Chocolate Cracked Earth (Flourless Chocolate Cake)
By: lisa chang
Published: Saturday, August 28, 2010 - 12:53pm

Ingredients




1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 stick unsalted butter*
9 large eggs, separated
1 cup ¾ granulated sugar, plus tablespoon
2 cups heavy cream, cold
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preparation

1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. 2 Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1-inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs - this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate; then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture. 3 Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan. 4 I had to bake it an extra 10 minutes) 5 While the cake is cooking, make the whipped cream. Whip the cream until it becomes light and fluffy. 6 Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners' and the whipped cream.