Fudgy Chocolate Cake
on Dec 10, 2021, Updated Jan 18, 2025
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A moist, fudgy middle lies under a crackling top providing a lovely contrast of textures. Top with confectioners' sugar, or whipped cream and berries.
Mon Gateau au Chocolat
All of us have certain recipes that are deeply embedded in our lives, for various reasons. This fudgy chocolate cake it one of them. It comes from a wonderful cookbook called Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells, a cookbook I was obsessed with for some time. This cake was EVERYTHING. And after being away from it for many years, guess what? It still is!
In French this cake it called Mon Gateau au Chocolat, which simply translates to chocolate cake. I call it fudgy bistro chocolate cake, because that is a better description, but whatever you call it, once you make it, it will likely become a go-to cake recipe for you.
How to Make Fudgy Chocolate Cake
Because you separate the eggs, and whip the whites, this cake ends up being a bit souffle like in baking, in the sense that it rises as it bakes and falls as it cools. The top is supposed to be slightly cracked; that’s ok, and adds to its charm. The middle settles down into a moist, fudgy center, and the top sinks down into a somewhat crackly crust, providing a lovely contrast of textures.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 ½ inch deep springform pan or a deep cake pan.
Combine the chocolate, butter, and sugar in the top of a double boiler. You can make a double boiler by filling a pot with a couple inches of water, and then adding a metal or heatproof glass bowl to the top of the pot so that it is suspended over the water.
Cook over barely simmering water until everything has melted and is smooth and well combined. Set the mixture aside to cool. When the chocolate has cooled to room temperature, whisk in the egg yolks one at a time. Whisk in the flour.
Place the egg whites in a clean large bowl and beat just until the form stiff peaks; do not overbeat. Add one third of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.
Change over to a silicone or rubber spatula, then add another third of the beaten egg whites, and gently fold them in until just incorporated.
Repeat with the remaining egg whites.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is firm and springy 35 to 40 minutes.
Cool in the pan for several hours until it reaches room temperature.
Unmold from the springform pan, first running a knife around the edge, then popping open the latch, or carefully turn it out of the cake pan.
Fudgy Chocolate Cake: A moist, fudgy middle lies under a crackling top providing a lovely contrast of textures. Top with confectioners’ sugar, or whipped cream and berries.
Again, it will puff up a bit when it bakes, and then settle a bit in the middle, cracking slightly, which is just fine.
You can serve it as Wells suggests, simply dusted with confectioners’ sugar (I love this little confectioners’ sugar duster, which is tiny and so even if you don’t use it often, it gives your desserts a lovely professional finish – use a small strainer if you don’t have one of these dohickeys). Try whipped chocolate ganache for another topping option if you want to go chocolate on chocolate!
Or you can take it to the next level, with billows of sweetened whipped cream, and top with sliced strawberries as desired.
Wow, I missed this cake. Please, make this cake and let’s never forget about it again.
Other Chocolate Desserts:
- Old-Fashioned Chocolate Fudge
- Thick Chocolate Oreo Milkshake
- Chocolate Ganache
- Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
- Best One-Pot Fudgy Brownies
Other Cake Recipes:
- Devil’s Food Cake
- Banana Cake
- One Bowl Simple Vanilla Layer Cake
- Rich Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Espresso Buttercream
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Fudgy Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- 5 large eggs , separated, at room temperature
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
- Sweetened whipped cream
- Sliced fresh strawberries (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 ½ inch deep springform pan or a deep cake pan.
- Combine the chocolate, butter, and sugar in the top of a double boiler. Cook over barely simmering water until everything has melted and is smooth and well combined. Set the mixture aside to cool.
- When the chocolate has cooled to room temperature, whisk in the egg yolks one at a time. Whisk in the flour.
- Place the egg whites in a clean large bowl and beat just until the form stiff peaks; do not overbeat.
- Add one third of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Change over to a silicone or rubber spatula, then add another third of the beaten egg whites, and gently fold them in until just incorporated. Repeat with the remaining egg whites.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is firm and springy 35 to 40 minutes.
- Cool in the pan for several hours until it reaches room temperature. Unmold from the springform pan, or carefully turn it out of the cake pan. It will puff up a bit when it bakes, and then settle a bit in the middle, which is just fine.
- Dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar. Top with whipped cream and strawberries as desired.
hi there. could i use semisweet chocolate, if i already have it? should i adjust the sugar? thanks!
I would say yes, and reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup – please let me know how it turns out!