la bete noire

How chocolaty is too chocolaty? Tasting La Bete Noire may help you decide. The flourless chocolate cake, meaning “The Black Beast,” graced the cover of Bon Appétit in September 2006, appearing absolutely decadent. The recipe requires minimal ingredients and consists of few steps: simple syrup, butter, and chocolate are combined, cooled, mixed with eggs, and baked in a springform pan, within a water bath. Once baked and cooled, the cake is covered with a chocolate ganache and served with lightly sweetened whipped cream. I took some minor liberties in the assembly of the dessert, by applying a smooth, even layer of whipped cream on top of the entire cake and finishing it with a dusting of cocoa powder.

La Bete Noire is, without a doubt, a showstopping dessert, both for its appearance and taste. Its reception, however, depends heavily on individual tolerance of intense chocolate flavor. The cake was made with semisweet chocolate, yet the end product tasted more like 90% cacao dark chocolate. This bitterness and depth of flavor may not appeal to all palates. Furthermore, its texture (think extremely dense cheesecake) seems to magnify the cake’s incredible richness.

If you find many brownies too rich for your taste, then this cake is probably not for you. But, if you love dark chocolate and fudge, you’ll flip for La Bete Noire.

La Bete Noire
From Bon Appétit, September 2006
Makes 16 servings

Cake
1 c. water
3/4 c. sugar
9 tbs. butter, diced
18 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 large eggs

Ganache
1 c. heavy whipping cream
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

Lightly sweetened whipped cream

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 10-inch springform pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; butter parchment. Wrap 3 layers of heavy-duty foil around outside of pan, bringing foil to top of pan.

Combine water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk sugar syrup in chocolate; cool slightly. Add eggs to chocolate mixture and whisk until well blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Place cake pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come halfway up sides of pan. Bake until center no longer moves when pan is gently shaken, about 50 minutes. Remove from water bath; transfer to rack. Cool completely in pan.

For ganache:
Bring whipping cream to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. pour over top of cake still in pan. Gently shake to distribute ganache evenly. Refrigerate cake in pan until ganache is set, about 2 hours.

Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake; release sides. Either spread whipped cream in an even layer over ganache and dust with cocoa powder, or dollop with whipped cream when serving.