I’m not someone who’s always craving chocolate. I can actually go a couple of weeks without wanting to eat any. However when I do end up craving it, the need for it goes on for a couple of days and I end up consuming it in large quantities.
My access to chocolate at the start of the lockdown was pretty limited and so I was getting my chocolate fix every night by making myself a mug cake. I made one every night for almost a week. At which point everyone in the house real and virtual (HouseParty) snapped and said it was too unhealthy.
So I started googling ‘healthy’ chocolate cake recipes and this one from Epicurious caught my eye. As rich and decadent as the ingredients are in the cake, the texture is very light and creamy, similar to baked cheesecake.
For the chocolate cake:
- 100g of salted butter
- 4 eggs
- 250g dark chocolate
The chocolate in this cake literally makes or breaks it, so please please please use some good quality stuff. Make sure you’ve tasted the chocolate before using it. Since there’s no added sugar or cocoa, it all rests with what you’ve chosen.
In a saucepan, start by melting the chocolate and butter on a low flame until smooth. Make sure you scrape the sides and bottom of the pan with a spatula, to prevent any chocolate from burning. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs until light and fluffy, it should take about 4 minutes. I know it may seem fluffy after whisking it for only a couple of minutes, but try getting to the 4 minute mark. You want a layer of froth on top.
Once the chocolate and butter mixture has cooled to almost room temperature, pour about one-fourth of the eggs into the saucepan, gently folding it together to combine. You want to try and keep as much of the air from the eggs as possible.
Now pour all the chocolate and butter into the remaining eggs, repeating the folding process, until it’s well combined.
Now comes a slightly technical part. The cake needs to baked in a bain marie or waterbath at 180C.
I would recommend lining a loose bottom 6 inch tin with parchment, and then wrapping a piece of foil around the outside, before placing it in a tray with hot water. If you’re using a normal cake tin, just lining the tin with parchment, should be enough.
Bake the cake for about 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely outside of the bain marie, and leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours after that. Cut slices while the cake is still cold from the fridge, and let it come to room temperature before serving.
nayantara pandit 