Chocolate Idiot Cake

🥘 Ingredients

• butter (200gr, salted or unsalted, cut into pieces)
  7 ounces
• chocolate (bittersweet or semisweet, 290gr, coarsely chopped)
  10 ounces
• cocoa powder (unsweetened, for preparing the cake pan)
• eggs (large, at room temperature)
  5
• sugar (200gr)
  1 cup

🍳 Cookware

• springform pan
• bowl
• cake pan
• baking pan
• roasting pan
• cooling rack

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC).
2. 2

   butter a 9-inch (23cm) springform pan and dust it with cocoa powder , tapping out any excess. Wrap the outside with aluminum foil, in several layers if necessary (see headnote), making sure it goes all the way up to the outer rim.

   butter: 7 ounces (200gr, salted or unsalted, cut into pieces), cocoa powder (unsweetened, for preparing the cake pan)
3. 3

   Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler (or microwave), stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat.

   chocolate: 10 ounces (bittersweet or semisweet, 290gr, coarsely chopped)
4. 4

   In a large bowl , whisk together the eggs and sugar , then whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth.

   eggs: 5 (large, at room temperature), sugar: 1 cup (200gr)
5. 5

   Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and cover the top of the cake pan snugly with a sheet of foil. Put the springform pan into a larger baking pan , such as a roasting pan , and add enough hot water to the baking pan to reach halfway up to the outside of the cake pan.
6. 6

   Bake the cake for about ⏱️ 1 hour and ⏱️ 15 minutes . It should feels just set in the center, like quivering chocolate pudding. If you gently touch the center, your finger should come away almost clean.
7. 7

   Lift the cake pan from the water bath and remove the foil. Let cake cool completely on a cooling rack .
8. 8

   When cool, serve thin wedges of this very rich cake at room temperature, with crème anglaise,
9. 9

   ice cream
10. 10

    , or whipped cream. It could also be served with a drizzle of
11. 11

    chocolate sauce
12. 📝

    Storage: This cake can be wrapped and chilled in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

13. 📝

    Note: I often get asked about how to remove a cake like this from a springform pan. You can dip a chef’s knife in very hot water and slide it under the cooled cake to remove it from the bottom of the pan. But I generally use my glass-bottomed springform pan, since I don’t need to wrestle the cake from the bottom of the pan for serving.