Bittersweet Chocolate Cake

Williams-Sonoma Casual Entertaining, p. 89

3 tablespoons cake (soft-wheat) flour

1 tablespoon cocoa

2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

5 oz (155 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks

6 tablespoons (3 oz/90 g) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, at room temperature

4 eggs, separated

½ cup (3 ½ oz/105 g) superfine (caster) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (essence)

FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING:

1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) heavy (double) cream

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 tablespoons confectioners’ (icing) sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

1 teapoon vanilla extract (essence)

Confectioners’ (icing) sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350F (180 C). Butter and flour an 8-inch (20-cm) springform pan with 2-inch sides.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, and espresso powder. 

Dark colors, dark flavors.

Set aside.

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over (but not touching) barely simmering water in a saucepan. Melt, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat and stir in the butter, a little at a time, until blended. Let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and superfine sugar. Using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat until creamy, 3-4 minutes. Beat in the chocolate mixture until blended. Fold in the flour mixture and then the vanilla.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Stir one-fourth of the whites into the batter. Fold in the remaining whites just until no white streaks remain. Pour into the prepared pan and level the top.

Bake until the top is risen and crusty and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean, 30-35 minutes. 

For some reason my cake settled into a shape that can best be described as "bulbous."

The center should be soft and moist. Let cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes. The top will fall a bit. Remove the pan sides. Loosen the edges of the cake with a knife and slide the warm cake onto a serving plate.

To make the topping, in a bowl, whisk together the cream and sour cream until slightly thickened. Beat in the sugar, orange zest, and vanilla until soft folds form.

Dust the warm cake with confectioners’ sugar. Cut into slices and top with whipped cream.

Be generous with that whipped cream - it's delicious.

My Rating: 4/5 "So to enjoy this you have to bracket your expectation that chocolate should mostly taste like sugar. They're not kidding when they call the cake bittersweet. But if you appreciate the purer chocolate flavor, especially in contrast with the comforting orange cream, this dessert is pretty amazing. I was the only one in my family who really appreciated it, but that's fine. More for me."