Shira's Chocolate Torte

Here's another post on Passover desserts that don't suck. This recipe comes to us from my sister's cousin-in-law, Shira. It's basically brownies without the flour baked in the shape of a delicious torte. The batter tastes so good you'll want just eat it straight. But if you do that, you won't have any cake. The recipe's author must have pondered the same thing and came up with a brilliant solution--save some batter, mix with whipped cream, and shmear it on top as frosting. Brilliant.

Shira's Flourless Chocolate Torte

Ingredients

• 6 oz. butter
• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I used Scharffen-Berger)
• 6 eggs, separated
• 1 cup white, granulated sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream (chilled in refrigerator)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional. I didn't use them

Directions
1. Prep: preheat oven to 325-F. Spray 9" cake pan or brush with canola oil, line pan with baking parchment cut in a 9" circle, and spray or brush with canola oil on top.

2. Melt and mix butter and chocolate. Ideally, you'd do this in a double-boiler. If, like me, you don't have one, you can use a microwave: first melt the butter by itself, then melt the chocolate and mix it together. To melt the chocolate, cut it into small pieces and microwave it in 15-20 second intervals, stirring in between. DO NOT over-microwave it, or the chocolate will seize, and you'll have to start over.


3. In a medium bowl, beat the six egg whites until foamy. Gradually add 1/2 c. sugar until soft peaks form. To separate the whites from the yolks, be sure to use cold eggs. It helps to separate them over a small bowl so you can just throw out the one egg if you mess up.

4. In a large bowl, beat the six egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar. Gradually add the chocolate mixture to the yolk mix, and then fold in the egg whites.

5. Pour 2/3 of the batter into the cake pan and bake until toothpick comes out clean. The recipe says it should take about 30 minutes, but mine was in the oven around 39 min. (give or take).

6. For the frosting, beat the chilled heavy cream until whipped and mix with the remaining 1/3 frosting. You can add the pecans as well if you want. Generously slather frosting on cake once it's cooled.