Image by Greynine

As a humble apology for missing yesterday’s post, I present you, my dear readers, with my favorite dessert recipe ever. It’s not quite a traditional tiramisu, but in my opinions, that’s what makes it so yummy. If you can’t find Margherites, you can use the traditional ladyfingers.

Tiramisu

Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons brandy
• 24 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 2 cups brewed espresso, cooled
• 1/4 cup kahlua
• 1 package Margherites
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Whisk eggs and sugar together in bain marie for about 10 minutes, or until custard forms ribbons and probe thermometer inserted in mixture reached 160 degrees. Set custard bowl over ice water and whisk another 10 minutes, or until mixture is room-temperature.

In a separate bowl, combine cheese and brandy; fold into custard.

Combine coffee and kahlua. Line the bottom of a 13 x 9″ baking dish with cookies and brush with coffee. Top layer with 1/2 of cheese/custard mixture. Repeat.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. Garnish with a dusting of cocoa powder.

Serves 8-10.

One of the most decadent desserts in the world, flourless chocolate cake is a treat to make, and is best served fresh with a raspberry coulis or vanilla bean ice cream topping. Make sure to plan on small portions — the cake is so rich that it can be overwhelming after a few bites.

One of the big advantages to this dish is the low sugar content and absence of flour — it’s a great treat for those on a low-carb diet that want to splurge just a little bit.

I use miniature bundt molds for this dish, but any small molds (including these silly cupcake molds) will do. Make sure to double-butter your molds for this dish, even if you’re using non-stick pans: brush the insides with melted butter, freeze, and brush a second coat of butter on top of the first. This technique ensures that your gooey cakes will slide right out of their pans.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 400 grams bittersweet chocolate, grated or finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon coffee-flavored liqueur, such as Kahlua

Special Equipment:

• Lasagna pan or flat roasting pan
• 6 small cake molds
• Clean kitchen towel

In a small bowl or saucepan, melt chocolate and allow to cool slightly. Set aside, and preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Combine egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until ribbons form when batter falls from beaters. Slowly add melted chocolate, whisking continuously to prevent the eggs from cooking. Stir in liqueur.

In a separate bowl, whisk whites until they form stiff peaks. Divide the whites into thirds, and gently fold each third into the chocolate batter. Pour into 6 double-buttered cake molds. Place a clean kitchen towel in the bottom of a lasagna pan, and set the molds on the towel so that they are evenly spaced and not touching. Set the pan on the oven rack and add hot water to the pan so that the water level rises 1/2 up the sides of the molds.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 250 degrees, then turn oven off but leave the pan in the oven, cakes still in water bath, with oven door ajar, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before turning out of molds.

Serves 6.