Scharffen Berger Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipes

SCHARFFEN BERGER CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate Frosting:
• Place the chocolate and butter in a medium bowl and set aside. Bring the cream, sugar, and salt to a simmer in a large saucepan. Simmer for 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Whisk just until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy. Set aside to cool at room temperature, without stirring for 2 to 3 hours, or until the frosting is cool and thick enough to spread. Or, refrigerate the frosting for about 45 minutes or more (but not until it is hard) without stirring, then let it stand at room temperature until it is the desired consistency.
• SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate Cupcakes:
• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt together thoroughly. Add the butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for one minute. Add half of the water and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the remaining water. Beat for 20-30 seconds until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thin enough to pour. Divide it evenly among the lined cups. Bake 18-22 minutes (rotating the pan from front to back half-way through the baking time), just until a toothpick inserted into a few of the cupcakes comes out clean. Set the pan on a rack to cool. Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cool. Store and serve at room temperature.
• TIP: For light tender cupcakes, spoon flour and cocoa lightly into measuring cups (instead of dipping the cups into the flour or cocoa) and then sweep the measures level without tapping or shaking them.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Combine chocolates and butter in top of a double boiler. Melt over hot (but not boiling) water, stirring often. Remove top from heat and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, in a small pan, combine the 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil 4 minutes without stirring. Set aside to cool to room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours (sugar may crystallize on surface--don't worry if it does).
• Preheat oven to 350* F. Butter and flour a 9x2 inch round cake pan. Line bottom with parchment paper; butter and flour paper. Start heating some water, such as in a kettle, so it is quite hot but not boiling.
• When chocolate and syrup have cooled, beat eggs and the 1/3 cup sugar in large mixing bowl at high speed for 10 minutes or until tripled in volume and eggs form ribbons when beaters are lifted.
• Slowly pour in syrup, beating constantly at high speed and taking care not to pour over beaters (which will fling syrup around in a sticky mess).
• Fold in chocolate mixture until blended. Pour cake batter into prepared pan.
• Place pan in a shallow baking pan, large enough for the cake pan to sit level on bottom and about 1 1/2 or 2 inches deep. Pour hot water around the cake pan to 1 inch depth, taking care not to splash water into the cake.
• Place the bain marie with the cake into the oven and bake at 350 for 1 hour 15 minutes. The toothpick test will not work; the cake should be moist with a slight crust on top.
• Remove the cake from the bain marie. Cool in the pan to room temperature (about 3 hours). During cooling, the cake will settle and crack.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours.
• To serve, run a warm knife around inside of pan several times to loosen cake. Gently heat bottom by placing in hot water for 1-2 minutes. Dry off to keep from dripping onto cake. Place a baking sheet over top of pan, invert, and rap sharply on counter to remove cake from pan. The cake can be quite difficult to remove, so you may need to repeat these steps a few times before you are successful.
• Peel off paper and invert onto a serving platter, so top side is once again up. Cover and refrigerate; remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving and let sit at room temperature.
• Garnish with a dusting of sifted confectioner's sugar before slicing. The cake is very rich, so cut into sliver portions to serve.

CHOCOLATE ORBIT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom with a round of parchment or wax paper, grease lightly and set aside.
• In the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, combine the chocolate and butter, whisking until melted and blended. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well-blended. Gradually whisk in the chocolate mixture until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Place the pan in a larger baking pan. Fill the larger pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
• Cover the larger pan with foil and bake in the center of the oven for 90 minutes or until the cake appears set and when you touch its center your finger comes away clean. Remove the cake pan from the water, transfer to a rack to cool completely. Serve plain or with gently whipped cream.