Pop!
Oh no…
Pop! Pop!
Oh no oh no oh no…
POP!
Bugger.
I had the batter in the cake tin when the fan elements in the oven blew.
I’d wanted to try this David Lebovitz recipe for the longest time – ever since reading about it in his Ready for Dessert cookbook. After all, how can one resist a recipe that was copied off the wall of the men’s restroom? And could such a thing possibly exist anywhere other than in Paris?
I’d carefully folded the light and airy six-egg batter together, gingerly poured it into the springform tin…and then the oven blew. So I had to reheat the oven using the top and bottom elements. Since the bottom element was covered with baking stones and trays (which were too hot to get out by this stage), it didn’t really bake as evenly as it normally would. And, of course, the batter sank as it sat on the bench, and the finished cake came out flat and a little squashed.
I was seriously tempted not to blog about it, and then I ate a slice. And then I ate another. It was very dark and moreish, with a silky, creamy texture.
The cake uses six eggs, a bucketload of chocolate, just half a cup (125g) of butter, and a relatively small quantity (85g) of sugar. It’s topped with chocolate nibs (optional), which adds crunch and a slight bitterness to the finished product. It’s not particularly sweet – it’s almost a little savoury – and I find it absolutely irresistible. As an added bonus, it’s gluten-free as well.
I substituted instant coffee for the espresso, unsalted butter for the salted (as it was all I had), and used a mix of bittersweet and semisweet chocolate…
- 140g (5oz) semisweet (dark) chocolate (I used Callebaut 811 54%)
- 140g (5oz) bittersweet (dark) chocolate (I used Callebaut 70%)
- 125g (½ cup) unsalted butter
- a pinch of fine sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon strong coffee (I used instant, Lebovitz recommends espresso)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (I used homemade)
- 6 large (59g) free range eggs, separated, at room temperature
- 55g (¼ cup) white sugar, plus 30g (2 Tablespoons) white sugar
- 20g (2 Tablespoons) cacao nibs (optional)
- Icing sugar for dusting the cake (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 175C (350F) or 160C (320F) with fan (if your fan force element is working!). Spray a 23cm (9″) springform time with vegetable oil and line the base with a circle of parchment paper.
2. In a large pyrex mixing bowl, melt together the chocolate, butter and salt in the microwave. Use short bursts on high, stirring well after each one. Stir in the coffee and vanilla.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat together the egg yolks and 50g (¼ cup) sugar until creamy, which should take about a minute. In a clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until they start to puff up, then add the remaining 30g (2 tablespoons) of sugar, and beat on high until the egg whites form soft peaks.
4. Fold the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture. Next, stir in a large spoonful of egg white, then gently fold the remaining egg white into the batter, being careful not to bash the air out of the mixture.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and scatter over the cacao nibs. Bake until just set in the middle, about 25 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake. Allow to cool completely before removing the springform ring. Dust with icing sugar if desired.
Cakes of this nature often fall into the trap of tasting a little eggy. Surprisingly, despite the large number of eggs in this recipe, that isn’t the case here.
Lebovitz recommends serving the cake with whipped cream or ice cream, but I’ve found it very addictive just as it is, with a hot cup of tea.
PS. The oven’s been repaired – had to get it fixed asap with Christmas just around the corner!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
my dearest, you ‘ve just made my day! last year we celebrated the 1st week of december with your Chocolate Slab Cake! this year my little lady teen friends on 9th and 12th dec. will celebrate with your Racines Cake!!! thank you for sharing! my warmest greetings, since here weather is so hot that we still can enjoy sea-swimming! love ! (✿◠‿◠) ♥ ♥ gina!
Thanks Gina! Hope you’re having a wonderful December – how wonderful that you’re still able to be swimming! xx
Celia, you are so good that your kitchen disasters end up better than most people’s careful baking adventures!
awesome! I can almost taste it through the screen…..
Sally, this wasn’t a real disaster – I don’t blog about those! ;-) It was very delicious! xx
loved your festive suggestion of xmas wreath and heidi’s one as well! i ‘ll also use fresh soft wavyleaf sea-lavender flowers, nice links at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limonium_sinuatum and at http://robinsyard.blogspot.gr/2012/07/sea-lavender.html
thx! :)
Gina, isn’t Heidi clever? I hope it works well with your sea-lavender!
What a decadent and ever so moreish cake Celia. You couldn’t have a disaster in the kitchen even if you tried. I wonder if this would work in cupcake form?
Have a super week ahead and please enjoy another slice of this heavenly cake with a cup of tea for me.
:-) Mandy
Mandy, you’re very kind, but I don’t blog about the kitchen disasters! There are lots of them! (We never mention the “apricot lamb incident” any more ;-))
I don’t think this would work in a cupcake form – it’s quite sticky and mousse-like? If you’re after a nice gluten-free chocolate cupcake, you might like this one by Jill Dupleix:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/07/20/little-chocolate-cakes-gluten-free/
Actually, now that I’ve reread that recipe, I think I might go make them.. :)
Brilliant, thanks Celia. :-)
Gee that looks good. I wonder whether a non cake baker could manage it. Maus’ sister-in-law has a gluten free diet which usually makes sweets a bit tricky.
Glenda, I have quite a few gf recipes that you might like, here are just a few:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/02/16/gluten-free-chestnut-brownies/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/07/20/little-chocolate-cakes-gluten-free/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/07/08/gooey-chocolate-cake/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/11/18/amaretti/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/03/23/gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Thanks Celia. I will check our mail box today for the mahlab.
Oh no! It’s a good thing chocolate cakes are best dense. Despite the mishap I think it sounds awesome. How very honest of you!
Thanks Nick! It’s dense and not very sweet, made even darker by the cacao nibs!
Wow, Celia, it sounds absolutely delicious! Right thing for the festive season!
Zirkie, thank you! Will try it again – now that the oven is working properly! :)
A proper chocolate cake with loads of proper chocolate. I hate those airy brown confections that are called chocolate cakes just because they have a spoonful of cocoa in them. This is definitely one to try.
Sorry to hear about your oven – but your description did make me smile.
Anne, it’s very dark, which is how I like it, but it was too dark and bitter for Small Man! Definitely not a lightweight cocoa cake! :)
That looks like the sort of choccie cake I dream about. Totally yummy. :D
Thanks Misky! Might be a good one for your hubby, since the added sugar is quite low?
YUMMERS!!! Happy Monday:)
Thanks Renee!
One Sunday afternoon recently I was roasting a leg of lamb and you know how that familiar roasting smell pervades the kitchen? Well it didin’t. That roasty toasty smell started off okay then disappeared and when I checked the oven it was almost cold. Blown element…grrr! I finished the leg of lamb in the microwave although the end product had a definite stewed taste. The element was replaced next day.
Granny, that’s a pain, a whole leg of lamb! I lost a 2kg batch of bread dough trying to bake with the bottom element only before the fan was fixed. At least the worms were happy to eat it!
Fantastic cake indeed Celia! What a great ‘real’ chocolate cake.
I’m sooo glad your oven is fixed already, mine blew 4 days before Christmas once, and it was almost a disaster! Xox
Becca, I was thinking as I made this that you’d like it! It’s very dark though! I think if my oven blew four days before Christmas, I’d just settle down with a glass of port and have a little weep. ;-)
This looks fantastic! I’ve just discovered a ton of recipes that I need to cook but this one has sky rocketed to the top of the list!
Thanks Clare! David Lebovitz’ recipes, particularly his chocolate ones, are always delicious. It is very dark though – if you prefer it a bit sweeter, you might want to use all semisweet chocolate rather than a combination of the two..
This is one decadent-looking cake, Celia. And to think you were working with a most uncooperative oven! Glad you decided to go ahead and post the recipe — I want some! — and that you’ve already gotten your oven repaired. :)
John, thank you! Yes, oven fixed within a few days – as I mentioned above, I sacrificed a 2kg batch of bread dough to the oven the following day, trying to bake using unfamiliar settings, and that was enough to warrant an emergency repair! :)
Yay for the oven….back in business. It looks lovely, that cake does!
Thanks Oz! I was pretty happy too when the oven was working again. :)
Gawd, that looks fantastic! And I always think that if something is gluten-free it is almost a kind of health food!
Amanda, that’s what I kept telling myself as well. Low(ish) amounts of butter and sugar, dark chocolate, eggs – what’s not to love. It’s not very sweet either, which is how I like my chocolate as well. :)
Oh no Celia! I nearly cried the day my heating element blew. It’s not very good timing leading up to Christmas!
If you hadn’t said anything I would have thought this was just a deliciously-rich looking flourless chocolate cake. YUM!!
Claire, thank you – it wasn’t the best of timing, but I guess that’s the way things happen. I’m just grateful it’s all working again! :)
Wow, for all the problem with your oven the cake looks wonderful. I’m having problems with mine as well. I have to get a repairman out this week.
Karen, thank you – losing the oven is like losing the hot water at our place – emergency repair time! :)
That cake looks sinfully delicious. I could eat a 1/4 of that cake and worry about the calories after.
Norma, we could convince ourselves that it’s good for us! :)
Just remember, chocolate is good for us. No convincing needed. Another slice please.
Mmm- I just made two chocolate cakes for Frank’s birthday- dare I make another this soon?
Maybe by Saturday!!! :)
Heidi, does Frank like very dark cakes? This one is almost savoury – there’s very little sugar in it at all!
No, Celia, he likes his sweets very sweet. But I’m planning on making this one for ME! :)
Oh dam that oven. Lots of chocolate would have died in the making of that cake had you not perservered. This cake was a feature at every restaurant in the early 90’s. Its the ants pants
Tania, that’s good to know, thank you! I was interested that there wasn’t any almond meal – most gf cakes of this ilk have something like that to bind it together.
This looks amazing, even if it isn’t perfect in your eyes. I might just have found my Christmas dessert here!
Sue, it’s VERY dark, all the more so if you add the cacao nibs. I keep telling everyone that, because I know most people expect chocolate cake to be sweeter. But it would be very good served with sweetened cream or icecream, I think!
LOL at the toilet wall! I wonder if people will start leaving recipes rather than phone numbers now?
I know! Isn’t that a great story? In his book, Lebovitz says he excused himself and went back into the restroom with a pen and pencil! Obviously pre-mobile phone photography! :)
Yum! Yum! I suppose it is really a chocolate mousse cake?And low sugar and everything? So it is healthy too!!
It’s just like a chocolate mousse cake, Anna! :)
This looks great – sometimes the things that go ‘wrong’ are actually quite right if you forgive them for deviating from plan ;)
Kari, thank you – I rarely have angst about stuff not working in the kitchen, apart from the occasional frustration at wasting expensive ingredients. We only learn when things stuff up! :)
I’m sure it tastes better than it looks Celia :)
Tandy, it did, thank you! :)
What a bother! Fancy the oven blowing up just when you needed it – a bit like my dishwasher! I’m so glad you did blog about this cake because it just looks so moist and dense and dark and just full of chocolate flavour. I can imagine myself enjoying slice after slicing lying to myself all the while that it’s good for me because it’s GF xx
Charlie, my dishwasher went the week before! But I fixed that – I was feeling very pleased with myself. :) xx
I think your cake looks strikingly beautiful! These flourless cakes are always a bit dense, a character that suggests their rich delicious nature – it’s lovely.
Aah Doc, you’re kind, thank you! It was very rich! :)
I’m glad you decided to blog about this one, Celia. This cake looks to die for! I like your topping too, sweet touch. Glad to hear your oven’s up and running! Who needs that stress…Phew!
Emilie, not a sweet touch! The cacao nibs are quite bitter – a bit like crushed coffee beans! I’m glad the oven’s working again too! :)
Only you could pull a rabbit, er, cake out of a hat, er oven.. I’m so glad you did, this looks like the perfect party cake. There are so many functions coming up that require one brings a dish and I do love bringing desserts when I can. This looks lovely!! xx
Barb, thank you – as I’ve been warning everyone though, it IS very dark and bitter, not sweet like most chocolate cakes! It would be good with a sweet accompaniment though! :)
I’m so pleased you blogged this – a gorgeous cake ! When you say bittersweet etc coul dI just use plain / milk chocolate. Oh and should it be cooking chocolate ?? you can see I WANT to make this can’t you !!
Hi Claire! Bittersweet and semisweet are US descriptors for dark chocolate – semisweet is a lower % cacao dark (I used 54%) and bittersweet is maybe a 70%. I wouldn’t use milk chocolate, and when I next make this, I’m going to use all 54%, as it’s quite dark already without the extra kick from the 70%! :)
Luscious cake! I am so pleased you have got your oven sorted again Celia, it has to work hard producing all those wonderful bakes for you :)
Jo, the oven is working better than ever – the fan must have been failing for a while, because now it’s running hot again! :)
As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating… :)
It really was delicious too.. :)
I’ve wanted to make this for ages too, but didn’t have the cocoa nibs. Your post spurred me on so I bought some nibs off Amazon, and made it last night. I scaled up to a 12″ tin, and did more 50% chocolate than 70%.
I play poker once a month with a load of friends of mine, and always make a pudding, so we’ll be consuming this later.
Can’t wait
Wow, my mouth is watering for this.
I take this time to wish you and the family all the best of 2013. You are a sweetheart and I am glad I found your blog.
Norma, it’s been a joy chatting to you this year, look forward to more of the same next year! Have a wonderful time with your lovely family this Christmas! xx
I haven’t got a sweet tooth so this recipe really appeals to me – I love the sound of the almost savoury taste (and that it was copied from the wall – as you say, only in Paris!)
[…] absolutely love read Fig Jam and Lime Cordial by Celia. This recipe for racines cake looks like the most delicious dense chocolate cake even though she had some drama’s baking […]