My Favourite Cake : Flourless Hot Chocolate Cake

          This week has been exceptionally cold and sunny here in Vancouver- cold enough that none of us want to go outside and sunny enough to make me want to nest- add in The Boy's birthday yesterday and you have a recipe for crazy amounts of baking. This week is Birthday week- first The Boy, then Lovely Cousin Laura's, then the Mr.'s followed up by mine- yup it's a busy week potentially full of cake- so I like to mix things up a bit and make unconventional birthday treats- like our favourite Hot Chocolate cake!

Flourless Hot Chocolate Cake

  1/2 cup of unsalted butter

-plus extra for greasing tin

3 tablespoons chickpea flour

1/2 cup of sugar

10 ounces semi sweet chocolate

4 large eggs

1 extra yolk

a pinch of salt

1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

- set over at 375 degrees

- generously butter, flour and sugar a spring form pan

- in a double boiler situation place chocolate and butter- stirring occasionally until smooth

- remove from heat and let cool- about 5 min

- meanwhile in the mixer add eggs, extra yolk, sugar, vanilla or almond extract and salt

     - set mixer at a high speed and beat until volume of mixture doubles and becomes foamy

- stir in the 3 tablespoons of chickpea flour into chocolate mixture

- gradually add the chocolate into the egg- with the mixer set on low- beat until chocolate is fully incorporated

- pour into springform pan

- bake anywhere from 30-40 min- the longer you bake it the less gooey the centre will be

- we like like this cake sprinkled with icing sugar and topped with a dollop of whipped cream

- stay warm and enjoy!

* alternatively you can bake this cake in individual ramekins- if that is the way you chose to go bake for 13- 17 minutes at the same temp.

         Friends it is Friday again- we are celebrating The Boy tomorrow with a fun movie party- complete with ice cream cake, pop corn and a crazy amount of kids. Monday is Family Day in BC so we have big plans to assemble a Lego set containing 1007 pieces- wish us luck! Happy Friday Friends!