Dark Chocolate Torte with Raspberry Sauce

This flourless chocolate cake is divine and perfect for special occasions. The cake has a rich chocolate flavor that goes perfectly with the tangy raspberry sauce. Also a plus, it has a very low key assembly since you don't have to worry about icing it and it can be decorated simply with raspberries. Leave plenty of time to make the cake since it must be chilled for 6 to 8 hours before it can be served. This recipe is from the Mrs. Field's I Love Chocolate Cookbook.





Ingredients:
Torte:
21/2 sticks unsalted butter
20 oz semisweet bakers chocolate, finely chopped
1 tbsp vanilla extract
6 large eggs, at room temperature

Glaze:
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Raspberry Sauce:
Two 12 oz packages frozen raspberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp orange juice
Cheesecloth


Preheat the oven to 400. Butter the bottom and sides of an 81/2 inch springform pan. Wrap the sides in 2 layers of aluminum foil and then place in a roasting pan and set aside.

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the butter. Stir until smooth. Make sure the water isn't boiling or the chocolate will burn. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

In a medium bowl (metal or glass), beat the eggs. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk the eggs until they are warm, about 3 minutes. Make sure the water isn't too hot or else the eggs will cook, which is not what you want. For me, I whisked them over the water that was used to melt the chocolate without even using the burner. Remove the eggs from the heat and beat the eggs with an electric mixer at high speed until light and tripled in volume, 4 to 5 minutes.

Transfer the chocolate mixture to a large bowl and add 1/4 of the whipped eggs. Mix thoroughly to lighten the chocolate mixture. Gently fold the remaining eggs into the chocolate mixtureTransfer immediately to the prepared springform pan. Pour hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the springform.

Bake for 18 minutes; the center will be jiggly when removed from the oven (the cake will finish solidifying while its cooling). Remove from the water bath and cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes. Remove the foil.

While torte is cooling, make the glaze. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate chips. Cover for 15 minutes, then stir the mixture until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. Pour the glaze over the torte (while it's still in the springform pan), then chill the torte in the refrigerator until firm, 6 to 8 hours.

To prepare the raspberry sauce, first microwave the frozen raspberries for a few minutes. This will make it much easier to juice them and will be less painful for your hands! Drain the berries in a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl while pressing gently to remove the juice. But if you don't have a fine mesh sieve, I used cheesecloth which works just as well. Place two layers of cheesecloth over a bowl and place the raspberries in the middle (you may have to do this in two batches). Wrap them up in the cheesecloth and twist the top and then squeeze to juice them.

Transfer the juice to a small saucepan over low to medium heat and reduce to 1/3 cup. Return the reduced juice to the bowl and add the sugar (this will thicken the raspberry juice into syrup). Then add the orange juice and stir to combine.

Run a knife around the sides of the springform and then remove the sides of the springform pan. Then garnish with your choice of toppings. I topped it with whipped cream and fresh raspberries. 

If you want it to look really impressive, you can add chocolate leaves to the top (they are super easy to make and look really fancy). Just melt more chocolate in a double boiler (you can even use the rest of the bag of chocolate chips from earlier). Then paint the underside of non toxic leaves (lemon leaves, bay leaves, etc) with a good layer of chocolate (if its too thin they will break) using a pastry brush but don't paint to the edge of the leaf or the leaf may get stuck in the chocolate and be hard to remove. Then place them on a baking sheet with wax paper and chill in the refrigerator until they are hard. Then carefully peal the leaves away.

Variations:

To add different flavors to the torte, the tbsp of vanilla can be replaced with coffee liqueur (or a tablespoon or two of strong coffee) or almond extract or any other flavor of your choice.

Chopped nuts (such as walnuts) can be folded into the mixture just before the batter is poured into the springform pan to give it a nuttier flavor and add some crunch to the velvet of the cake.

Other berries can be substituted for the raspberries if you want to change up the sauce. I have used blackberries before when raspberries were unavailable and the taste is very similar it just isn't as visually pleasing.