While we may still dream of a scrummy slice of cake from the much-loved North Melbourne bakery, Beatrix Bakes, founder and avid baker Natalie Paull has blessed us with another bake book, Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice! Pandemic burnout meant that she needed to close her bakery (which we completely stand by), but now she’s treating us with recipes on how to make super-tasty meals so we reckon it’s time for us to flex our own baking skills. In issue 118, we brought you the fig-scotti recipe (page 83) and now for our frankie fellow, we’re bringing you a delish flourless chocolate cake.This is an edited extract from Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice by Natalie Paull (Hardie Grant Books, RRP NZ$60. Available in stores nationally from 6 Mar 2023. Photographer: © Rochelle Eagle 2024

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

MAKES
A cake to serve 6–10 people.
Takes Approximately 11/2 hours to prepare and bake, then 2 hours to cool.
Keeps up to 2 days at room temperature, covered; then chill for up to a week. Can be frozen up to 3 months.

Satisfyingly fudgy (like the softest chocolate bar you ever did eat), this is my one true flourless cake love, with no gluggifying almond meal to corrupt the chocolate clarity. I have co-opted the late lactic acid addition from Bourke Street Bakery’s cake (they use yoghurt, but of course I reach for crème fraîche) to brighten up the chocolate.

Take the cake out of the oven as soon as it is baked and let it drop with more drama than Meryl. To accentuate the cocoa caldera, I pile on billowy crème fraîche whip and juicy syrupy Sumac blackberries or Spiced grilled blood plums. I also love to serve it with a generous jug of Vanilla malt crème anglaise. Even with only a bare dusting of cocoa powder, it’s another walk-by cake – I find myself trimming small slices off it each time I pass it in the kitchen until it has been whittled away (always too soon) to a plate of dark, moist crumbs.

INGREDIENTS
cooking oil spray
150 g (5½ oz) unsalted butter
140 g (5 oz) good bittersweet chocolate (50–60% cocoa)
140 g (5 oz) good milk chocolate (30%-plus cocoa)
140 g (5 oz) egg yolks (from approx. 7 eggs) + 210 g
(7½ oz) egg whites (from approx. 7 eggs)
100 g (3½ oz) dark brown sugar
2 g (1/16 oz/½ teaspoon) sea salt flakes
70 g (2½ oz) Dutch (unsweetened) cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
90 g (3 oz) crème fraîche
3 g (¹⁄₁₀ oz/heaped 1/4 teaspoon) cream of tartar
140 g (5 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Spray the base and side of a 20 cm × 7.5 cm (8 in × 3 in) round cake tin with cooking oil spray. Place 10 cm (4 in) tall baking paper strips along the tin wall, using cooking oil spray to seal the strips where they overlap. Place a snug paper circle on the base.

Make a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 5 cm (2 in) of water and bring to a low simmer on the stove. Chop up the butter and place with the chocolates in a 35 cm (133/4 in) heatproof bowl, then place over the pan. Heat until the chocolate and butter have just melted, stirring occasionally with a balloon whisk. Keep the mix warm – I usually turn the double boiler off but leave the bowl on top until I’m ready for the next step.

The temperature of the batter components is crucial: overheat the chocolate base and it will look like thick, oily lumps. You can keep using it – the cake will just bake flatter and denser. If the chocolate base is too cool, it will firm up by the time the whites are folded in, requiring more vigorous (air-killing) folding – 70°C (160°F) is ideal!

While the chocolate melts, start the egg yolk foam. Whip the egg yolks, dark brown sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric stand mixer with the whisk attachment on speed 8 (under high) for 5 minutes until pale brown and thick. If you are a one-bowl house (like me), scrape the foam out into a small mixing bowl and set aside.

Egg yolk and sugar foams are sturdy and can hold more than egg white– based ones.

Weigh the cocoa into a small bowl and set aside with a sieve for later. Weigh the crème fraîche into a container to heat it in (stovetop or microwave) and set aside for later.

Clean the stand mixer bowl well and put the egg whites and cream of tartar in. Using the whisk attachment, whip on speed 8 (under high) until the whites have changed from foamy to stiff and white – around 2–3 minutes.

Start adding the caster sugar to the whites – VERY gradually – about a heaped tablespoon every 30 seconds, so the whole process takes around 3–4 minutes. It is imperative to the success of the cake that the meringue is very stiff and shiny. Reduce to speed 1 (low) for 1 minute at the end to even out the air bubbles.

While the final sugar is being added to the meringue, return to building the chocolate base. Check your chocolate/butter mix is quite warm, then fold in the egg yolk foam. Sift over the cocoa powder and fold in. Heat the crème fraîche until melty/steamy (it doesn’t matter if it looks curdled) and fold that in too. Finally, fold in one-third of the whipped meringue. When the first addition is almost completely incorporated (still streaky), fold in the remaining meringue until very few streaks remain. Do a final fold with a clean flexible plastic spatula to eradicate any final streaks. The mix should look fluffy, like chocolate mousse. Scrape the batter carefully into the lined tin. Smooth the top with an offset spatula.

Adding the second portion of whites/meringue before it’s completely incorporated maintains more air overall. Concentrate on making the batter streak-free after the final whites addition.

Bake for 45–55 minutes. The cake is cooked when there are puffed cracks at the edges, the top is matt dark brown and a poke of the tin produces a firm-set wobble (internal temperature 80–85°C/ 176–185°F).

If you are using a skewer to test the cake, there will be batter on the skewer but it will look gooey, not liquid.

Remove from the oven and cool for a minimum of 2 hours (warm and fragile) or overnight (more set) before gently inverting the cake onto a cooling rack and then re-inverting it onto a cake stand. Dust with the extra Dutch cocoa. If leaving overnight to cool, drape a clean, dry tea towel (dish towel) over the top and leave at room temperature.

I love this cake the most when it has matured overnight. A cute little waist may form on the side of the cake if the cake is removed from the tin while too warm – totally natural as it is totally flourless. Allow the cake to cool in the tin overnight for a reduced waist.

Overcooked cake will still be servable – just send to the table with some extra cream and juicy berries. Undercooked cake should have a sturdy wall around its too gooey centre. Serve as a molten chocolate pudding cake!

ADAPTRIX
Add fruit or nuts but not almond meal
A boozy festive cake and a tribute to the brilliant Le Doris chocolate cake from Simca’s Cuisine by Simone Beck (Julia Child’s peer). Simmer (or microwave covered) 120 g (41/2 oz) chopped raisins with 120 g/ml (41/2 oz) whisky until the liquid evaporates. Whiz 100 g (31/2 oz) toasted almonds with the cocoa. Fold in the raisins and cocoa nuts just after the crème fraîche. Because of the nutty/fruity add-ins, bake it in a larger 25 cm (10 in) tin. It will take the same bake time. Top the completely cooled cake with Milk chocolate (reverse) ganache and a sprinkle of cacao nibs or more toasted almonds. Huzzah!