Last Seduction: Chocolate Seduction Cake Recipe from Essential Baking Company
Saturday, October 17, 2009 
Several years ago when I was first considering making a move from New York City to Seattle, a friend offered some wise advice to help me make the decision: "before you make any rash decisions, make sure you find a good bakery there." Sage advice indeed.
I didn't exactly follow the advice though. I didn't find one bakery: I found three.
The first three bakeries I visited in Seattle--in order--were Cinnamon Works, Macrina Bakery and Essential Baking. This was basically a triple play of delicious: two weeks later, I lived in Seattle. And all three bakeries have a sweet spot in my heart.
So when one of those first bakeries I ever visited--Essential Baking--offered to share one of their recipes, I knew it was going to be good.
Called "Chocolate Seduction Cake", this flourless cake is pure decadence--redolent with rich chocolate flavor--while still maintaining a delicate crumb which isn't quite brownie or fudge, but definitely cake. It's great all by itself, but it's even better with whipped cream, ice cream, or (best of all) prettily decorated with pink buttercream frosting and decorative sliced almonds (an idea I picked up when I judged a pie contest!).
Chocolate Seduction Cake
-adapted from Essential Baking Co. in Seattle -
Serves 8-10 generously
- 10 ounces Belcolade chocolate (that's the brand Parisian Star uses; a high
- quality dark chocolate could be subbed)
- 5 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ounce cognac
- 6 egg yolks
- 6 egg whites
- 3/4 cup sugar, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Line 9x9" cake pan with parchment paper and grease
- Gently melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler; set aside.
- Whip egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add cognac to chocolate and butter mixture and fold very gently into whipped egg yolks and sugar.
- Whip egg whites with 1/4 cup sugar and salt until soft peaks form, then fold into the chocolate and egg yolk mixture.
- Fill the cake pan 3/4 full.
- Bake for about 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
- If desired, let cool completely and then frost with pink (really, pink is best) vanilla buttercream (I used the one in the latter half of this recipe).
Reader Comments (11)
That's excellent advice your friend gave you. My recent trip to Seattle really had me thinking about maybe trying to move there. It's so lovely. And with treats like this, how could you not be there?
I absolutely love Seattle and it is the place I would live if I were ever to move. That chocolate cake might even be enough to make me pack my bags!
Wow! Yum & its GF? Looks perfect to me =D.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! My mother-in-law was recently diagnosed with celiac. At 83, it is hard to hear her say that there just isn't anything she can eat that she loved. I'm going to share this cake with her and hopefully brighten her day.
Flourless chocolate cakes are my absolute favorites. I am trying out this recipe immediately.
Thank you for posting it!
Cognac... Now that's a flourless chocolate with a twist I could try :)
Flourless cakes are so rich and dense- I love them. The addition of cognac must boost it to the ultra fabulous level! I don't think anyone in my house can wait for me to frost it!
Anything with almonds is better. I think your next calendar should come w/ such fun pieces of advice. Bakeries are, after all, what makes daily city exploration fun.
Oh. My Goodness. We've made this twice now - first for my GF mother's birthday, and now were just looking for any excuse!
It is CRAZY. Possibly the most expensive cake ever, maybe the most unhealthy (although dark chocolate is supposed to be good for the heart... Hey, cancels out the butter :P) but probably the best cake ever!
A few words of warning though - it is SO rich that any more than one slice at a time gives you the twitches all evening, and make sure you have as much ice-cream as cake. Also, be sure to leave it to cool and set before removing it from the tin or it crumbles everywhere.
Best served warm with ice-cream.
Love it!
This sounds terrific! Just two quick questions ... When you say "dark chocolate" ... should it be [dark bitter-sweet]? or dark [semi-sweet]? or would [Belcolade Belgian Chocolate - Cocoa Mass Discs, "Noir Absolu - Ebony", 99.5% Cocoa] constitute well?
I can't wait to try this one so I look forward to hearing from you!
I took it to mean aprox 75-90% coco, which worked for me. 'Dark' generally means semi-sweet, and good quality hints towards high coco content. That amount of 99.5 and you probably wouldn't sleep for a week!