Bruno's Chocolate Cake - Plain
A nearly flourless Italian chocolate cake made with melted semi-sweet chocolate, ground amaretti cookies, rum, and nine whipped eggs. Three thin, crackle-topped layers that are rich, dense, and deeply chocolatey.
YIELD
3 small cakesPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
60 minThis is a New York masterchef-level chocolate cake that leans hard on Italian technique.
Nine eggs get separated and whipped to their fullest potential: yolks beaten to a pale ribbon with dark rum and vanilla, whites whipped stiff and glossy with sugar.
Melted semi-sweet chocolate and butter fold into the yolks, then the whites go in to lighten the batter, and finally a mix of cornstarch, cocoa, and finely ground amaretti cookies gives it just enough structure to hold together without any flour.
The three thin layers rise in the oven, crack on top, then fall slightly as they cool, exactly as they should.
This is the plain version, meant to be stacked and finished however you like.
Chef Tips
- Bring the eggs to room temperature before separating. Warm whites whip to greater volume, and warm yolks emulsify more smoothly with the melted chocolate.
- Fold the egg whites in stages: a quarter first to loosen the heavy chocolate batter, then the rest in two gentle additions.
- The cakes will puff up and crack during baking, then sink as they cool. This is normal and gives the layers their dense, fudgy texture.
- Ground amaretti cookies replace most of the flour here. Grind them very fine in a food processor for the smoothest crumb.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 375℉ (190℃).
Butter and flour three 9-inch round cake pans.
Beat yolks until they are pale yellow and form a ribbon when beaters are lifted, about 5 minutes.
Beat in rum and vanilla.
Beat whites with cream of tartar to soft peaks.
Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and continue beating until stiff and shiny.
Stir 12 ounces of semisweet chocolate and butter into yolks until well combined.
Gently fold in ¼ of egg whites to lighten the batter, then gently fold in the remaining whites.
Sift together cornstarch and cocoa; combine with ground amaretti.
Gently fold into the batter.
Divide batter among prepared pans.
Bake until centers of cakes rise and tops begin to crack, 18 to 20 minutes.
Cool 10 minutes in pans, then cool completely on wire rack (cakes will fall slightly).
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