Flourless Mocha Cake

I heard some of you are out of flour. I hope you have the more important ingredient - chocolate.

Fudgy, rich, and chocolatey with a hint of coffee flavor, this flourless cake is perfect for a weeknight, weekend...what day IS it anyway??? Does anyone know any more? What I'm saying is...it's perfect.

Mr. E fell in love with this cake immediately. He's not a fan of layer cake, but this one with the fudgy cake and thick ganache layer was right up his alley.

The cake is covered in a ganache frosting, but one that is made just a bit differently than normal. Usually, I make ganache with heavy cream. I didn't have heavy cream on hand, but I did have sour cream. Lots of sour cream. Every time I go to the store, it seems I tell myself, "hey...I'm pretty sure we're low on sour cream." Without knowing it, I'd hoarded 4 containers for the quarantine.

The cake starts with melting chocolate and butter. Oh yeah, I like where this is heading.

You'll add sugar, salt, vanilla, and espresso powder to the mix. Espresso powder is KEY if you want this to be a mocha cake. If you don't have any on hand, just call this a chocolate cake and double the vanilla.

Next, you'll add eggs and cocoa powder. Bake it up!

The cake is dense and won't rise much in the pan. That's ok! You'll let it cool in the pan for a few minutes, then invert onto a serving platter. (Yep, it will be upside-down.)

Once cooled, make the ganache. Remember, we're using sour cream here, but if you do have heavy cream in your fridge, feel free to make a more traditional version.

Stir espresso powder into the sour cream. (The espresso powder can be omitted.) Instead of heating the sour cream like we would heat cream in traditional ganache, we're going to melt the chocolate first.

Melt chocolate chips, then pour over the sour cream. Stir until thoroughly combined. The ganache will be thick! Spread over the cake with an offset spatula.

The cake is RICH, so cut it into thin wedges. That just means there's more cake for later.

Store in the refrigerator.

Flourless Mocha Cake with Mocha Sour Cream Ganache
{serves 12}

cake:
6 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa

frosting:
1/2 cup sour cream, full-fat
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 cup bittersweet or semisweet chips

Grease a 9" round pan. Line the bottom with parchment. Grease parchment. Heat oven to 375.

In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter on low heat. Once melted, pour into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add sugar, espresso powder, salt, and vanilla. Mix until combined.

Add the eggs, beating until combined, scraping the bottom and sides of bowl as needed. Mix in cocoa just until incorporated.

Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until done. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Run a knife along the edge, then invert a serving plate on top of the cake. Flip and remove the pan. Peel off parchment paper and let cool completely. (The bottom of the cake is now the top.)

Once cooled, make the frosting: Stir the sour cream and espresso powder together. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second intervals at 50% powder. Stir after each interval. Do not overheat. Pour over the sour cream mixture and stir until combined. Spread over top of the cake.

Cut into small wedges to serve. Store in refrigerator.

[NOTE: espresso powder may be omitted. Increase vanilla in the cake to 2 teaspoons.]

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

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