Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Here's a great recipe for Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze from the new cookbook: Absolutely Chocolate (Fine Cooking Magazine). This is gluten free. This is not the same recipe for my own Flourless Cake or the TV Food Network Flourless Chocolate Cake. Whatever you do, celebrate with chocolate this week!

Ingredients:
3/4 ounce (1/4 cup) unsweetened natural cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy; more for the pan
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (2 1/4 cups)
6 ounces (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces; more for the pan
5 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons water

For the glaze:
1/4 pound bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter

Directions:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Lightly butter the bottom of a 9x2 round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment. Lightly butter the parchment and the sides of the pan and dust with cocoa. Tap out any excess cocoa.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a medium bowl and let cool slightly. With a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt and 2 tablespoons water. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is very foamy, pale in color, and doubled in volume, 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually pour the chocolate mixture. Increase the speed to medium high and continue beating until well blended, about 30 seconds. Add the cocoa and mix on medium low just until blended, about 30 seconds.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a pick inserted in the center comes out looking wet with small gooey clumps, 40 to 45 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes. If necessary, gently push the edges down with your fingertips until the layer is even. Run a small knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Cover the cake pan with a wire rack and invert. Remove the pan and parchment and let the cake cool completely. The cake may look cinched in and around its sides, which is fine. Transfer to a cake plate. Cover and refrigerate the cake until it's very cold, at least six hours or overnight.

Glaze the cake: Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave or in a medium metal bowl set in a skillet of barely simmering water, stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour the warm glaze over the chilled cake and, using an offset spatula, spread the glaze evenly to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Refrigerate the cake until the glaze is set, 20 to 40 minutes. Before serving, remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature, 20 to 30 minutes. To serve, cut the cake into small, if not tiny, slices using a hot knife.

Photo: Terri Lee Gruss

National Vodka Day: Chocolate drinks & cake

October 4 is National Taco Day, but it's also National Vodka Day. In honor of the holiday, I have put together several Chocolate Vodka drink recipes. There are several good quality chocolate vodkas out there. Try them all.

Chocolate Raspberry Martini (A Drink of the Week Original Cocktail)
1 1/2 oz. Stoli Raspberry Vodka
1/2 oz. Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
Splash Soda

Combine Vodka and Liqueur in a shaker with ice. Shaken and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with a splash of soda. Garnish with a fresh raspberry.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Daiquiri
3 oz chocolate Goldenbarr chocolate vodka
1 cup fresh strawberries

Combine ingredients in a blender, and blend well. Pour into a chilled daiquiri/margarita glass, garnish with a chocolate covered strawberry, and serve.

Cherry Cordial Recipe
Chocolate Vodka
Cherry Liqueur

Pour in Shot Glass

Chocolate to Die For
6 oz cream soda
1 1/2 oz chocolate vodka

Pour the chocolate vodka over ice in an old-fashioned glass. Add cream soda and serve.

Fudge Slide
1 oz Goldenbarr chocolate vodka
1 oz Kahlua coffee liqueur
1 oz Bailey's Irish cream

Pour each ingredient into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well, strain into a cocktail glass, and serve.

Chocolate Chocolate Martini
1 1/2 oz Vincent Van Gogh Dutch chocolate vodka
1/2 oz creme de cacao

Pour both ingredients into a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes. Shake well, strain into a cocktail glass and serve. Garnish with grated chocolate.. You can also rim the chilled glass with cocoa powder but pour slowly. Even better: Rim a chilled glass with chocolate sauce and put it in the freezer until you're ready to serve the drink!

Desperate Housewife
1 1/2 oz Players Extreme caramel-infused vodka
1 1/2 oz white chocolate liqueur

Shake with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Drizzle with chocolate sauce, and serve.

Fudge Slide
1 oz Goldenbarr chocolate vodka
1 oz Kahlua coffee liqueur
1 oz Bailey's Irish cream

Pour each ingredient into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well, strain into a cocktail glass, and serve.

Serve in: Cocktail Glass

Starry Night Martini
1 1/2 oz chocolate vodka
1 1/2 oz vanilla vodka
1 oz Bailey's Irish cream
1 oz Kahlua coffee liqueur
1 splash cream

Fill a shaker-strainer with ice. Pour the chocolate and vanilla vodka into the shaker simultaneously for three counts. Pour the Bailey's and Kahlua into the shaker for two counts. Add a splash of cream. Cover shaker, shake, and strain into a cocktail glass.

Tootsie Roll Shooter (recipe from Three Olives Chocolate Vodka)
2/3 oz Three Olives Chocolate Vodka
1/3 oz amaretto
Chocolate Syrup

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well. Strain into a shot glass.

Want more drink recipes? Go to Drink of the Week.com or DrinksMixer.com

I like to eat my chocolate, so here's a recipe for:

Black Russian Bundt Cake

1 box yellow cake mix (without pudding)
1/2 c. sugar
1 pkg. (6 oz.) chocolate instant pudding
1 cup oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup Vodka
1/4 cup Kahlua
3/4 cup water

Combine all ingredients and beat on low speed for one minute and then on medium speed for 4 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured 10 inch bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto plate and pour on glaze.

Glaze
1/4 cup Kahlua
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Combine and have ready when cake comes from oven. Poke holes in cake and pour glaze over cake. Dust with sifted powdered sugar.

Raise a glass or eat your cake October 4: National Vodka Day!

National Taco Day: Chocolate Tacos

October 4 is National Taco Day. You may seem that's odd to mention on a Chocolate Blog, but you'd be mistaken. As I've said before, you can make practically anything out of chocolate.

I have two different types of chocolate tacos to share with you. The first is more like a traditional taco and very healthy, too. Great chocolate and fresh fruit with a hint of heat from the cayenne.
This reminds me of real tacos. Anything with chocolate, cinnamon and cayenne works for me.
The second taco is a frozen ice-cream: Choco Taco. You can buy this ready made at various locations--or I've added a link to a Choco Taco blog at Serious Eats, so you can make it yourself.

Chocolate Tacos (listed as Chocolate Tortillas)
Adapted from Breakfast by Barbara Passino ((The Gerald & Marc Hoberman Collection) February 2009

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened high quality cocoa
2 egg whites
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup skim milk
1 -1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation

To make the batter:
Place all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth with an electric mixer. Cover batter and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

To cook and shape the tortilla:
Remove the batter from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature, which will take 20-30 minutes. Heat a small non-stick skillet or crepe pan over medium heat. Pour in a little less than 1/4 cup of batter and tilt the pan quickly to spread the batter into a 6-inch circle. Once the edges look dry (2 or 3 minutes), loosen the edges with a knife and turn over the tortilla. Cook another minute or two.

Lift the soft hot chocolate tortilla out of the pan with a knife and quickly drape it over a rolling pin. It will become firm and crisp as it cools. Alternatively, if you have a taco rack, put the soft tortilla in that to firm up, teasing the middle open so that you'll have lots of room for fruit.

Hint from the Chef: *** (this is very important)***
If the tortilla doesn't firm up, it means it isn't thoroughly cooked, so cook it a bit longer. It should be dry when you remove it from the skillet.

Fresh Fruit Filling (you can choose all of the below or just what you'd like)

2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced (grind a tiny amount of fresh black pepper on top)
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1 mango, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes or sliced into 1/2-inch thick strips
2 kiwi, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 banana, peeled and sliced into rounds just before serving to prevent browning

Gently mix berries together in a bowl. Keep the remaining fruit separate until assembling or they'll pick up the colors from the berries.

To serve:
1/2 pint sorbet (Use a flavor of one of the fruits)
8 mint sprigs
8 edible flowers

Place a tortilla on a serving plate. Generously fill it with the berries and then tuck in the mango, kiwi and bananas. Add a scoop of sorbet and garnish with mint and the edible flower.

***

Here's another variation on a Chocolate Taco: ChocoTaco: A Waffle Cone folded like a taco with ice cream inside and frozen chocolate all over. This is marketed under both the Good Humor and Klondike Brands. You can find this in the freezer case at grocers, gas stations, and sometimes at Taco Bell.

Want to make your own Choco Taco? Erin Zimmer at Serious Eats has a recipe for just that. I love that she molds her tacos on Kafka's The Trial. Great recipe and step-by-step photos.

So now you have several options for Chocolate Tacos for October 4: National Taco Day.

October 1: Homemade Cookie Day

October is one of my favorite months. I grew up on the East Coast, and I loved October when the trees would turn, the air would get cooler and the winds brisk. Of course, there was Halloween to look forward to at the end of the month with all its great chocolate candy. Here in California October is still my favorite month. Some trees turn where I live, but not a lot of them, but this is one of our best months for weather. We can easily have three weeks of balmy warm days--and, Halloween is still at the end of the month.

October brings a lot of wonderful chocolate holidays. My friend Louise at Months of Edible Celebrations sent me her notes on many of them, so we have a lot to celebrate this month on DyingforChocolate in the way of chocolate holidays!

Today, October 1, is the Anniversary of the New York Cocoa Exchange. The NY Cocoa Exchange was begun on October 1, 1925, so that buyers and sellers could get together for transactions. Go HERE for a good brief history of chocolate.

October 1 is also Homemade Cookie Day. Make them chocolate!

Here's an easy recipe for Chocolate Crinkle Cookies from Diana Rattray at About.com: Southern Food. I love the crackled appearance!

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (I use a high cacao content and quality chocolate)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla (I'm fussy about my vanilla. The better the quality, the better the cookie)
2 cups all-purpose flour
sifted confectioners' sugar

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar, chocolate, oil, baking powder, and vanilla until blended. Beat in as much of the flour with the mixer as possible, then stir in the remaining flour. Cover and chill the cookie dough for 2 hours.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in sifted confectioners' sugar, coating well. Place balls of cookie dough about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets and bake in a 375° oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until crackled in appearance. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar if desired.

The Hershey site has another recipe for Chocolate Crinkle Cookies that's delicious. Takes a little more time to prepare, but they're great.

Maybe you have another recipe for cookies to make today. Whatever you choose for Homemade Cookie Day, make them chocolate!