Considering how much I love chocolate cakes it’s surprising that I don’t make them more often. I came across this recipe on La Tartine Gourmande, Bea actually had another recipe quite similar to this but I chose this one for its simplicity. There are all of five ingredients, one of which is a mere 1 tablespoon of flour, so it’s very close to a flourless chocolate cake but not as dense.

I really wanted to know if a cake could come together so easily and how good could it taste? I love it. It’s very simple to prepare and it tastes amazing, it’s rich but not too dense, moist and light and above all it is chocolaty, it’s not one of those cakes that looks like chocolate, and it’s called chocolate, but doesn’t taste like chocolate. This is the real deal chocolate cake!

The original recipe called for an 8” square baking dish. I didn’t have one that size other than my 9” round so I took a chance with my loaf pan. I did have to bake it a bit longer, and it did, er, collapse quite a bit as it cooled, but once I tasted it I really didn’t care about the funky shape, it was simply amazing. So you’ll probably want to go with the square pan as indicated in the recipe and the aesthetics should work out fine.

The photo below, of the cake in the loaf pan, was right out of the oven, after about 30 minutes it just sank in the middle, so needless to say these photos were a bit of a challenge. I did see that on Bea’s other chocolate cake recipe, which is very similar, that the eggs are separated and the whites are whipped prior to adding, so that may help with the volume of the cake as that one was prepared in a loaf pan.

Chocolate Cake

(adapted from La Tartine Gourmande)

7 ounces dark chocolate (I used 72% cacao)
7 ounces unsalted butter
5 large eggs
8 ounces fine sugar (I used 6 ounces)
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Preheat your oven at 375 F.

Melt the chocolate and butter pieces in a double boiler, stirring until both are melted and combined.

Transfer the chocolate mixture into a bowl and add the sugar. Mix well and set aside to cool.

Add the eggs one at a time to the cooled chocolate mixture, stirring well between each.

Add the flour and mix until incorporated.

Pour the batter in a square 8″ mold lined with a sheet of parchment paper. Place in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes*. When shaking the cake gently, the middle should still be a little soft. Remove from the oven and let completely cool on a cooling rack.

*I used a loaf pan and baked for 35 minutes.