Recipe by Patsy Caldwell from You Be Sweet
Our dear, sweet friend Malcolm sent me this wonderful book chock full of Southern desserts that will put you in a sugar coma, just reading about them. Malcolm is an expert on all things sweet – he IS that person that believes life is too short, eat dessert first. I have really enjoyed reading these recipes from Patsy Caldwell and the accompanying stories by the book’s co-author, Amy Lyles Wilson. If anyone is looking for the most decadent collection of desserts this side of the Mississippi, I certainly would recommend You Be Sweet! Thank you, Malcolm!
Since we are generally trying to resist sugary things, I’ve tried to limit myself to just drooling over the photos – until now. This Flourless Chocolate Cake caught my eye. It is easy and quick to put together, and so very, very chocolatey and delicious. The only modification I made to the recipe was to use coconut palm sugar instead of regular sugar…and yes, that was a desperate attempt to maybe make it a little less lethal. If this cake shortened my life, so be it. It is incredible!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar (or granulated cane sugar)
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- cocoa powder, for dusting
Ganache:
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 300F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan, and line with parchment paper. Sprinkle with cocoa powder.
Melt the chocolate and butter in the top of a double-boiler over simmering water. Stir until uniformly melted. Remove from heat. (This is easiest to do by placing a heat-resistant bowl over any saucepan. Be sure to place it on a towel when you remove it from heat, since the bottom will be wet.)
In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, salt, and vanilla. Beat the egg/sugar mixture into the chocolate mixture, with constant stirring to prevent the eggs from “cooking” in the warm chocolate. Pour into the prepared cake pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for approximately 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a serving plate.
To prepare the ganache, bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, then stir in the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla until thoroughly mixed. Pour over the cake, spreading it out to just over the edges.
Serve, garnished with fruit if desired! Enjoy!
Oh man, I loves me some chocolate cake! Nothing this good can be bad for you! Same with our music today, the great Ryan Adams. He first appeared on the national scene as the leader of Whiskeytown, the Carolina-based alt-country band that was great while it lasted. Their Strangers Almanac is a landmark southern recording, full of some of the best songs to come around in a while, such as “16 Days” and “Turn Around”. A masterpiece, indeed.
Then Adams went solo, and scored critical praise for Gold. Working with Ethan Johns, this is a great rock and roll record, full of country soul, Stonesian rockers 
and heartfelt ballads.
she cooks...he cleans 
Chocolate frosted with chocolate – can’t beat that!
Are the eggs the only leavening?
That’s all that’s in there! As you can see, it is a densely chocolate cake, almost like a truffle or fudge. Very rich!
Made it. Oh, yum!
Probably my favorite dessert of all. Pastries-A-Go-Go in Decatur also makes a great version.
My daughter is allergies to all grains, nuts, eggs and tomatoes we are looking for breads, cakes and cookies. Any help is appreciated. thanks Cindy
That’s a tough one. Can she have coconut and coconut flour? If so, I’ll see if I can come up with something.
I’ve made it last night. It came out delicious and I only have one slice left. The cake came out very moist, I couldn’t get it out of the 8″ pan (it turned out too soft) so I just left it in there and kept on slicing it.
Cindy–> can you daughter have coconut products? I know Paleo recipes don’t use grains.
I’m glad you liked it, even though it stayed in the pan. Mine was pretty soft/fudgy also, but I put the plate directly on top of the pan and flipped it, and it came right out. The parchment paper helps. Thanks for the comments, Jo!
I’m making it again tonight (waiting for chocolate to melt as we speak). I did use parchment last time as well. I was actually craving it today and decided to make it.
WOW!!! great for a chocolate fix!! Cooked mine about 8 – 10 minutes longer than the instructions cuz I didn’t feel like I would be able to get out of the pan… Also next time I will likely make half of ganache….but who knows…..leftover ganache is not a bad thing!!! Thanks for recipe!!!
Thanks, Mary! There is no such thing as “leftover ganache”…just sayin’. 🙂
Ok, so I’ve been making this cake quite often. What makes it perfect is to add about 1-2 tablespoons of sifted coconut flour. I don’t make ganache, just eat it with strawberries and sometimes cream (if I can find one without carrageenan). Love it. It doesn’t last long with me, 2 days max 🙂
Oh, Joanna – – you are tempting me to make this more often. I’d like to try that coconut flour…and I have LOTS of strawberries. Mmm! Thanks for the suggestions!
I’m trying to adapt this to make it sugar free. How many ounces of unsweetened chocolate do I substitute for the chocolate chip?
I have ~half cup of chocolate chips in the cabinet, and they weigh 8.4 ounces – so I’m going to guess 15-16 ounces of chocolate chips is around a cup.