ISO: Re: ISO: Ideal Chocolate Cake

Bob, try these. Both of these recipes are for 1 layer Tortes.
These are European in nature and very dense and chocolatey.

CHOCOLATE DECADANCE
16 oz. semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate, chopped
5 oz. unsalted butter
5 large eggs, separated
1 TBSP. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 TBSP. sugar

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line 8"x2" cake pan with parchment paper or waxed paper.
Melt chocolate and butter in a small bowl placed over a pot of barely simmering
water, stirring often until smooth.
Whisk in egg yolks and flour. Set aside.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar in a clean, dry mixing bowl at medium
speed until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in sugar, beating at high speed
until stiff but not dry. Fold about 1/4 of whites into the chocolate mixture
to lighten it. Quickly fold in the remaining whites. Turn mixture into prepared
pan. Bake for exactly 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool in pan.Cake will rise somewhat, especially around
the edges, but will still seem undercooked. As it cools, it will sink in the
center. THIS IS CORRECT !!! Let cake cool completely in the pan on a rack.
Cover and chill for several hours .
Run a knife around the edge of pan to release cake.Warm the bottom of the pan
on a stove burner set on low heat for just a few seconds; invert it onto a
plate to unmold it.Peel away the parchment from the bottom of cake and invert
again onto a serving plate or cake circle.
The dessert will be right-side up and higher around the edges than in the middle.It may be made to this point up to 4 days in advance. Wrap well and
refrigerate until needed, or freeze forup to 3 months.

To serve simply, cut in wedges and pas lightly sweetened whipped cream.
To dress up, ice cake with 4 cups whipping cream, whipped with 3 TBSP.
sugar until stiff. Pipe rossettes on top with some of whipped cream.

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I don't know if you'd like nuts in your cake, but this a personal favorite
of mine.Try once and you'll be hooked!!

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT TORTE

6 oz. semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate, chopped
6 oz. unsalted butter,cut up(3/4 cup)
4 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup ( 2 oz.)ground toasted hazelnuts
1/4 cup ( 1 oz. ) all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

Bittersweet Chocolate glaze
OR
Chocolate Honey Glaze

Preheat oven to 375F. Line bottom of 8"x3" round pan(springform works well)
with parchment or waxed paper.
Melt chocolate with butter in a small pan set over a pot of barely simmering
water, stirring often until melted and combined. Remove from heat.
Beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar until pale and thick.( several minutes)
Stir in the warm chocolate,nuts and the flour.Set aside.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar at medium speed until soft peaks form.
Gradually sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, beating at high speed until
stiff but not dry.Fold 1/4 of whites into chocolate mixture to lighten it. Quickly fold in the remaining whites.Turn mixture into prepared pan and smooth
top if needed.
Bake torte for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of torte
shows moist crumbs.
Cool torte completely in pan on rack. It will have risen and then fallen in the
center, leaving a highe rim around the edges and possibly some cracking.
Level torte by gently mashing around the edges to even out.
Unmold cake onto a cake circle 1/2" larger than cake.
Torte may be completed to this point, wrapped and kept at room temperature
for up to 3 days,or freeze up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature
before glazing.

Bittersweet Chocolate Cake
6 oz. semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate,chopped
4 oz.( 1/2 cup) unsalted butter,cut up
1 TBSP. light corn syrup
Place chocolate,butter and corn syrup in a small bowl.Melt gently over a
pot of barely simmering water,stirring often until almost completely
melted.Do not overheat glaze.Remove from water bath and set aside to finish melting, stirring once or twice until smooth.
Let set until just warm to the touch and thickened,but still pourable.
Pour glaze over torte to cover completely. Let set at room temperature.
DO NOT REFRIGERATE!!!

Chocolate Honey Glaze
Follow above instructions for Bittersweet Glaze,but substitute 2-3 TBSP.honey
(to taste) for the corn syrup.

These are from the GREAT cookbook : COCOLAT by Alice Medrich
I do highly recomend this book. Please let me know if you try them.