Flourless Chocolate Cake with Creme Anglaise and Tart Cherry Sauce

Jim turned 46 on January 14. For his birthday cake, he requested a flourless chocolate cake. Generally, I find this type of dessert too rich and too chocolatey, so I usually served it with a raspberry or strawberry coulis to tame it a bit.

This year, Sam suggested I make a cherry sauce to go with it, since cherries and chocolate "just go together." I happened to have a can of sour cherries in the pantry so decided to give it a try. Meanwhile, Jim mentioned he would like a custard sauce with it, as it is sometimes served in restaurants. Being a person who has problems setting limits, the solution was simple for me—why not do them both; and whipped cream, too.

The combination of the intense chocolate flavor and richness of the cake was balanced extremely well by the bright cherry sauce and not-too-sweet custard sauce. A dollop of barely-sweetened whipped cream was a nice garnish. The boys and I also had fun coming up with interesting ways to plate the dessert.

The cake (Double Chocolate Mousse Cake) recipe is one I have been using for more than 20 years. [Doesn't it make you feel a little old when you can refer back that far and still be talking about your adulthood?] A co-worker, from my days at UVM as a research assistant, shared it with me. It is originally from Good Housekeeping, September 1989. I omitted the glaze this time. You can find the full recipe here.

Double Chocolate Mousse Cake
2 - 8 oz. packages semi-sweet chocolate squares (16 - 1 oz. squares)
2 cups butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup half-and-half 
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
8 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350.°  Grease 10” spring form pan and line it with parchment. In a saucepan heat chocolate, butter, sugar, half-and-half, vanilla, and salt over low heat until smooth and melted.

In a large bowl beat eggs slightly. Stir in chocolate mixture. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted 2” from side comes out clean (the middle will no longer be concave). Cool completely on a wire rack. When cool remove sides of pan. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 6 hours.

Tart Cherry Sauce

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbs. cornstarch

1 can Oregon Red Tart Cherries

Pinch of salt

Drain cherries, reserving the liquid. Combine cherry liquid, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil then simmer, stirring, until thickened and the color deepens. Add cherries and cook a few minutes longer.

Remove from heat and puree using a hand blender. Strain the sauce. I added a little red food coloring (and a drop of blue) because I found the color to be a bit too drab. 

Cover the sauce with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. Chill, if desired.

Vanilla Creme Anglaise (Custard Sauce)

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

7 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the yolks and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a boil. Remove from heat and whisk 1/3 of the liquid, pouring in a thin stream, into the yolks.

Pour the contents of the bowl into the saucepan and return it to medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and comes to a complete boil. Remove from heat and strain into a clean bowl. Stir in the vanilla.

Cover the sauce with plastic wrap and chill.

Adapted from a recipe from Le Bec Fin posted on the Philly Homegrown website.