Kyra, my ten year old granddaughter, is becoming quite the chef. She is a devoted Food Network watcher and loves to help her Mom in the kitchen.  I recently made a visit to her home in New Jersey  and while her parents we out, we got to baking. I adored spending time with her this way and we were proud of our finished product.

Since I attempt to stay gluten free, I brought a recipe for a flourless chocolate cake which I found online from Viking River Cruises. We assembled the ingredients and got out both the mixer and the food processor.

Other than using many bowls, the preparation was fairly simple: pulverize some of the nuts, melt the chocolate in the microwave and beat in the eggs one at a time.  The batter was firm, loaded with both ground and chopped walnuts. We baked our cake in a springform pan as directed, and had no problems with sticking.

After it cooled, we sprinkled on confectioner’s sugar and topped it with fresh raspberries.  We decided the cake would taste best from the refrigerator. We also think it should be served with vanilla ice cream as it is very dense and rich in chocolate.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

From Viking River Cruises

Ingredients

• 6 T unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 C walnut pieces
• 3/4 C & 1 T walnuts, chopped
• 8 oz dark chocolate, chopped
• 3 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 C granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Garnish
• Chocolate shavings
• Raspberries with sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
2. Grease an 8-inch springform pan with a small amount of butter and set aside.
3. Place 2/3 C of walnuts in work bowl of a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground. Set aside.
4. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high in a microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring between intervals, until chocolate has melted and is smooth. Set aside.
5. In a medium bowl stir together cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
6. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture has turned pale and creamy, about 5 minutes. Spoon in chocolate and vanilla and beat until just blended. Fold in ground walnuts, chopped walnuts, and cocoa powder mixture.
7. Pour into prepared springform pan and bake until cooked through, about 35 minutes.
8. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
9. Run a small knife around edge before releasing sides of springform pan.
10. Serve at room temperature and garnish with chocolate shavings and raspberries in raspberry sauce. (We just used fresh raspberries.)

The recipes claims it makes 8-10 servings, but you could get at least 12 servings. This is a rich cake!

Store it in the refrigerator- it keeps well.

I suspect the perfect location to eat it is on a Viking River Cruise, but that wasn’t an option!