Many of you may know this Decadent Spiced Chocolate Cake as the illustrious Flour-less Chocolate Cake with Cinnamon. If it were up to the people who ate this last time around, they may call it the best cow pie ever. For me, it’s simply an easy and dense chocolatey cake that takes almost no time and very little ingredients to throw together. Best served with ice cream.
Flour-less chocolate cakes come in many forms. You may see it as a torta caprese, molten cake or chocolate decadence, with many varying names in between. Many of these cakes came about through unfortunate accidents that ended up with very decadent desserts. These cakes are especially good for those who are on a gluten-free diet.
Torta caprese. Photo courtesy of Food Lover’s Odyssey.
The torta caprese originates in Italy, on the island of Capri and uses almond flour or walnut flour, with a combination of chococlate for the foundation of the cake. It’s typically a very dense, and thickly cut slice of cake.
Chocolate molten cake.
The molten chocolate cake or lava cake is very distinctive. Using the elements of a brownie or cake and incorporating them with that of a soufflé, you end up with this very luxurious dessert. Typically they are made within a ramekin, with only the outside of the cake cooking. The ramekin is then inverted, with the center being ‘lava’ hot and super gooey delicious. Two very famous chefs dispute where this cake originated, but regardless, both their versions are amazing.
Chocolate decadence. Photo courtesy of Epicurious.com.
Lastly we have the chocolate decadence which was very popular in the 1980′s. It can also be known as death by chocolate and it is what this recipe most directly reflects. If you were to marry a brownie with a cake, this would be their prodigy. Dense, intensely flavored, but not as heavy as that same sized slice that would be of a brownie.
Decadent Spiced Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
4 ounces of Ghirardelli or other good quality Chocolate (I like bittersweet)
1/2 cup of Butter, unsalted
3/4 cup Sugar
3 Eggs
1/2 cup of Cocoa Powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of Salt
Preheat oven to 375°F and Butter an 8-inch springform pan. Line bottom with parchment paper and Butter paper. If you don’t have a springform pan, a round 8-inch pan should work, but it’ll be a little harder to remove, so Butter generously.
Buttered springform pan.
In a double boiler, or metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt Chocolate with Butter. Stir till smooth and completely melted. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk Sugar into Chocolate mixture. Add Eggs one at a time and whisk generously. (A slow addition of Eggs and fast whisking does not allow the Egg to heat and scramble on you).
Chocolate and Butter being melted over a makeshift double boiler.
Ingredients all lined out for making Decadent Spiced Chocolate Cake.
Melted Butter and Chocolate fully combined.
Chocolate mixture with addition of Eggs. Very ‘glop-y’ in consistency.
Add Cocoa powder, Cinnamon and Salt into Chocolate mixture, whisk until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 20 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cake will be domed, and during cooling will invert. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and remove from pan. Cake will be domed, and during cooling will invert. If you don’t like this look, after the cake has cooled for five minutes, invert onto a serving plate.
Batter with addition of remaining ingredients. Reminiscent of brownie batter.
Ready for baking.
Finished cake after baking.
Slightly inverted cake after removal from pan.
Cake can be served immediately or stored in refrigerator till consumption. Dust with powdered 2 tablespoons of Powdered Sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon. Best eaten with ice cream and/or fresh fruit.
Adequate dusted and ready for consumption.
Even better with Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey Ice Cream!
