First, truth? I thought I’d take a vacation from posting during the Passover holiday. So what changed, you may ask? I made this cake again. OMG, people, my goal is to share wonderful things to eat and especially special things for holidays. So how could I hold out on you guys? This cake is so beyond that my DIL Ayelet said, “this is the best cake I’ve ever eaten in my life”. Note, she did not say, for Passover. There you go, it’s really awesome and ya know what? Not that hard to make.

To clarify the name, my SIL Suzy shared this with me many years ago. Her Aunt Laura was a perfectionist and an amazing baker (so I’m told) and this is her recipe. We would wait every year for Passover when Suzy and Stu joined us and she’d bring Aunt Laura cake and mousse cake with her. One year she didn’t make it to the kids’ chagrin. So that year I asked for and received the recipe so that nevermore should they lack Aunt Laura cake. (we even had a thing, Aunt Laura is coming Aunt Laura is coming! Guess ya had to be there 😉 ). I only changed one thing from the original recipe but I think it makes a positive difference so I hope Suzy forgives me. So without further ado, I present Aunt Laura cake, her legacy carries on!

Yes, it’s a pain to separate eggs but do it anyway since this is the source of the cake’s leavening, ie rising in the pan (although not crazy high). The cake is a cross between light and dense, this is the best I can do to explain.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

So I’m sorry but I forgot to take a picture of the separated whites and the stages of beating but you can find it in this recipe if you wish Mile High Marble Chiffon Cake- Step by Step but basically, separate your whites and place in a clean bowl with no bit of egg yolk in the bowl. Should some drizzle in, scoop out with a piece of egg shell, it works a treat. Then beat the white on medium high and slowly add most of the sugar to the egg whites, beating all the while till they stiffly hold their shape. Scrape all the egg white out of the mixing bowl into another bowl, like so:

Then take your yolks and beat with the small remaining amount of sugar

till lighter in color like this:

then add the almond flour (floury blanched ground almonds) or almond meal (finely ground almond with skin)

Take a good quality dark or bittersweet chocolate bar and break it into small chunks and put in a bowl. Add the coffee powder to the bowl and pour the boiling water over both. Cover briefly and then stir till chocolate is melted and smooth.

Stir stir stir. Good. Let cool a bit (doesn’t take too long, just a coupla minutes) and pour into the yolk and nuts mixture. Gently beat into mixture. It will make a rather thick and sticky looking batter. Never fear, it will lighten up shortly.

Now take a quarter of the whipped egg white and place in bowl with chocolate mixture. This bit is your (pardon the pun) sacrificial lamb since you are using this to lighten the mixture and it gets totally absorbed. However, you continue to add the whipped egg white in three more additions using a spatula to lighten the mixture (and I gently flick the mixer on and off once or twice, stop it and again to help incorporate the egg whites.

until the mixture is fluffier and lighter like so:

Make sure to scrape with spatula under and sides and all about, mixing egg white in but trying not to deflate it too much. Good. Prepare your springform pan by lightly spraying sides and bottom and then cutting a circle of parchment paper for bottom for ease of removal. It will stick nicely in place from light oil spray.

Now pour the mixture into the pan, scraping every bit out.

As you can see, the batter goes about halfway up the sides of the pan, this is correct.

Bake in the hot oven for 45-55 minutes, or till wooden toothpick comes out with a crumb or two, center is not jiggly and top is light chocolate in color. Let cool completely. Gently run a knife around the edge all around the cake, open the sprinform and serve beautiful wedges. Nice with chocolate mousse ice cream. Chocolate Mousse Ice Cream Incredibly delicious!

Aunt Laura’s Divine Flourless Chocolate Cake

7 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar (beat with whites)
1/4 cup sugar (beat with yolks)
1 teaspoon vanilla or packet vanilla sugar 10 grams
2 1/3 cups finely ground almonds or almond flour
5.5 ounces or 156 grams dark chocolate (typically a chocolate bar is 100 grams so this is approximately a bar and a half)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon granulated coffee

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C),

Put the egg whites in a mixing bowl with a beater, slowly adding 3/4 cup of sugar to the whites and beat till stiff and glossy. Scrape beaten whites into a separate bowl. In the same (unwashed) bowl put the yolks and beat with the 1/4 cup of sugar and the teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla sugar till the yolks turn a light color. Add the ground almonds or almond flour (nicer consistency with the almond flour) and beat. Mixture will be quite thick.

In a medium bowl, place the chocolate, broken up into pieces with the coffee powder and pour the hot water over both. Cover with a lid or tin foil for two minutes and then stir until melted together and smooth. Let cool a few minutes and add to egg/nut mixture in the bowl. Beat together till incorporated, mixture will be thick. Add 1/4 of the beaten egg whites to the chocolate nut mixture in the bowl and beat with beater on and off till mostly incorporated, this helps lighten up the mixture. Now add the rest of the egg whites, in three additional batches, mixing with a spatula and trying not to deflate the egg whites overmuch but till incorporated. You will see that the mixture is lighter and more liquidy than previously. Prepare a springform pan by lightly spraying with oil and putting a round of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan (I cut it out) to help with ease of cutting cake and it’s removal. Pour batter into pan, scraping out every bit. Place in hot oven and bake 45-55 minutes or till top is lightly chocolate in color and toothpick come out with a crumb or two and center is not jiggly. Let cool completely and serve to delighted chocolate cake fans.