Might not be pretty but certainly delicious!

No title could ever be more true. Life IS better with chocolate. Lot’s of it. Dark especially. There was a point in my life when any old chocolate would do the trick and dark chocolate was a gourmet treat. But I’d like to think my palate was always pretty advanced. I was probably about 6 when I told my mom those knock off brands of chocolate Easter bunnies weren’t cutting it. I needed Hershey’s or better. Then over time I started to gravitate towards only dark chocolate. For Christmas I got a beautiful bag of Lindt’s milk chocolate truffles that have virtually remained untouched. That’s right, there is two month old chocolate in my apartment–practically unheard of only a few years ago. Milk chocolate is just too mild and sweet. I have a huge sweet tooth but don’t like overly sweet treats. I use only dark chocolate for baking and tend to cut the recipes’ suggested sugar amount by a lot. For me it’s go rich and dark or go home.

Valentines Day is a holiday that needs demands chocolate, so sticking with rich and dark, I attempted my first flourless chocolate cake. Well, really I attempted four of them, since they were individual portions, but let’s not get technical here. After making beautiful creme brulee for New Year’s Day, my chef ego was pretty puffed up. I scanned the recipe, and to me it looked similar to making brownies (did I mention there was beer in them? Yeah, now you’ll stick around), what could possibly go wrong? Well, I can certainly attest to their deliciousness. And really that’s all that matters, right? Food should taste good. Period. End of story. We can all go home.

Okay, so they were a little ugly. Well, really ugly. No one told me flourless chocolate cake would rise so much! I had my 4oz ramkins (specifically tested to make sure they actually did hold 4oz, no more, no less) and I divided the batter between all four AS INSTRUCTED. What the recipe didn’t warn was “hey, these suckers get pretty big, maybe you should only fill your cups half way”. Yeah, that would have been helpful. For now I present to you my ugly but tasty flourless chocolate cake. With my edits. So at least you can impress your date in the way I couldn’t.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Molten Ganache (Adapted from The Best of American Beer and Food) Serves 4 6

• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, divided
• 2 c dark chocolate (70% or higher), chopped and divided
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar, divided
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 c chocolate stout (I used my favorite Brooklyn Chocolate Stout)

MAKE THE GANACHE: In a small saucepan, heat cream, 1/2 stick butter and 1 tablespoon sugar over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then add 1 cup chocolate off heat. Whisk until smooth, then leave to cool until set.

Making the ganache

MAKE THE CAKE: Preheat oven to 350°F. Place remaining butter and chocolate in a microwavable bowl and heat on high for 30 second intervals until melted, about two minutes. Stir until smooth.

Combine eggs, yolks and remaining sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until ribbons form, about 8 minutes. Fold in butter chocolate mixture and beer, scraping sides and blending well. Divide batter equally between 6 ramkins (they should be a little more than half full). Set ramkins on a cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes.

Overfilled ramkins (as I learned). Should only be HALFWAY!

Remove from oven and place a heaping tablespoon of ganache in the center of each ramkin.

mmm…adding the ganache

Continue baking an additional 30 minutes. Cake will be set and cracked a bit with the molten center still intact. Let cool for 5 minutes then serve immediately.

Finished but overfilled flourless chocolate cake

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