Monday, March 3, 2014

Olive Oil Chocolate Cake

This cake has very little flour, only 2 tablespoons. My friend who asked for the recipe described the cake as having a soufflé like texture. It is much lighter than your typical flourless cake.  Whipped cream is a tasty addition when you are serving it.
This recipe comes from Fran Gage's book The New American Olive Oil with a couple of minor changes. I tend to use one of two olive oils that she profiles in her book, either Corto or California Olive Ranch. I have read many times about all the fraud going on in the Italian Olive oil market and so I steer away from Italian Olive oils when shopping at a supermarket where I can't taste before buying. I trust olive oils made in California to be the real deal. I also look for an oil in a dark bottle because light is not good for the oil.

Almost Flourless Olive Oil Chocolate Cake 
7 ounces 70% chocolate, coarsely chopped. ( Use a high quality chocolate such as Scharffen Berger)
1/2 cup extra-virgin oil oil
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs at room temperature, separated
2 tablespoons unbleached flour
1/8 tsp salt
Powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and line a 9" springform pan with baking parchment.
Melt the chocolate. Place it in a mixing bowl and when it is cool add the olive oil in a steady stream. Whisk in 2/3's of the sugar, the egg yolks, and the salt.
Beat the egg whites, slowly adding the remaining sugar once they are foamy. Continue beating until they form soft peaks.
Fold the whites into the chocolate mixture, adding them in two additions.
Pour the batter into the pan, smoothing the top. Bake 35 or 40 minutes, until a toothpick come out clean or with only a few crumbs.
Let the cake cool in the pan. Run a knife around the edge and then invert it onto a serving dish. The cake will have deflated as it cooled.
Dust with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream.


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