Flourless Chocolate Cake

Snow-maggeden arrived last week to the Midwest!  AKA the Snow-pocalypse, the worst blizzard in years, and the Great Whiteout of 2011.  After shoveling out the front steps, the back walk, two cars, and the sidewalk I decided that I was too exhausted to began testing a kitchen appliance.

But I did it anyway.

Because I'm obsessed dedicated.

One of the attachments that comes with the Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender is a wire whisk. Amazon reviews gives this lil gadget (pictured left) 3.5 stars out of 239 reviews.  One of the themes I'm noticing for lower reviews is because the warranty gave people issues (oh well, the 3 year warranty is already up anyways,) and the wire whisk doesn't really work well.  I've used my pareve immersion blender in the past with the blender attachment, but never the whisk.  And although I'm slightly incapable when it comes to kitchen technology, even I know when whisks are absolutely vital: whipping egg whites.

I have some awful memories from my freshman year of college of trying to make a low fat cheese cake and being unable to whip the egg whites because the immersion blender/whisk that we were using didn't have the capacity.  I can also remember one Pesach trying to make a sponge cake with nothing more than a regular Kitchenaid totally-non-electronic-whisk. I'd love to say that the experience didn't traumatize me for life, but suffice it to say that I'm not making a sponge cake anytime soon.

So to test out my wire whisk, I decided to make a decadent, delicious, flourless chocolate cake.

It took me about five minutes to hook up the wire whisk to the power source.  I'd love to claim that this was because the Cuisinart Smart Stick was defective in some way, but I can't.  I spent four-and-a-half minutes trying to jab one of the beaters from my Kitchenaid mixer into a Cuisinart hand blender.  Oops.  It took about twenty seconds to locate the correct whisk attachment from my drawer and ten seconds to screw that and the nifty-little-black-top-thing in.

And the results were wonderful.  The egg whites whipped up easily, and in record time.  I'm not going to lie, the machine was a little louder than I expected, but my toddler was napping in the next room and the noise didn't wake her up.  The manufacturers claim that features include a "lightweight design, an easy-to-grip ergonomic handle, and simple push-button control."  While the whisk did feel heavier while it was on, it weighs about the same thing as my hand mixer but there was only one whisk instead of two.  Unlike some of the more complicated mixing apparatus that scare me with 2,000 speeds and an extra power button, that I've seen, this one just has a simple push button.  It didn't feel awkward to press the button (and therefore hold the Smart Stick) with one hand, while using the other hand too keep the bowl steady.  Plus I liked the fact that egg whites didn't go splattering about my kitchen and instead stayed nicely in the bowl.

Where they belonged.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
12 ounces semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup margarine (you can use butter to make a dairy version of this cake)
8 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 2 round cake pans (I used disposable aluminum ones) with a non-stick spray.  Then in a large microwave safe bowl melt chocolate and margarine (medium power for 20 second intervals, stirring between intervals until melted).  Let cool.  Next in a large bowl beat the egg whites with your Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender until soft peaks form.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar on high speed (use the Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender) until the mixture gets a very thick consistency and turns light yellow.  Add the vanilla and salt.  Make sure the chocolate mixture is cooled and then pour into the egg yolk mixture.  Carefully fold the egg whites into the chocolate-y egg yolks.  Restrain yourself from licking the batter.  Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.  The cakes will still look slightly raw and jiggly when you remove them from the oven.  Let cool.  Serve with whipped cream, fresh fruit, or chocolate sauce (none of which I had in the house while serving this).

Serves approximately 14 people.

Freezes ridiculously well.