The situation is getting serious. Shortages of common items continue throughout the country due to, what I can only assume is, panic buying. On a recent trip to the store I was flabbergasted at the absence of items on the shelves. Among these were yeast, sugar, and, much to my dismay, flour. Flour!
How is there a shortage of flour? A seemingly abundant product is now unavailable and I don’t know when I will see it on the shelves again. Does this experience feel familiar to you?
I cannot wrap my brain around this! Maybe there is a social media bread baking challenge that I am not aware of. Or, is it possible the flour hoarders think the country is actually having an apocalypse, so they must revert to pioneer ways of living because they are worried all the bread in the country will eventually disappear?
I want to believe there is a more reasonable explanation than people just being greedy. If you are reading this and you have some insight please share your thoughts in the comments.
Otherwise, if you are like me and just wanted to bake something simple and sweet but couldn’t find enough flour, I’ve got you. This chocolate cake is so decadent you will think you’ve bought it from a Parisian patisserie. It is the cross section of fudge and cake. Best of all it’s flourless, with the star of the show being Trader Joe’s Pound Plus 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate. This chocolate has been on the shelves for a long time. I usually find it on the dry shelves above the frozen food items. So to all the flour hoarders, you can bite my beautiful chocolate cake!
Cake ingredients:*
- 6 Tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 200 grams of Trader Joe’s Pound Plus 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate (if you add a little extra it’s okay)
- 6 Tablespoons of unsalted Butter
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 tsp of Trader Joe’s 100% Colombian Instant Coffee mixed with 1 tbsp of water
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Pinch of Salt
The Raspberry Sauce:
- 1 cup of Raspberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 Tbsp of Sugar
- 1 tsp of Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp of cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp of water
Making the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Take a 6 inch springform pan and use it to trace a circle on a sheet of parchment paper. Cut out the circle a little wider than the line you traced to give you extra protection from leaking, and line the inside of the pan. Then, tightly double line the outside of the springform pan with aluminum foil as you will be placing it in a hot water bath.**
- Mix the instant coffee powder with the tablespoon of water and set aside. Break the chocolate up into its individual squares for better melting. I like to cut the butter into cubes but this is optional.
- In a saucepan, add the butter, coffee liquid and chocolate and melt over very low heat until smooth, mixing occasionally to ensure even melting. To avoid burning the chocolate you can remove from heat just before all the solids finish melting and stir until everything is smooth. Set aside to cool while you prepare the eggs and sugar.
- In a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with a handheld electric whisk or stand alone mixer using the wire whisk attachment. Whisk for a couple minutes until the mixture becomes thick and pale then add the vanilla, salt, and melted chocolate mixture. Blend all ingredients together until it all looks like chocolate pudding.
- Pour mixture into your prepared pan, place that pan into a larger baking pan and pour hot water in the pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Carefully place it in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. It may look like it’s not firm, but don’t worry you will be putting it in the fridge to set. Remove the cake from the water bath, remove the foil, allow the cake to come to room temperature, and then place it in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
- To make the sauce, blend the raspberries in a blender or food processor until smooth. Strain the seeds using a sieve and a spoon to help push the liquid out. Next, pour into a saucepan along with the sugar and lemon juice. Bring mixture to a boil. While waiting for the sauce to boil mix together the cornstarch and water, add it to the sauce, and simmer for a few minutes until it thickens. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature and store in the fridge until needed.
- When the cake has set, release the lock on the springform pan and carefully remove the cake. This cake looks very pretty when you dust it with confectioners sugar but if you don’t have any, the raspberry sauce alone will do just fine.
You can now forget about all your troubles and dive into the fudgy goodness of this cake as it, literally, melts in your mouth.
*This recipe was adapted and tested for accuracy to make a smaller cake for about 4 people. If you would like to make a full size cake just double all of the ingredients except for the coffee powder mixture and cornstarch mixture for the raspberry sauce.
**If you don’t have a springform pan just make sure you line the bottom of the pan you have with parchment paper for easier removal.