Flourless Chocolate Torte with Blackberry Coulis
For my FIRST food post exclusively on The Kitchen Paper, I thought I should give you guys something awesome. I mean, all of my recipes are awesome, but this one is EXCELLENT! I've made this cake a few times over the years, and it is my go-to gluten-free recipe: I love it! Even if I don't have a reason to cook gluten free, this dessert is a crowd pleaser for sure.
Not only is it delicious, but it couldn't be easier. Ingredients: butter, chocolate, chocolate, vanilla, sugar, and eggs. Easy.
Start by melting the butter and chocolate chips together. Don't overheat it, but make sure it's smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder (um, sift it first. I was an idiot, although it didn't actually hurt anything) and the vanilla.
Let that mixture cool a little bit while you beat the heck out of some eggs and sugar. Make it nice and thick!
After you bake this cake, it's gonna look funky. You might think you've messed up: do not worry! It should look like this:
Let it cool for an hour before using a spatula to press it all down to one level. You'll be flipping the cake over anyways, so this will be the base.
While you're letting the cake cool, you'll make the glaze. Start with the blackberry coulis: wine, sugar, and frozen blackberries in the blender. If this were summer, I'd tell you to stop right there and enjoy your smoothie; however, it is cold as heck right now, so keep going. You'll cook it up, with some spices thrown in, before straining it and letting it cool.
Finally, you'll make the chocolate glaze and pour it (if you can prevent yourself from eating all of it with a spoon) over your inverted torte.
SO DELICIOUS.
Flourless Chocolate Torte with Blackberry Coulis
Adapted from Bon Appétit, April 2006
For the Torte
2 ⅔ cups semisweet chocolate chips (16 ounces), divided
1 cup unsalted butter, divided
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
For the Blackberry Coulis
1 lb frozen unsweetened blackberries
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons semidry white wine
6 tablespoon sugar, divided
3 whole cloves
2 Turkish bay leaves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon bourbon
fresh blackberries, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350F and butter a 9" springform pan. Cover the bottom of the pan with parchment, and butter then parchment.
Combine 1 ⅔ cups chocolate chips with ¾ cup butter in a saucepan. Melt, over low heat, until completely smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder and vanilla, and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
While the chocolate is cooling, combine the 5 eggs with 1 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon salt and mix on high until very thick, about 6 minutes. Carefully fold in the chocolate mixture, and pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 42-45 minutes. The center will fall, and edges will remain lofty. Let the cake cool, in the pan, for an hour before using a spatula to press the edges down to the same height as the center. Invert the torte onto a plate, and remove the parchment. Let cool completely.
To make the coulis, combine the wine, 4 tablespoon sugar, and the blackberries in a blender. Blend until smooth, then transfer to a saucepan and add the cloves, allspice, and bay leaves. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a simmer - then reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 8 minutes. Strain into a bowl, discarding the solids, and mix in the bourbon and remaining sugar, if desired.
For the glaze, combine the remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips with ¼ cup butter in a saucepan. Melt over low heat until smooth, then remove from heat and whisk in 2 tablespoon of the blackberry coulis. Let the glaze cool 15 minutes before pouring and smoothing over the torte. Let the glaze set, about 1 hour, before serving.
To serve, garnish each slice with extra blackberry coulis and fresh blackberries.
Dude, I need to start having dinner parties or something so I have a regular excuse to make all your amazing dessert recipes 🙂
Haha yes! Or just don't feel like you need an excuse!
This is just what Valentine's Day called for. Exactly this and nothing else. I've half a mind to make a "test-drive" torte before Thursday, just to, you know, make sure.
This would be perfect for Valentine's Day! And it's definitely a good idea to make two, you know, just in case 🙂
I made this recipe for a dinner party tonight with chocolate lovers. The cake was perfect. For the coulis, I substituted tart cherry juice for the wine and vanilla for the bourbon. It worked well. The recipe is easy to make and reliable. Thanks!
What kind of cocoa powder should be used for this recipe - natural or dutch process?
Hi April - Since the recipes calls for neither baking soda nor baking powder, you could use either natural or dutch cocoa! I've used both with success - it think it would come down to your flavor preference.
Could you make this in muffin tins as wellto make mini cakes?
You definitely could! Just be sure to lower baking time quite a bit, and check frequently. I'm not sure how long it would take, but once the edges are sit and raised it should be good! Let me know how they turn out!
Looks fab!!! Do you store this at room temp or in the fridge overnight???
I'd stick it in the fridge, but let it come back to room temp before serving! (I guess you COULD eat it cold... But that's up to you!)
Is it really eleven pounds of blackberries needed for this recipe?
Is it one of those huge bags from Costco of frozen berries?
Hey Jess! It was one one-pound bag... but that did look like 11 lbs! I've changed it to be more clear now — thanks for pointing it out! Enjoy! xo
But bourbon is not gluten free...any ideas what to sub for it?
Hrm, I don't totally agree about the bourbon (it seems nobody really agrees on whether or not it is GF, but the evidence I've studies strongly suggests that a high quality distillation will remove all gluten), but: you can omit it. Or use a GF liquor you prefer (rum?).
Wondering if I can make this keto-friendly by using a sugar substitute made for baking. Anyone ever try it?
Butter the springform then put parchment paper on top of the buttered pan then put on another piece of parchment?
Hi Sherry! Just one layer of parchment, but butter below and above the parchment.
Will it work if I use dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips?