Charlie's Afternoon Chocolate Cake

Charlie's Afternoon Chocolate Cake - made May 18, 2011 from Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard (book #111)

There are many decadent-sounding recipes in this cookbook, accompanied by mouthwatering pictures.  The picture of this cake in the cookbook looks like the creamiest baked fudge so it was almost inevitable that I had to make it.  Notice the relatively short list of ingredients and how prominently chocolate figures into it.  To sound like a broken record, please use high quality chocolate on this one.  It'll make all the difference and render the calories worth it.  I used Valrhona - $2.99 for a 3-ounce package at Trader Joe's. I needed these to pack in goodie bags which is harder to portion out when you bake something in a round pan so I made this in a 9" square baking pan.

This has no chemical leavening and the instructions don't call for beating it a lot so I didn't expect it to rise much, if at all.  It spread into a thin layer in a 9-inch pan so next time I'd bake it in an 8-inch pan just to have it a little thicker. If you do that, be sure to adjust for the baking time.  I followed the recipe exactly with regards to the size of pan and the baking temps and times so I didn't even bother with the toothpick test on this one.  The chocolate set as it cools and it has a fragile texture but a great taste (from the "good" chocolate).  It was just a trifle too sweet for me so next time I'd use a darker chocolate than 60%.  I like my chocolate candy and truffles to be milk chocolate but chocolate baked goods to be a deeper, richer chocolate.  But this is a crazy-easy cake to put together so if you need to whip up something fast, this is a good choice.  If you do bake in a 9-inch pan, the thin squares would make a good base for a scoop of ice cream.  Just sayin'....

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 ounces 60% chocolate, chopped

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1.      Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350⁰F.  Spray the sides and bottom of a round 9-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Dust it with flour, shaking off the excess and set aside.

2.      Bring the butter to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Stir a couple of times to prevent it from burning.  Remove from the heat and add the chocolate to the pan.  Stir the mixture until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

3.      Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until well combined.  Add the flour and mix well.  Add the chocolate to the batter and stir until the mixture is just combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

4.      Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 300⁰F and bake for an additional 8 minutes.  Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely in the pan.  Unmold and serve.