Amaro-Chocolate Cloud Cake

Name: Amaro-Chocolate Cloud Cake
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 4 h
Yield: 8 - 10 serving(s)
Ingredients: 3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan; 1 c. sugar, divided, plus more for pan; 8 oz. best-quality bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped; 5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature; 2 tbsp. amaro; 1 tsp. kosher salt

This gorgeous flourless chocolate cake is made to puff up, and then collapse like a cloud.

By Anna StockwellPublished: Oct 31, 2022

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Becky Luigart-Stayner

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Yields:

8 - 10 serving(s)

Prep Time:

30 mins

Total Time:

4 hrs

“A signature recipe of the late [cookbook author] Richard Sax, this flourless cake is made with separated eggs so that the cake puffs and then collapses like a cloud," says Anna Stockwell, author of For the Table: Easy, Adaptable, Crowd-Pleasing Recipes. "My version is simpler than the classic, and a little denser. It’s my go-to birthday cake, and I like to flavor it with a shot of amaro, which lends a pleasantly haunting bitter spice to the chocolate. You can sub brandy, or swap in vanilla extract for a milder, classic flavor.”

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Ingredients

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup sugar, divided, plus more for pan
8 oz. best-quality bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. amaro
1 tsp. kosher salt

Directions

1. Step 1Preheat oven to 350°F with the rack in the middle position. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter and sugar the sides of the pan.
2. Step 2Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over a pot of gently simmering water (the bowl shouldn’t touch the water). Cook, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until melted. Remove bowl from heat and stir in butter until smooth. Whisk together egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in a separate bowl just until combined. Slowly whisk in warm chocolate mixture. Whisk in the amaro and salt.
3. Step 3Whisk egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until foamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until glossy, soft peaks form that hold their shape but aren’t quite stiff, 4 to 6 minutes. Very gently fold a quarter of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top.
4. Step 4Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the top is puffed and cracked and the center is no longer wobbly, 30 to 40 minutes. Be careful not to bake the cake beyond this point. Cool in pan on a wire rack. (The center of the cake will sink as it cools, forming a sort of crater.). Release spring, and remove sides of pan.