"Cake au Chocolat" - Chocolate Cake, Gluten and Dairy Free

Cake Au Chocolat (Chocolate Cake)

Gluten and Dairy Free

Adapted by My Little Blue Heron from “Les cakes de Laurent sans gluten & sans lait” de Laurent Dran

My apartment smells like chocolate heaven. Merci bien, M. Dran! My dear readers, you will adore this chocolate cake sans gluten, sans dairy. No one will “uh-uh” it.

Chocolate is ______________.

Dran suggests glamming it up with chocolate chips on top. Mine sank to the bottom. It wasn't a deal breaker for me, but releasing the cakes from the pans was a little bit arduous. If you choose to add chocolate chips (please use excellent quality chips, like dark Guittard), I suggest you add them after the cake has spent about 10-15 minutes in the oven (work quickly to sprinkle them over the top).

Use excellent quality cocoa (always). I use Valrhona cocoa from France. If you use a different cocoa, that's fine. Just be sure it’s dark (and unsweetened).

It’s important to sift ingredients well. 

sifted dry ingredients

The texture of your loaf depends on this important step.  

ooh la la!

Always use refined coconut oil. When you use refined coconut oil, your loaf will taste like chocolate rather than coconut. The oil must be at a liquid state, but it shouldn’t be hot. If you have one, use a microwave on half or lower power. If you don’t, melt the oil slowly and cool it before adding to the batter. (You don't want to scramble your eggs).  

I’ve adapted some of Dran’s kitchen Frenchibility to the American kitchen. Beginning with: you’ll need a large loaf pan (dark pans bake best for GF), or a couple of smaller ones or a melange of small baking tins/cupcake or muffin tins etc.

You’ll need a kitchen scale, and if you don't own one yet, you’ll be happy when you do. Your results will be fine and always consistent. Here’s a link to a recipe for honey spice cake (Pain d'épices), also adapted from Dran’s book that has a link to an inexpensive and good scale to buy on Amazon.

This will look lovely if you dust the top with some powdered sugar just before serving.

Plain, with berries and diary-free whipped cream or with sorbet or dairy-free ice cream, I hope you’ll adore this chocolate cake. (If it survives more than a couple of days, toast it, and spread a little raspberry jam on it for breakfast!)

I doubled (supersized) Dran's recipe. For the American baker, quantities are for a fairly conventional sized loaf, enough to feed 10-12 with some exceptions for those who may be stressed about the new tax legislation in the U.S., or that our beloved NPR hosts can’t keep their pants zipped and have joined the ranks of the mounted (or mounting) police state of misogyny. Given this state of affairs (sorry), this recipe may feed just 1 or 2.

Wishing you happiness, health, love and ease - in and out of the kitchen,

xojane

Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Cake

Preparation: Oil a large loaf pan with flavorless oil or spray release. After mis-en-place, preheat oven to 350º F., rack in center of oven.

Ingredients:

100 g. superfine brown rice flour

50 g. potato starch

40 g. blanched almond flour (finely ground)

60 g. dark bittersweet cocoa

9 g. aluminum free baking powder

4 g. Guar gum

¼ tsp. (or more, to taste) Kosher salt

6 eggs, size large, room temperature

320 g. confectioner’s sugar (10X)

120 g. Refined coconut oil, liquid state

Procedure:

     Preheat the oven (see above).

Weigh all dry ingredients and whisk together.

Sift dry ingredients through a mesh sieve and set aside.

Bring coconut oil to a liquid state and set aside.

Measure 10X sugar and set aside.

Put eggs into bowl of an electric mixer or a large bowl and using

whisk attachment mix until yolks are broken.

Add 10X sugar and whisk, scraping down until all ingredients 

are combined. Once combined, whisk on ‘high’ for a minute.

Dump in the sifted dry ingredients, and whisk until well incorporated.

Add coconut oil and mix until combined.

                 

Fill prepared loaf pan (or pans) and bake in middle of oven 

for approximately 20-40 minutes, depending on the size of your       

loaf or loaves. If adding chocolate chips, add them about 10-15         

minutes into the bake. 

Loaves are done when toothpick comes out clean. 

Don’t overbake.

Cool on rack for 10-15 minutes before releasing to cool completely 

before serving or wrapping.

As with all GF cakes, this is best eaten on baking day, but 

may be wrapped and kept at room temperature for a day or two 

at most. More than that amount of time? Wrap well, freeze and 

defrost before serving.   

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Fallen Pound of Chocolate Soufflé Cake

(Flour-free)

From David Waltuck’s “Staff Meals from Chanterelle”

Adapted and updated by Blue Heron Kitchen

This cake is almost completely flour-free, save for dusting the pan with flour, so depending on what chocolate you're using, you can make it gluten-free. For dusting the pan, you can use gluten-free flour mix, some brown rice flour, or no flour at all. Try coating the pan with some granulated sugar as if you were making a sweet soufflé. 

This cake is about the easiest and most 'unassuming' flourless chocolate cakes I’ve made. You don't need a bain-marie (water bath) and it's minimalist in ingredients. I like that. It approaches perfection. There's no flavoring other than chocolate and butter. So, make sure you use excellent chocolate (try JacquesTorres’ baking disks - if you click on the link, you can find his stores, or order online).  Today, I combined JT's baking disks and Valrhona, semi-sweet chocolate. Whatever fine chocolate you choose, you'll need a full pound! And then, there’s the butter choice. I use European "style" butter – Plugra. Whatever butter you use, be sure that it’s fresh.  Taste it. If you wouldn't spread it on toast, don’t use it. Nine eggs, size large, room temperature, separated. Make sure that your whites are without yolks. If there's a speck of yolk in the white, you'll be miserable. Your whites won't whip up. Take it one egg at a time. So, bring more than nine eggs to room temperature and if some of them don't separate perfectly, make some eggs or a frittata for dinner.

For an excellent cake, use excellent ingredients and an excellent technique. How you make this is important. Be careful and patient; and if it's not perfect this time, it will be better next time. 

Trucs: Make sure that no steam enters your melting chocolate. Take care that the melted chocolate and butter cools to room temperature. Achieve ‘ribbons’ with the yolks. Don’t beat the whites past ‘soft peak’ or they’ll dry out too much. Fold, but don’t ‘mix’ to assure that the batter is ‘lifted’.  Bake in the center of the oven. DON’T OVERBAKE. Using Guittard "red" cocoa for dusting will achieve the finish in the above photo. I didn't add a second dusting of confectioner's sugar.

Follow these simple steps, and you’ll be a rock star, despite that all you did was melt chocolate and butter and whip up some eggs.

For one 9-inch cake:

Ingredients:

1 pound best quality semi-sweet to dark chocolate

½ pound (two sticks), unsalted butter (European 83% butterfat recommended)

9 large eggs, room temperature, separated

¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Cocoa powder (Valrhona or Guittard are good choices), for dusting the cake

Confectioners’ "10X" sugar, for dusting the cake

Procedure:

1.    Preheat oven to 300º F. Lightly butter and flour (see above note regarding flour, if this is Passover, you can use matzo cake meal) a 9-inch springform pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

2.    Combine chocolate and butter in a bowl placed on top of a pot of barely simmering water. Melt, stirring occasionally. Be CAREFUL that NO STEAM enters the chocolate/butter mixture. When just about completely melted, remove bowl from the simmering pot and stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to room temperature. Don't rush. Bring it to room temperature.

3.    Combine egg yolks and ¾ cup of the sugar in the bowl of and electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix for about 4-5 minutes, until when the paddle is lifted, ribbons fall from the paddle.

4.    In another bowl (or, if you don’t have another bowl, transfer this mixture to a LARGE bowl and THOROUGHLY wash this bowl and attach the whisk to the electric mixer), whisk the egg whites with the 1 additional tablespoon of sugar until soft peaks are made when you lift the whites with the whisk. This should take about 3 or 4 minutes.

5.    Now you’re ready to fold!

6.    Fold 1/3 of the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg yolks. When fully incorporated, fold 1/3 of beaten egg whites, until fully incorporated. Repeat this procedure twice more, until you’ve completely folding all ingredients together, ending with the egg whites.

7.    Carefully pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Don’t ‘pat it down’ much. Bake until the edges are firm and center is somewhat ‘puffy’, but still soft, about 20-30 minutes. The center will appear to be unbaked.  This is important: do not over-bake the cake or you will undo your folding and your cake will be dry and unremarkable (don't be afraid, be careful and concentrate. You're the boss.)

8.    Cool on a rack, then release the springform.

9.    Dust with a layer of cocoa powder, followed by a layer of 10X (that’s industry talk for confectioner’s sugar), a second layer of cocoa and a final layer of 10X.

1.    Serve at room temperature. A thin slice is all you need. You can serve ‘as is’, with a dollop of whipped cream, with some crème anglaise, or with a berry or two.

Serves 10-15 (or more)

Chocolate Soufflé Cake

Fallen Pound of Chocolate Soufflé Cake

(Flourless)

From David Waltuck’s “Staff Meals from Chanterelle”

Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen

This cake is almost completely flour-free, save for dusting the pan with flour. If you don’t use wheat, choose an alternative to flour, such as matzo cake meal (next Passover), or some rice flour (if you’re Sephardic or you're allergic to wheat). 

I used flour.

This cake is about the easiest and most 'unassuming' flourless chocolate cake I’ve made. I like that. It approaches perfection. There's no flavoring other than chocolate and butter. So, make sure you use excellent chocolate (try Jacques Torres’ baking disks, Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, Guittard, or your favorite chocolate). You'll need a pound of chocolate! And then, there’s the butter situation. You'll be using half a pound of butter. I use European style butter – Plugra. Whatever butter you use, be sure that it’s fresh. Taste it. If you wouldn't spread it on toast, don’t use it. Nine eggs. Size large, room temperature, separated. Make sure that your whites are without yolks.

For an excellent cake, use excellent ingredients and an excellent technique.

Your excellent technique: Make sure that no steam enters your melting chocolate. Take care that the melted chocolate and butter cools to room temperature. Achieve ‘ribbons’ with the yolks. Don’t beat the whites past ‘soft peak’ or they’ll dry out too much. Fold, but don’t ‘mix’ to assure that the batter is ‘lifted’.  Bake in the center of the oven. DON’T OVERBAKE.

Follow these simple steps, and you’ll be a rock star, even though all you did was melt chocolate and butter and beat some eggs.

Here’s the recipe for one 9-inch cake:

Ingredients:

1 pound best quality semi-sweet to dark chocolate

½ pound (two sticks), unsalted butter (European 83% butterfat recommended)

9 large eggs, room temperature, separated

¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Cocoa powder (I use Scharffen Berger, Valrhona or Guittard), for dusting the cake

Confectioners’ "10X" sugar, for dusting the cake

Procedure:

1.    Preheat oven to 300º F. Lightly butter and flour (see above note regarding flour, if this is Passover, you can use matzo cake meal) a 9-inch springform pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

2.    Combine chocolate and butter in a bowl placed on top of a pot of barely simmering water. Melt, stirring occasionally. Be CAREFUL that NO STEAM enters the chocolate/butter mixture. When just about completely melted, remove bowl from the simmering pot and stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to room temperature. Don't rush. Bring it to room temperature.

3.    Combine egg yolks and ¾ cup of the sugar in the bowl of and electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix for about 4-5 minutes, until when the paddle is lifted, ribbons fall from the paddle.

4.    In another bowl (or, if you don’t have another bowl, transfer this mixture to a LARGE bowl and THOROUGHLY wash this bowl and attach the whisk to the electric mixer), whisk the egg whites with the 1 additional tablespoon of sugar until soft peaks are made when you lift the whites with the whisk. This should take about 3 or 4 minutes.

5.    Now you’re ready to fold!

6.    Fold 1/3 of the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg yolks. When fully incorporated, fold 1/3 of beaten egg whites, until fully incorporated. Repeat this procedure twice more, until you’ve completely folding all ingredients together, ending with the egg whites.

7.    Carefully pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Don’t ‘pat it down’ much. Bake until the edges are firm and center is somewhat ‘puffy’, but still soft. The center will appear to be unbaked.  

8.    Cool on a rack, then release the springform.

9.    Dust with a layer of cocoa powder, followed by a layer of 10X (that’s industry talk for confectioner’s sugar), a second layer of cocoa and a final layer of 10X.

1.    Serve at room temperature. A thin slice will suffice (especially if there are 40 people at the table). You can serve ‘as is’, with a dollop of whipped cream, with some crème anglaise, or with a berry or two.