This delicious recipe belongs to Lori Longbotham, author of Luscious Chocolate Desserts. Here’s what the author says:
"You’ll love this—it’s sooo easy, very clever, and incredibly urbane. All you do is make a batter with lots of good chocolate, butter, and eggs (and I mean lots—look at the ingredient list!) and bake most of it, then use the remaining batter as a frosting after the cake has cooled. Pretty clever!"
Serves 12 to 16
1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 pound unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
7 large eggs, separated
7 large egg yolks
¾ cup superfine sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
POSITION a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.
MELT the chocolate with the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of about 1½ inches of nearly simmering water, whisking until smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.
WHISK together the 14 large yolks and sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over the same saucepan of nearly simmering water and whisk for about 3 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat the mixture with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for about 4 minutes until it has cooled to room temperature and is very thick and pale. Whisk in the chocolate mixture in 3 batches, just until well blended. Whisk in the vanilla.
BEAT the egg whites and salt with clean beaters on medium-high speed in a large deep bowl until the whites form soft peaks when the beaters are lifted. Gently whisk the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in 3 batches. Transfer 2 cups of the batter to a bowl, cover, and set aside.
POUR the remaining batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out sticky but not wet; the top will be cracked. Let cool completely in a pan on a wire rack; the center will sink.
REMOVE the sides of the pan. Fill the fallen center of the cake with the remaining chocolate mixture and smooth the top. Refrigerate, loosely covered, until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours, or up to 1 day.
ABOUT 1 hour before serving, remove the cake from the refrigerator. Serve cut into thin wedges.
NOTE: you can make your own superfine sugar in the food processor by pulsing granulated sugar until it is very finely ground.
