Flourless Chocolate Cake with Hot Buttered Rum Sauce

As if I don't already have enough Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipes, my friend Laura-Kate Rurka, mystery writer and fantastic baker, made yet another cake from a different recipe for the Literary Salon the other night for authors Hilary Davidson and Brad Parks. The cake is gluten free, so it was just perfect. Hilary has Celiac Disease and hosts the blog: Gluten-Free Guidebook (on the road with travel journalist Hilary Davidson). Brad Parks, as far as I know doesn't care about gluten, but he did sing for his supper--or in this case, his cake! What a great voice. Be sure and check out both of these mystery authors.

This recipe is also perfectly timed for Passover which starts this Friday night, so if you're celebrating Passover--or just want another Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe, this one is terrific--and easy! What is the 'crowning' touch on this recipe, though, is the sauce... a warm rum sauce that sinks into the rich dark cake, giving it a unique moistness and taste. The recipe for the cake is adapted from Tyler Florence of the Food Network. It's his Cracked Chocolate Earth Flourless Chocolate Cake. The Rum Butter Sauce is from the Jr. League Centennial Cookbook that accompanies a 'floured' Cake. Works well with the Flourless one. All I can say is YUM!

Cracked Chocolate Earth Flourless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 stick sweet butter
9 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
2 cups heavy cream, cold 

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1 inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs - this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate; then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture.

Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan (spray the bottom with nonstick spray) and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack, and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 30 to 35 minutes (and then check every five minutes after that--don't overbake). Let stand 10 minutes, then unmold.

Hot Buttered Rum Sauce

1 Cup Heavy Cream
3/4 cup Packed light brown sugar
8 Tbsp (1 stick) sweet butter
3 Tbsp dark rum
1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine cream, brown sugar and butter in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently until mixture boils. Boil 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and rum. Spoon warm sauce on plate and top with a wedge of cake or drizzle or pour sauce on top of a wedge of cake.