Spectacular Eats

Last month I decided to join a cooking group called “The Daring Bakers”.  Basically, it’s a group of people who all bake one recipe in each month – all the same recipe (with their own twists and creativity) and then we post the outcome on a certain day.  That day happens to be today so here’s what we did…

This month’s challenge was perfect for February.  I made it for dessert on Valentine’s Day.

This recipe is interesting in that it contains no flour.  Actually, it contains just three simple ingredients – chocolate, eggs and butter.  Really, does it get any better than that?

I decided to use milk chocolate and my dessert seems to have a lighter color than some of the other bakers.  The taste was superb.  It is like a fudgy dense brownie.

I baked mine in a square cake pan.  I was hoping to find a heart shaped pan to bake it in but couldn’t find one that was worth buying (all too thin).  So before baking, I melted some white chocolate and made a heart on the top of the batter.  Not quite the same but it impressed the kids .

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time:  20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.