Flourless Chocolate Cakes: Tips & Techniques

[ldubois2]

"flourless"

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You're right....and it was my first post.....

[ludja]

Does it have to be 100% flourless or can it be almost flourless, ie, with a few Tbsp flour? If so, I have a great recipe for a Chocolate Espresso Torte.

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Flour is not a problem at all.

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"flourless"

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You're right....and it was my first post.....

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A little flour was deemed 'ok' earlier on in the thread (post 3)... Thanks for sharing the recipe; this thread is going to be a great reference.

Welcome to egullet ldubois2!!!

Edited February 23, 2005 by ludja (log)

[chiantiglace]

I should have elaborated.

When you say flourless it must be flourless. Thats fine if you have a cake thats low flour and taste great but be careful selling it. People might want to buy a flourless chocolate cake because of allergies and if someone uses that recipe with the flourless title it could have very bad results. Thats all i was implying.

[ludja]

I should have elaborated.

When you say flourless it must be flourless.  Thats fine if you have a cake thats low flour and taste great but be careful selling it.  People might want to buy a flourless chocolate cake because of allergies and if someone uses that recipe with the flourless title it could have very bad results. Thats all i was implying.

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Good point to keep in mind. I only recently became aware through an aquaintence with celiac disease that even small amounts of flour (gluten) are important to avoid in those cases.

[DragonflyDesserts]

Hi, probably seems like I'm going in a million directions...kolaches, tortes... well, I am. I need to make up a sample tray of some of my specialties for a very nice upscale restaurant in a city nearby that is looking for a new supplier for their desserts. They currently are using gourmet frozen but looking for fresh. I have some standards but they are also looking for a flourless torte. I don't have much time to experiment, I've pulled a couple of recipes off the net and have RLB cake Bible with the chocolate oblivion, but need these by Monday. My first attempt at most things fail , but alas, I am perseverant, though I really do not want to screw up the first time on this. I am looking for a tried and true recipe and any storage and longevity tips. Thanks for your help!!!

[Marlene]

I make this one all the time chocolate flourless torte It's very very rich. and wonderful.

[Wendy DeBord]

Ah, I've searched high and low to the ulitmate flourless chocolate torte. Alot of good it's done me, just like everything else I can't get two people to agree on which factors create the ideal torte. So all I can get back to is my own very personal choice having tasted MANY similar............I do prefer RBL's oblivion torte as my favorite texture in a flourless torte. To it though you can add countless varations so it can be sort of unique for your product line.

I have to have another flavor to contrast with while I'm eating a flourless chocolate torte. Richness isn't the issue, it's cleansing your palate so it doesn't get bored or overloaded with the taste of chocolate. I also like/need some textural contrast. Maybe a crunch bottom layer and a light whip cream on the top.......... Granted the restaurant should plate this with a sauce or two (something), but you should sell it as if they won't, so you should make it a rounded dessert that can stand on it's own.......I think that is what will sell it for you.

[Becca Porter]

In Alice Medrichs Bittersweet, she has her Queen of Sheba cake. It is a plain Chocolate torte recipe she got from france. She talks about how she built her business Cocolat around it. She includes a few variations and a ton of information. It tells you how you can change basically anything about it.

I highly recommend the whole book. I am making cold, creamy truffles today. Its an award winner.

-Becca

[nightscotsman]

Count me in as another vote for RLB's truffle torte from the Cake Bible. I also agree with Wendy that it does need something - another flavor, texture, component - to keep it from becoming boring after a few bites.

[Paula Jonvik]

Hello!

I usually make the flourless cake/torte known as "Queen Mother Cake", and by several other names (laughing), but it calls for very finely chopped blanched almonds in the mix. Great for another texture, but bad for 'no nut' people. A quick layer of flavored ganache and/or fruit/berries (raspberries, mmmm) makes for a nice combo!

GOOD LUCK!

Paula

[DragonflyDesserts]

Count me in as another vote for RLB's truffle torte from the Cake Bible. I also agree with Wendy that it does need something - another flavor, texture, component - to keep it from becoming boring after a few bites.

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Having no experience with this...do you have any suggestions? I would like to make a coffee flavored one. What type of crunch would you put on the bottom? I'm thinking of whipped cream decorated with chocolate covered coffee beans around the edge and mayan chocolate drizzled across the top. RLB torte seemed so simplistic I was afraid to try it!

Oh yeah, can I just add some Kahlua to it for flavoring or will the liquid mess it up? I'm thinking 1/4 to 1/2 a cup

Edited October 1, 2005 by DragonflyDesserts (log)

[lia]

Can you have ground almonds?

My favorite is Elizabeth David's Flourless Chocolate Torte, from Laurie Colwin's More Home Cooking. She doesn't mention if her recipe varies from David's original, which I've never tried.

In Colwin's words, "a flourless cake that tastes like a transcendent form of fudge.....people simply moan at the taste: it is perhaps the king and queen of all chocolate cakes."

I agree completely and I've never had better.

[*Deborah*]

Count me in as another vote for RLB's truffle torte from the Cake Bible. I also agree with Wendy that it does need something - another flavor, texture, component - to keep it from becoming boring after a few bites.

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Having no experience with this...do you have any suggestions? I would like to make a coffee flavored one. What type of crunch would you put on the bottom? I'm thinking of whipped cream decorated with chocolate covered coffee beans around the edge and mayan chocolate drizzled across the top. RLB torte seemed so simplistic I was afraid to try it!

Oh yeah, can I just add some Kahlua to it for flavoring or will the liquid mess it up? I'm thinking 1/4 to 1/2 a cup

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One TBSP per lb. of chocolate can go right in the Oblivion torte, mix it into the chocolate/butter while it's cooling. I have used Chambord Royale (raspberry) and Kahlua with good results.

[Becca Porter]

I would use expresso powder instead of Kahlua. That way you wouldn't worry about throwing off the balance of liquid/solid. Plus it is delicious. I use one from King arthur, but I know Medaglia de Ora (sp) is popular.

-Becca

[Wendy DeBord]

You might find it helpful to read this thread. If you use our search function I believe you'll find several other threads on the topic of RBL's oblivion torte.

Theres sooooooo many recipes exactly like RBL's, close enough to be exact copies of the ingredient list. Then everyone has a slightly different take on the baking method and time. It does work great! It works perfect in her short baking method and it works well in others longer baking methods. The longer it bakes the dryer the finished cake will be, even for this item. Once I left the chef with instructions to pull my cakes out of the oven (I had a doctors apt. and had to leave work)..........he mis-understood my dirrections. The oblivion torte baked for a hour! I thought for sure it would be garbage..........low and behold it wasn't. It just tasted like everyone elses flourless choc. cake............

As to adding a coffee flavor I use an intense coffee extract (triblet.....naturally I can't spell it, sorry), takes about 1 tbsp. to flavor thru a strong flavor like chocolate. If you add kaluha it will taste of kaluha not so much coffee.....at least that's my feeling on it. You can/should add to this recipe by taste..........to figure out what you want.

Lots of way to express what you want. You could leave the chocolate cake plain and use coffee flavored whipped cream or chocolate accented white chocolate mousse (Neils version of white choc. mousse). You could put the coffee accent into a crust for the bottom too. Melt some white chocolate (or bittersweet) add some coffee emulsion and fueitine or crushed rice crispies, spread it out into a thin round disk, adhear your cold cake to it....... You could make a shortbread base or a breton base.

I have to admit I don't know what mayan chocolate is? If it's regular chocolate you might not want to add that as a drizzle. The restaurant will have a hard time cutting it if it's drizzled over soft whipped cream.

[Swisskaese]

I like the River Cafe Chocolate Nemesis recipe, but it might be quite expensive to make for retail.

Edited October 2, 2005 by Swisskaese (log)

[DragonflyDesserts]

Thanks for everyones help! I am nervously excited to go into my shop today and cut a slice. I took a picture after I took it out of the oven, but wished I had taken photos all the way through. Wouldn't be a tutorial, but a confirmation that I did everything right! I baked it in a convection oven. It had some little cracks around the edge. I will take pictures of the finished product. I'm such an amatuer though and don't have many plating or presentation ideas.

I don't have a lot of different ingredients on hand...I tried flavoring with Kahlua but the flavor just didn't come through. I should have used some of our espresso powder maybe. Mayan chocolate I guess is a brand name...it is a Guittard coffee flavored chocolate syrup we put in our drinks. It is very good. A friend mentioned crystalized orange pieces....sounds yummy but don't have any oranges and I don't know how long that takes. I think chocolate truffle & orange sounds great though and would be pretty. Any takes on that for the next time?

[*Deborah*]

I would use Grand Marnier in the cake, and then add some GM to the whipped cream if possible; otherwise, you could provide an orange coulis (I've never seen one but assume it can be done?) or an orange-flavoured sauce anglaise for plating. If candied oranges were not available, it could be plated with very thin orange slices.

[Ling]

Cacao Berry makes an orange-flavoured dark chocolate. You could use that for the cake next time, or serve the cake with an orange-flavoured ganache.

[Wendy DeBord]

I really like using oils to flavor items.

[chefcyn]

How about a simple Ganache Torte made with a layer of Pierre Herme's Tart Lemon Cream chilled on the bottom of a nut crust and topped with a nice Dark Chocolate Ganache. The creamy lemon gives that break from the chcoolate's dense richness and brightens the whole thing up--and no baking except for the crust. A gingersnap crust would also add another interesting layer of flavor; it goes well with lemon and chocolate and makes the combination something wild! It can easily be made in individual tart shells, too, or in a ring sitting on a cookie or disc of dacquois.

Edited October 6, 2005 by chefcyn (log)

[DragonflyDesserts]

I know RLB chocolate oblivian came up in the other thread but thought I'd comment here. I made it twice last week, once in the convection oven and once in a regular oven. Since I was using a 9" pan, I doubled the recipe but left out about a cup so it wouldn't be too high (she suggests an 8"). I baked it as instructed, lowering the temp on the convection oven quite a bit. They both came out over baked....looking kind of like cheesecake when you slice it rather than smooth and silky.

A friend baked up another recipe that she had that uses egg yolks instead of whole eggs and a cup of milk. You also don't beat the egg yolks, just stir it in. It is baked at 350 for 25 minutes with no water bath. It came out perfect. I must say that I like the flavor of RLB better because I used a bittersweet chocolate. It had a more sophisticated taste. I tried bittersweet in the recipe with the milk added and it was too bitter. Do you think I could use my 9" pan with RLB single recipe and no water bath, baking it at a lower temp for 25 minutes as the other recipe suggests?

Also, when I was making one of the recipes, I had to leave the chocolate after it had melted, I stirred and it thickened but I had to leave it set. I set in on a warm burner that I had turned off so that it would set again and when I came back the chocolate/butter mixture seperated and would never come back together. It got sort of gloopy. When it was baked it was a total mess, with the butter seperated from the chocolate. Any ideas why this happened?

[Wendy DeBord]

I too use a 9 or 10" pan and double her recipe, using all the batter. That works fine for me.

Did you have it in a deep water bath? If the water didn't come up high enough on your sides it wouldn't have insolated it enough. So that could have given you an over baked cake. When I follow her exact instructions 15 minute worth of baking is just right. Definately not enough to over bake it.

If it over baked and you followed all the instructions exactly, next time bake it for a shorter time........maybe 11 minutes total.

I do bake mine with-out a water bath from time to time (out of necessity) and you can do this. Definately turn down your oven temp. and don't over bake. You can judge when it's done, it's very similar to a cheesecake in looks and texture. Very often I'll get a drop or two of butter that will form on the surface of my finished cake. Once the cake is cold I scrap that off, no harm.

Making the oblivion torte. I find that you do really need to whip your eggs for along time to get the full volume from the eggs (about 10 minutes) and when I incorportate the chocolate into the eggss the chocolate butter mixture must be warm or the chocolate will sieze. Just like when making chocolate mousse.........

[DragonflyDesserts]

I too use a 9 or 10" pan and double her recipe, using all the batter. That works fine for me.

Did you have it in a deep water bath? If the water didn't come up high enough on your sides it wouldn't have insolated it enough. So that could have given you an over baked cake. When I follow her exact instructions 15 minute worth of baking is just right. Definately not enough to over bake it.

If it over baked and you followed all the instructions exactly, next time bake it for a shorter time........maybe 11 minutes total.

I do bake mine with-out a water bath from time to time (out of necessity) and you can do this. Definately turn down your oven temp. and don't over bake. You can judge when it's done, it's very similar to a cheesecake in looks and texture. Very often I'll get a drop or two of butter that will form on the surface of my finished cake. Once the cake is cold I scrap that off, no harm.

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I think that my water bath may not have been deep enough. I used a 12" cake pan with 2" sides. I don't have any deeper pans. I definately would like to try it with out the bath so that I can make 3 at a time with out it being a pain. If the water goes to the height of the batter, is that deep enough? Is the texture of the others who have tried RLB torte smooth and creamy or thicker, denser? I will take pictures next time of the finished product!

Thanks!

[*Deborah*]

I have found the texture smooth if the oblivion cake is warm when you cut it, and denser if it's cold, all other things being equal.

However, as Wendy says, if your eggs are not warm enough, and not fluffy enough, and if you don't fold them in gently enough, your cake will not achieve the height it should. I have only used 3 in. high pans for it, and mostly the batter comes to about 1/4 inch from the rim of the pan. But once it was only about 2 inches high; that one was much denser when it baked. It still tasted fine, but it didn't have that nice mouthfeel.

I only bake it for about 10 minutes at 375F, well, I start looking it at 9 minutes and wait till it loses its sheen, that's when it's done. It makes a meniscus at the edge, and will pull away from the pan if you tip it gently over.