Delicious flourless dark chocolate cake recipe!

More and more people are going "gluten-free".  For those of you who do not know what gluten is, gluten is a protein that commonly found in wheat.  Gluten also contributes to structures in desserts, such as cookies, cakes and pastries.  If you read a recipe that says "Do not overmix", that simply is telling you that excess gluten will form if you overmix, which will cause the product to be tough in texture, and you mainly see that in cakes.  Nobody likes tough, rubbery cakes.  

If you are living a gluten-free lifestyle, this cake is perfect for you, plus it taste fantastic!  It has smooth and airy texture, with a strong and rich chocolate flavor.  The chocolate in the cake also helps the cake to be very moist.  Take a bite, and the cake just melts in your mouth. 

I give it a 9 out of 10.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 pound 72% cocoa dark chocolate (or you can mix 8oz. bittersweet chocolate with 8oz. semi-sweet chocolate if you prefer)

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoon black coffee or espresso

8 large eggs, separated (room temperature preferred, but no required)

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoon 

Confectioners' sugar (powder sugar) for dusting

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Butter a 9-inch springform pan, and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. 

2. Melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler over simmering water.  Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the 3/4 cup of sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer on medium until lightly yellow in color, about 2-3 minutes.  

3. Whisk a little bit of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs, then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture until smooth.  Add the vanilla and coffee and mix well.

4. Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until foams start to form, add 2 tablespoons of sugar, and continue mixing until stiff peaks form.  

5. Add 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and simply mix together.  This step helps the two mixtures to 'familiarize' with each other.  Then fold in the rest of the egg whites.

6. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes, or until cracks form on the top.  The top should be dry, and cracked.  Cool the cake on a cooling rack until completely chilled before unmolding.  Dust the cake with powder sugar and serve with whipped cream and ice cream.  

7. Enjoy!!

*Do not be alarmed if the cake sinks in the middle.  That's normal.