in a large saucepan, you're going to add a cup-and-a-half
of heavy cream and a cup-and-a-half of milk.
To that you're gonna add one vanilla bean
that's been scraped of its seeds
and you're gonna throw the paste and the pod inside.
And then you also want to add 1/4 cup of sugar.
And you can whisk that all up,
and then once those vanilla seeds
start to float to the top, you can fish out the vanilla bean
and then slowly temper your eggs by adding just a little bit
of this hot cream mixture, whisking your eggs,
and then a little bit more,
until finally you can add the whole thing.
If you dump the whole thing in right away,
you would just scramble your eggs,
so it's good to just temper it and do it slowly.
Now at this stage it's best to clean your pan out
because you'll see that warm milk has created a residue
at the bottom of the pan,
so it's best to pour this mixture back into a clean pan.
Then you're gonna heat this mixture
just until it comes up to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
That's the temperature that all of the bacteria
in the eggs will be cooked off,
and it's also the time where this mixture will start
to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
That's when you know that it's done.
You don't want to take it much farther than that
because this mixture will actually thicken up
in the fridge as it chills.
Then you want to take this mixture
and pour it through a fine mesh sieve,
and then you want to chill this mixture,
I would say a minimum of four hours,
but overnight is even better.
Creme anglaise is at it's best
when it's really nicely chilled.
Then to serve, you're gonna release your cake
from the cheesecake pan.
You can dust it with some unsweetened cocoa powder,
and at this stage it also hides a variety of sins
(light laugh), so if your cake is cracked in places
that you don't like you can put it back together
and put some more of that cocoa powder on,
and it'll hide all that.
Then, to transfer it to a cakestand,
I really like these cake lifters because you can get
right under the cake and just put it on your cakestand.
And then on your plate you're gonna spoon out
some of this delicious creme anglaise.
Just make yourself a little pool,
and then you can put a nice slice
of this cake right in the center.
And, if you want to be extra fancy for Valentine's Day,
I do like to take a little dollop of raspberry juice
and put two of them in the center of the creme anglaise.
And the way that you would do that
is you would just take some fresh raspberries,
and you can put some sugar on them if you want to,
but I actually like the tartness of them.
And work them through a fine mesh sieve,
and that's how would just get some raspberry juice.
And then take a toothpick, and it's better
if you use the thicker side of the toothpick
rather than the pointy side,
and just run it through those little raspberry dollops.
And you'll see you'll have two little hearts
that will emerge.
And whoever your sweetheart is
will be very impressed (light laugh).
Now if you would like a chocolate dessert idea for two,
I highly recommend my chocolate souffle,
and you can click this annotation,
and I'll see you over there.
And I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think.
Happy Valentine's Day.