Valentine's Day Chocolate Cake

I've wanted to make this cake for 2 weeks. Well, actually, I take that back. I've wanted to make this cake for 2 years. See, 2 years ago, I tried to make a flour-less chocolate cake, and it flopped. I didn't try it again, and just sort of forgot about it. Then, 2 weeks ago, a friend at work was talking about a flour-less chocolate cake recipe she had. To make a long story short, (sort of!) she gave me the recipe, and I made it yesterday and today. I'll show you what I did!

First off, I searched for 62% Scharffen Berger Chocolate. The recipe I got was a Scharffen Berger recipe, so I figured I might as well go all the way. Normally, I don't follow a recipe to the letter, but I figured I would need all the help I could get, so, I bought what the recipe called for. I'd never even heard of Scharffen Berger. I'm more of a Hershey's girl, or maybe Guittard, if it's on sale.


I broke the chocolate into chunks, and put it into a double boiler along with the butter. Oh, how can a person go wrong with chocolate and butter?

Want to know something? It must be really good chocolate. Does this look like what is left of almost $20?


After the chocolate and butter have melted, stir them until they are all mixed together. You don't want to boil them, just get it nice and warm, so the two can mingle and dance together. After all, it's Valentine's Day!


Break 3 eggs into a different bowl, and add the sugar.



Stir them together well. I just used a hand whisk. You don't have to get lots of air into it, just mixed together.


Let the chocolate mixture cool enough to pour into the eggs and sugar. If you put something really hot into eggs, it will cook the eggs, (or so I've been told) and we don't want that. Not today. Probably not tomorrow either. Ummm, let's see, when the chocolate isn't too hot, pour it into the eggs and sugar, and stir it up.


Here it goes!


This is what it looks like after it's all mixed up. Looks yummy, huh? I wouldn't know. I'm just saying....I think it looks yummy.

This cooks in a round 9" cake pan. That would be a single pan. Very skinny. In the pan, at least. Not on my hips. Anyway, get a round pan. Butter the bottom and sides, and line it with parchment paper. NOT waxed paper!


Pour the chocolate batter into the pan and spread it out. Lick the spatula. Yummy!




Then it goes into a bigger pan. I tried to use a 9x13 pan, but it just sat on top. So, I used this other pan I have. I just got it a month or two ago, at a thrift store. It was perfect!


Then...and I didn't take a picture of this one......boil some water. I used the water in the double boiler, and then added a little more. Pour it into the big pan, so the cake sits in water. The water should reach about halfway up the side of the cake pan. Cover the whole thing with foil.


Then, ever so gently, carry it to the oven, and put it in the middle. Set the timer, and bake it. Go play on the computer, or watch tv, or knit. Or read. Or go outside. But not for too long.

When the timer dings, take it out of the oven. Please be very careful lifting the foil to uncover the cake. Take the cake out of the pan of water to cool. I let it cool over night and finished it the next day. I suppose you could just put it in the frig, if you didn't want to wait.


This is what it looked like the next day. The sides pulled away a little as it cooled. The spot in the middle is from where it was touching the foil as it was baking, but that will be on the bottom, so it's ok.

I had things to do, places to go, and people to annoy on Valentine's Day morning and early afternoon, so I waited until late afternoon to make it pretty. I put it on a cake plate, and made a ganache to top it off. I'm really starting to fall in love with ganache. It's so versatile. And rich! And easy. But don't tell anybody, because it looks pretty impressive.



Here's the recipe!
Chocolate Orbit Cake (serves 12 to 14)
9.7 ounces Scharffen Berger 62% cacao semisweet chocolate
7 ounces butter (2 sticks minus 1 tablespoon)
5 eggs
1 cup sugar

Position the oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9x2 inch round cake pan, and line the inside with a round of parchment paper.
Simmer water in bottom of double boiler. Cut butter and chocolate into small pieces into top of a double boiler. Whisk occasionally until melted.
Whisk together the eggs and sugar in another bowl. Thoroughly whisk in the melted chocolate. Pour the chocolate batter into the cake pan. Place it in a larger baking pan, and pour in warm water to reach halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the cake appears to have set and when you touch the center, your finger comes away clean.
Remove the cake from the water bath and cool completely before serving, plain or with gently whipped cream. This cake can be refrigerated for several days.

Well! This is quite funny! I had to put my reading glasses on to read the recipe, because it's late, and my eyes are tired, and this is a long post, and, and, and. Anyway, I had to put on my glasses, and you know what??? I just realized the recipe is folded right at the spot where it says 5 eggs, and when I made this yesterday, I thought it said 3 eggs! So I made this recipe with 3 eggs, instead of 5! But it turned out anyway. Does that mean I have to make it again, only with 5 eggs? Maybe next Valentine's Day.