Flourless Chocolate Cake

Flourless Chocolate Cake
Makes 1, 8 or 9-inch cake

Chocolate and red wine is always a pairing I love during the winter, particularly Valentine’s Day. 2022 marks the start of a new tradition, our Début Cru, which celebrates the bottling of our first vintage of the year. The 2022 Pinot Noir Début Cru is a subtle and sensual wine that’s gently aged in oak for nine months. Red fruit and herbaceous notes allow the wine to retain a bright taste making it both complementary to the cake’s dark chocolate whilst cutting through the general unctuousness of this dessert. P.S. This cake is gluten-free, a nice little bonus.

1 lb. dark chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Lightly butter a 9” springform or cake pan and line with parchment paper. Combine chocolate, oil and butter in a small bowl and place over a double boiler. Melt and remove from heat, allowing the mixture to cool slightly.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar and cocoa powder. Slowly combine the egg and melted chocolate and whisk until smooth.

In a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat egg whites, salt and remaining sugar until light, fluffy and stiff peaks form. Add a bit (about a cup but no need to measure) of beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture and mix. You don’t need to worry about “folding” here this is to lighten the chocolate mixture slightly. Add the remaining whites and using a large rubber spatula, fold in the remaining until fully incorporated.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake until the top is dry and just set, about 30 minutes. Allow the cake to cool slightly and remove from the cake pan.

Cool on a wire rack and top with whipped cream before serving.

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons crème fraiche

Beat heavy cream and crème fraiche in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or with a traditional hand whisk until a soft peaks form.