COOKING POOR, EATING RICH: June 2013

Hi friends, been a while hasn't it.? Don't worry everything is just dandy. I've had a busy spring with my RWJ, a high school reunion, birthday, vacation but now it's summer and things have slowed down.
Today I'm going to share a secret, ready? Chicks dig chocolate. Seriously, like even more than horses, shoes and unicorns. They should rename it "chickolate" Need a ticket out of the doghouse? Here ya go.
It's also my Sister-in-law's birthday and this is her present from me.
Almost Flourless Chocolate Torte:
Warning, while the prep for this is actually easy, the techniques used are fairly advanced. Read through the instructions a few times before you start and if I lose you, I'd be happy to provide clarification. I'm here to help.
Mise-en-place
1 pound dark chocolate
4 whole eggs
1 TB sugar
1 TB flour
10 TB unsalted butter
10 oz's raspberries, frozen are just fine
One small pot for melting the chocolate and butter
One large pot with an inch or two of boiling water
One medium bowl for the eggs and sugar
Good large wire whisk
Rubber spatula
Spoon
9 inch cake pan, floured and buttered.
9 inch round of wax paper, butter one side and place it on the bottom, butter side up please.
Preheat oven to 425f

A few tips. Chocolate hates water. Wash all your equipment the night before and let air-dry so there isn't even a trace of water on anything.
When buying chocolate splurge a little, best you can afford. The chocolate we are using today is easy to find. It's labeled simply as "dark chocolate" or as 40% depending on where it's from. Do not use cookie chips, they spray those with food wax which is ok for Tollhouse but not for today ok?
Last one, let your eggs come to room temperature and you'll get better results.

Ready? Here we go.
Start heating up the large pot of water
In your small pot combine your chocolate and butter and place over medium heat. Stir gently as it melts. Once smooth remove from heat completely.

In the large bowl whisk together the eggs and sugar over the boiling water. Just until warm.

And we're whisking....and whisking. Keep going, the eggs will start getting foamy, you'll have to keep checking the temperature, use your finger. If it gets too hot the eggs will curdle. It's better to go slow and warm. It's ok to remove it from the hot water, just keep whisking, do not stop. It will quadruple in volume and get fairly thick. Then you can stop.

Gently fold in the flour.
Now we temper, we've done this before. Add 1/4 of the egg stuff into the chocolate off heat please, fold in gently.

Once completely stirred in, add the chocolate compound to the remaining egg mixture. Gently fold until completely incorporated.

And we're folding... 'Cus stirring would cause you to lose all that volume you just whisked into the eggs and that would be dumb.

Mmmmmm folding....
Alrighty, is that oven ready? Better be. Pour the batter into the cake pan and gently smooth out the top. No tapping to remove air bubbles, 'cus like duhhhh.
Put it into the oven and go wash stuff for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. It will still be fairly liquid. It's ok.

Let it cool just enough to be safe and wrap it tight in plastic. Put it in the freezer overnight.

Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning.
First thing, take it out of the freezer. Just put it somewhere out of the way while you get your morning coffee. Let it come to room temperature. Remove the plastic and invert it onto a flat plate. If it fights coming out, use some hot water on the bottom of the pan, it should pop right out.
It's kinda ugly looking right? We can fix that. If ya like go ahead and cover it with whipped cream. Today I am lucky enough to have a bit of imported cinnamon-infused chocolate.
Same procedure as we did with the other chocolate. 4oz chocolate with 1 TB of butter. Melt slowly over lower heat. Once smooth just spread it on the top and sides. Easy right?

Off-set palette knives are our friends

We need a sauce for this don't we? In a small pot heat up the raspberries with a scant pinch of salt, 2TB sugar and just a splash of water. If using frozen you might need less sugar, some come sweetened. Stir on simmer until all the fruit is broken down and press it through a fine wire mesh strainer. Done

To slice this, use a sharp, wet knife. Just wet the knife in cold water. Gently slice and plate. Keep in mind this is a very dense and rich cake so one serving is fairly thin.