{Flourless} Black Forest Brownie Cake

Adapted from Martha Stewart

My gluten free friend Kelly and I have a deal. She brings me the ingredients and I bake for her. This year, she bought 20 lb. of fresh sweet cherries from the Fruit Club and promised to share them with me if I would bake her something with them. She found this recipe and asked me which ingredients I needed to make it. Most of the ingredients in this cake are very basic: chocolate, eggs, sugar … yep, I’ve got all that. The only thing I didn’t have was the cherries and the cherry brandy.

One morning I came into work and there, on my desk, was a big bag full of cherries and a brown paper bag with a bottle of cherry brandy in it. I took it home and found time to bake up Kelly’s Black Forest Brownie Cake. As I whipped the eggs for the batter, I noticed it kept growing and growing and kinda wondered along the way what kind of stuff Martha was smoking when she made this. There was NO way all that batter was going to fit in an 8-inch springform pan! I filled my 8-inch one 3/4 full and then got out my little 4 inch one too and filled that one quite a ways up too. They both poofed up even more while baking, above the top of the pan, so if I hadn’t split up the batter, I would have had a HUGE mess on my hands! (They do fall a bit after baking, but still, they need room to expand first!)

The other thing I thought is there wasn’t ANYWHERE near enough cherry sauce for all that cake. I would seriously recommend doubling the cherry sauce. It is fabulous–I made a second batch of the sauce, just because it was SO good.

After trying a slice of this decadent chocolate cake with the fabulous cherry sauce and a bit of light whipped cream, I took the rest of the cakes into work to give to Kelly. I didn’t realize she had special plans for this cake. She wanted to take it to her dad, who’s been very ill in the hospital. I hope it brought a little smile to his heart.

{Flourless} Black Forest Brownie Cake

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Yield: 1 8-inch cake + 1 4-inch cake 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the brownie cake:

• 6 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate or 4 oz. baking chocolate + 2.5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
• 13 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs – 3 separated, 1 whole
• 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
• 3 large egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the cherry sauce:

• 1 pound fresh sweet cherries
• 7 Tablespoons cherry brandy
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 – 3 Tablespoons water
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

For serving: whipped light cream

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 F. Spray a large springform pan with cooking spray (or one 8-inch + 1 3-inch pan) and set aside.
2. Break up the chocolate into pieces and put in a microwaveable bowl with the butter. Microwave on high for 90 seconds, then stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds and stir again. Repeat until all the butter and chocolate are melted. Set aside.
3. Get a large and a medium mixing bowl out. Separate the eggs, putting 6 egg whites in the medium bowl and 1 whole egg plus 3 egg yolks in the large bowl.
4. Add 1/3 cup sugar to the egg whites in the medium bowl and beat them until they are stiff and shiny, about 4 minutes.
5. In the large mixing bowl, beat the rest of the sugar, 3 egg yolks and whole egg with the vanilla extract with an electric mixer on high for about 5 minutes. The mixture should be thick and creamy and light yellow in color.
6. Gently fold the melted chocolate into the large bowl with the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the egg whites. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s), making sure to only fill the pans 2/3 – 3/4 full because this cake will rise while baking. Set the pans in the oven and bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the top is crackly and the middle is of the cake is set.
7. While the cake is baking, make the cherry sauce: pit the cherries with a cherry pitter or cut them sideways and pull the stems and pits out. Set the cherries in a medium saucepan with the brandy and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes or until the cherries start to soften and release their juices. In a small bowl, whisk the water with the cornstarch and add in a thin stream to the cherry mixture, stirring constantly. Cook a few more minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to thicken. If it gets too thick, add more brandy or water to thin. Stir in the vanilla.
8. Serve slices of the cake with the cherry sauce and whipped cream on top.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at Tasty Tuesdays, Wonderfully Creative Wednesdays, Cast Party Wednesday, Thursday Favorite Things, Let’s Get Real Friday, Freedom Fridays with All my Bloggy Friends, The Weekend Retreat, Hearth & Soul Bloghop, Moonlight & Mason Jars, City of Links and The Gathering Spot.