I adore a recipe that results in high impact with minimal effort. This cake definitely falls into that category, and definitely well timed for a special Valentine’s Day dessert.
Really a glorified brownie, this cake is full of flavor, decadent and quite the looker. It is easy enough to prepare with common ingredients you may always have on hand. And the marbling is especially fun.
A few words about chocolate: The term “bittersweet” commonly refers to a range of cacao content in the chocolate as wide as 60% to 80%. Choose what tastes good to you. There are many chocolates processed here in the Bay Area that are delicious and easily found at local markets: Barlovento (64% to 80%, Oakland), E. Guittard (72%, Burlingame), Ghirardelli (60%, San Leandro), and TCHO (66% and 70%, San Francisco). At the risk of getting too geeky over the chocolate, the U.S. FDA requires a minimum of 35% chocolate liquor and a maximum of 12% milk solids to be labeled “bittersweet”; but most bittersweet and dark chocolate significantly exceed the minimum.
I used a raspberry brandy for additional depth of flavor, because I wanted to adorn it with fresh raspberries with Valentine’s Day in mind; and I adore so many of the interesting spirits produced locally by St. George Spirits. They offer fun tours and tastings at their distillery in Alameda. It’s worth the trip if you’re nearby!
The original recipe calls for either dark rum or espresso in the same, one tablespoon quantity listed. I have used El Dorado’s 12 year old demerara rum with awesome results. I encourage you to try what you like! I plan an amaretto liquer version in the future, dolled up with toasted sliced almonds. Espresso with chocolate covered espresso beans…well you get the drift!
There is one, tiny downside to this recipe: You must wait patiently for the cake to cool completely before serving. At least four hours, or overnight. Kind of like a cheesecake. So plan for this—you are either baking it pretty early in the day for that night’s dessert; or the day before. I prefer the cake to come up to nearly room temperature for eating. The chocolate cake portion softens a bit, and the flavors open up too. So what is up with that?!
Flourless Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cake
Adapted from Abigail Johnson Dodge/Fine Cooking
Makes one 9-inch round cake
For the vanilla batter:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the chocolate batter:
- 10 ounces bitter sweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 5 ounces (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon raspberry brandy or liqueur, such “framboise eau de vie” or Chambord
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon table salt
Cocoa powder for dusting
Instructions:
Lightly grease a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment. Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350˚F.
Make the vanilla batter: In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and continue beating until well blended and no lumps remain. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until blended. Set aside.
Make the chocolate batter: In a medium bowl, melt the chocolate and butter over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk until smooth and set aside to cool slightly. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, raspberry liqueur, vanilla and salt. Mix on low speed until combined, then switch mixer to medium high and continue beating until mixture is pale and thick, about 3 – 4 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, gradually pour in the chocolate mixture and continue beating until well blended.
Combine the batters: Spread about half of the chocolate batter in the bottom of the prepared pan. Add large scoopfuls of each of the remaining vanilla and chocolate batters to the pan in an alternating pattern. Using a knife or the tip of a rubber spatula, gently swirl the two batters together so they’re mixed but not completely blended. Tap the pan against the countertop several times to settle the batters.
Bake until a toothpick inserted about 2-inches from the edge comes out gooey but not liquid, about 40 minutes. Do not over bake. The top will be puffed and slightly cracked, especially around the edges. It will sink down as it cools.
Let cool on wire rack until just slightly warm, about 90 minutes. Loosen the cake from the pan by holding the pan nearly perpendicular to the counter; tapping the pan on the counter while rotating it side to side. Invert onto a large, flat plate or board. Remove the pan and peel off the parchment. Sift some cocoa powder over the cake bottom to facilitate removing slices when serving. Invert again onto a similar plate so that the top side is up. Let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 4 hours or overnight.
To serve:
Place slicing knife under hot running water to heat. Dry it off. Slice cake, wiping the blade clean between slices.
