Chocolate Brithday Desserts: Flourless Chocolate Cake

As mentioned in my previous Chocolate Birthday Desserts post, it was my friend Eriks Birthday this past weekend and I put myself in charge of desserts.  There was going to be a lot of people and I need a gluten free dessert that hopefully everyone would enjoy.  The first thing that came to mind was a flourless chocolate cake.  Any time I have had this cake, it has been really dense and rich, so you only need a tiny peice of it, which meant a 8" round cake would feed lots of people. 

This recipe came from Martha Stewart's Fresh Flavor Fast Cookbook and was super quick to whip up, it just needed pleanty of oven time.  I was a bit afraid I was going to really screw this up.  You have to beat the eggs whites twice to two different consistancies and they are basically the cake.  I assume because of the eggs, this cake was suprisingly light compared to similar cakes I've had.  It was still very rich, but was a bit more spongy in the center.  Maybe I didn't bake it long enough, I couldn't tell if it was pulling from the pan edges, but it had been in the oven 15 or more minutes than the recipe time, so I decided it needed to come out.  It was still super yummy and Erik was pleasently suprised by his second dessert that came out with candles and a loud, bar filling version of "Happy Birthday."  Give it a try, it's not as hard as it sounds!

Cooling, precandles

Flourless Chocolate Cake
8 to 10 servings

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (I had a bit less, so I added a tiny bit of dark chocolate chips)
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees with the rack in the center. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.
2. Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and place over, not in a sause pan of simmering water.  Stir occasionally until almost melted.  Remove from heat and stir until completely melted.  Whisk in egg yolks. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar, and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form.
4. Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture; then gently fold in remaining egg whites.
5. Pour batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and is set in the center, 45 to 50 minutes.
6. Cool completely on a wire rack; remove sides of pan. Serve at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Enjoy! 

He was very excited about this cake

Alabama Eggnog

I will admit that I am not the biggest eggnog .  I have been warming up to it over the past couple years, especially when it contains alcohol.  When I came across a post on Four Pounds Flour for Alabama Eggnog, I immediately thought of the progressive dinner and Melissa's cocktail portion, but she didn't seem too excited about it.  

I then thought of my dad who is always drinking eggnog at this time of year.  I emailed them the recipe and was correct.  He was ready to try it and was very concerned about which whiskey to use.  They called me from the store asking what kind to get, he has normally had it with rum in it, not whiskey and it had to be right.  We ended up Woodford Reserve Bourbon.  In the Four Pounds Flour post they doubled the amount of whiskey.  We has some family stop by for the event, and almost everyone thought they were sipping a shot of bourbon, not eggnog, so I don't know how they could have doubled the amount.  I actually thought it was pretty good.  I think my dad and I drank most of it.  Everyone else got at least one glass down.  Next time I might mix a few more spices into it and halving it for a much smaller batch. 

The Guinea pigs

Alabama Eggnog

makes 12 to 14 servings

• 12 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups whiskey
• 1 pint cream

1. Separate egg whites and yolks into two separate bowls; add half the sugar to each bowl. 
2. With an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; add to a large punch bowl. 
3.  Next, beat egg yolks until very light in color. 
4.  Fold together egg whites and yolks. Add whiskey. 
5.  Whip cream until soft peaks form, fold into egg mixture. 
6.  Serve with a sprinkle of fresh grated nutmeg.

Enjoy! 

Eggplant and Mozzarella Melts

Pretty much over night, it became autumn in New York.  I can't say I mind, it means I can where my jeans comfortably with my flip flops.  I was going through withdrawals.  Naturally this also means warm, hearty cooking.  First recipe up: Eggplant and Mozzarella Melts from Fresh Flavor Fast. 

 I couldn't really find a small eggplant, so I ended up not really halving the recipe.  I did make a few small modifications though.  I knew that I would have far to much for myself and in my experience, eggplant isn't great as a leftover, so  I invited K over to join me.  She questioned my desire to make something so eggplanty since I had been saying that I like it, but the texture starts to get to me.  I think because the eggplant is breaded and baked, it did not bother me at all.  

It was a great recipe that was relatively quick.  You do need to do some planning if you are going to make this.  While the actually prep work is quick, the baking takes some time.  From start to finish it took me about and hour, maybe a  bit more, to complete.  Since I knew I was going to make this at some point in time during the week, I actually made the bread crumbs over the previous weekend. 

Eggplant & Mozzarella Melts 

3 to 4 servings

• 2 large eggs
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 1/2 cup plain dried breadcrumbs (directions below)
• Olive oil, for baking sheet
• 1 medium eggplant (about 1 pound), sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
• 1/2 loaf soft Italian bread
• 1 cups store-bought tomato sauce
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced ( I ordered 3/4 lb from the deli)

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. In a shallow bowl, lightly beat eggs with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread breadcrumbs in a pie plate or shallow bowl.
2. Oil a rimmed baking sheet. Dip eggplant rounds in egg, then dredge in breadcrumbs, turning to coat completely; transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bake (without turning) until golden and tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, split bread lengthwise, and place cut side up on another baking sheet; press gently in centers to create a well. Layer both halves with tomato sauce, eggplant, and cheese. Bake until cheese is browned in spots, 6 to 8 minutes.

Dried Breadcrumbs

1. Preaheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Trim crust off of bread and tear into pieces. 
3. Pulse in a blender (or food processor) until fine crumbs form. 
4. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and toast, tossing occasionally, until golden, 12-15 minutes. 
5. Store in  an airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. 

Enjoy!