Chocolate! The ultimate indulgence, whether it’s milk, dark, bittersweet, or semi-sweet.

There are so many different qualities and so many different varieties that it leaves a person in a state of utter confusion. My personal favorite is dark chocolate, the darker the better. There are a couple of brands of chocolate that I like to bake with. I believe that to bake an utterly blissful chocolate cake you have to start with great chocolate. For our purpose here I used the 70% dark chocolate from Trader Joe’s. It comes in big 17.5-ounce blocks and I usually use this one in most of my recipes.

Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe:

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

14 ounces of dark chocolate. Can use bittersweet

¾ cup of butter cut into pieces (more for the pan)

5 large eggs

¾ cup of granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup roasted hazelnuts (optional)

PRINT RECIPE

Heat the oven to 300F. Butter a round 9-inch cake pan and line it with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate and the butter in a double boiler and let it cool. Beat the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat on Medium speed until very foamy and the mixture doubles in volume, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the cooled chocolate mixture and beat until well blended. Add the cocoa and 2 tablespoons of water and beat another 30 seconds.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until set, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool in the pan. Invert on a cake plate, decorate with the roasted hazelnuts, and serve with ice cream.