Flourless Chocolate Cake with Easy Ganache

my newest obsession....

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

individually smothered in ganache and accompanied by some beautiful red raspberries...every bite tastes like a perfect little french truffle.

my favorite piece was swimming in a pool of Raspberry Chipotle Sauce (recipe soon).  what a fabulous combo this was.  i can't wait to make another.

this cake just so happens to come from Martha Stewart.  sometimes ya just gotta give the woman some credit.  some might think she's over rated, BUT she is who she is, she does what she does and a lot of times..."it's a good thing".

the recipe is quite simple.  i had to find an easy one because my printer was broken and i had to jot down the recipe on a scape of paper...i was in a hurry to get some chocolate fixin'.

this is how i wrote it down.  (the original can be found HERE.)

MARTHA STEWART'S FLOURLESS CHCCOLATE CAKE

6 Tbsp unsalted butter

8 oz chocolate (70% cocoa) in small pieces

6 egg yolks

6 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

NOTE...i added 1 tsp vanilla and almost 1 tsp espresso powder to the chocolate mixture

 oven at 275 degrees

butter 9 inch springform pan and dust with cocoa powder

melt butter and chocolate in double boiler...cool slightly

whisk in yolks.  one at a time is best

NOTE...i let this sit for a few minutes while i was whipping the whites and this looked like lumpy mush.  i was mortified and thought i had chocolate-scrambled eggs...YIKES...so if this happens to you just whisk like a mad person and bring it back to a smooth texture.  everything was fine.  not to worry.

whisk egg whites to soft peaks

gradually add sugar until stiff peaks and glossy

add 1/4 of whites to chocolate mixture and combine well

then gently fold in the remaining 3/4 whites

pour into prepared pan and gently smooth top.

bake for 45-50 minutes until sides pull away and center is JUST set.

EASY GANACHE

8 OZ. good 70% dark chocolate

1 cup heavy whipping cream

heat whipping cream slowly to ALMOST a boil.  pour over chocolate and stir until chocolate is fully melted.  keep stirring well to get all the tiny lumps out.

put fully cooled cake on a cooling rack and coat cake.  at this point you can smooth the chocolate all over with a layer and or drizzle the chocolate however you want.  there are many Ganache recipe variations out there, but this one worked well for me...not too hard and not too soft when all was 

"set and done"

this was my first ganaching experiment...so i don't have any real great tips to give...just go for it.  best part is, i have some left over that is just calling out for TRUFFLES!