Flourless Chocolate Cake

Oh, I love that Paula Deen! She's my kind of chef. I love watching her whip up fabulous dishes while saying
"now this is how you get a man, honey!".
Yesterday, I decided to whip up something tasty for MY man and made one of his favorites, her recipe for Flourless Chocolate Cake. He was so thrilled that he sat and snuggled through all of The Notebook with me and didn't complain...much.

Hunky Gourmet Dad came back from a jog to find this in the fridge...this cake is seriously amazing! You have to try it! I make quite a few desserts and this one and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake are his two top favorites.
Flourless Chocolate Cake from Paula Deen
Ingredients:
12 oz. high quality dark or semi-sweet chocolate (don't skimp! This is what makes it taste so fabulous! I used Cacao Barry Dark Chocolate)
2 sticks of butter
1 1/4 c. of sugar
6 eggs, separated

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place some parchment paper on the bottom of a springform pan so it hangs over. Close the latch to hold the paper in place and secure the sides. You'll also want to generously spray the paper/pan with some non-stick cooking spray. Separate 6 large eggs--yolks in a small bowl and egg whites in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Combine Chocolate and 2 sticks of butter. WOWZA! Melt in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between until completely melted and smooth. Whisk in 1 1/4 cups sugar until combined. Then add the six egg yolks to the chocolate and sugar mixture, one at a time, whisking after each addition.

In the mixing bowl, beat the six egg whites on high with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Then, gently fold egg white mixture into the melted chocolate mixture until combined. Pour it in the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. It will rise pretty high in the oven, but when you take it out to cool, it will fall. And fall hard. Delicious! Let it cool one hour on the counter and then for at least four hours in the refrigerator before you release it from the springform pan.
The garnish is made with a chocolate transfer sheet (and a few squirts of heavy whipping cream) I bought this transfer sheet from Fancy Flours but you can get them at most bakery/cake supply shops. There are great instructions about using transfer sheets here. They are super easy to use and look amazing! I just make a whole sheet, cool, cut into triangles with a pizza cutter, and store all of them in a cool dark place until I want to use them. It makes a lot and looks super-gourmet! I whip them out whenever I need a quick, gorgeous garnish.

As a side note, I made some cute cookies for a friend a couple days ago, put them on my flickr photostream, and they made the front page of Flickr! Thanks, I'm so honored!! I'll do a post later on my adventures with Marshmallow Fondant.:)