Sinfully Rich Flourless Chocolate Cake

Short of intravenous therapy, flourless chocolate cake is one of the most intense forms of chocolate consumption you will experience. This decadent cake consists of dark high-quality chocolate held together with butter and eggs, resulting in a dense truffle-like torte. The beauty of the cake lies in the quality its few ingredients. Choose a dark (70-75%) chocolate such as Valrhona or Lindt and a good European-style butter such as Plugra or Lurpak. You will be rewarded with a rich and dreamy chocolate experience, that will leave your tastebuds swooning.

Rich Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Coulis

Serves 12

For the cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, cut in pieces
12 ounces dark chocolate, broken in pieces
1 cup granulated/caster sugar
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the coulis:
16 ounces frozen raspberries
1/2 cup sugar

Whipped cream

To make cake:
Preheat oven to 350 F. (180 C.)
Butter a 9 inch springform pan.  Line with parchment paper.  Butter parchment paper. Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water, stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Whisk sugar and eggs together in a large bowl.  Stir in vanilla.  Add chocolate and stir to combine.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake until set and top begins to crack, about 45 minutes. (The center will still be moist.)  Cool cake completely on rack.  Remove pan side.   (Can be made one day in advance.  Cover and refrigerate.)

For coulis:
Stir frozen raspberries and sugar in pan over medium-low heat until raspberries thaw and sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat.  Pass raspberries through fine-meshed sieve to separate seeds from coulis.  Discard seeds.  (Coulis may be made one day in advance.  Store in airtight container and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
To assemble, place cake on a large plate and sprinkle with sifted icing sugar.  Serve with raspberry coulis and whipped cream.