This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe from Baking Chez Moi is a super simple cake that tastes much more complex than its short list of ingredients suggests… It doesn’t even look super impressive when you make it…
It’s one of those flourless cakes that rises beautifully in the oven (yes, it’s baked in a pie dish) and then falls and cracks as soon as it comes out… But no matter – there’s not much some icing sugar cannot fix…
And that “crunch” from the title? It comes from either black sesame seeds, poppy seeds or cacao nibs. I went with poppy seeds since that’s what I had on hand and it provided the most intriguing flavour and texture addition. I took this (full sized, for once!) to a dinner party where it took a good few guesses for everyone to realise what the secret ingredient was!
As for the serving size… “serves 12″… I think she means “serves 7”. This was what was left after generous slices then “just a sliver more” at the dinner party…
Just enough for Neil and I to enjoy for dessert the next day. This cake, while it might not look like much (and certainly not looking great the next day) is actually better at room temperature the day after it’s made – it tastes like the inside of truffles, it’s so smooth and silky. We served this plain but it would work well with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream. And yes, it’s REALLY easy to make so it’s one of those cakes with excellent ROI (as in, people will be very impressed and think it’s taken way longer to make than it actually has!).
Get the recipe for Dorie Greenspan’s Touch-of-Crunch Chocolate Cake on page 50 of Baking Chez Moi.
Tuesdays with Dorie participants don’t publish the recipes on our blogs, so you’re encouraged to purchase Baking Chez Moi for yourself which you can do on Amazon (this link should bring you to the Amazon store in your country) or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository. Then join us, baking our way through the book!
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It looks great -can’t wait to make it.
This was AMAZING. Perfect for chocoholics like moi.
In fact, it was eaten so quickly, I didn’t have time to fetch anything to pair with it.
(The tail end of a barrel-fermented indigenous yeast Greek Chardonnay – while an intriguing wine with dinner – wasn’t the ideal fit, haha.)
Definitely for chocoholics. Luckily my family is filled with them.
Yours looks so impressive! I like the white pie plate and powdered sugar–it ties the whole thing together.
i thought it was like a giant truffle, too, and preferred it at room temp. what a great dinner party dessert!!
This was so easy and sooo good! Totally repeat worthy!
I served it plain but I like the idea of topping it with whipped cream or ice cream.