Chocolate Soufflé Cake

Total Time: 3 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 2 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 8 ounces unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 8 eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• powdered sugar

Recipe

• 1 position oven rack 1/3 up from the bottom of the oven; preheat to 300°.
• 2 butter a 10-inch bundt pan; then sprinkle granulated sugar all over the pan; shake the pan to coat it thoroughly with sugar, and invert it over a piece of paper and tap to shake out excess.
• 3 then sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of sugar evenly in the bottom of the pan; set aside.
• 4 coarsely chop the semisweet chocolate and place in the top of a large double boiler over hot water on medium heat.
• 5 cut up the butter, and add it and the oil to the chocolate; cover and let cook until almost completely melted.
• 6 then stir, or whisk, until completely melted and smooth; remove from the hot water.
• 7 in a bowl, stir the yolks a bit with a wire whisk just to mix.
• 8 then gradually, in a few additions, whisk about half of the hot chocolate mixture into the yolks, and then, off the heat, add the yolks to the remaining hot chocolate mixture and mix together (the mixture will thicken a bit as the heat from the chocolate cooks the eggs).
• 9 add in the sugar and vanilla; stir to mix; set aside.
• 10 in the large bowl of an electric mixer, add the salt to the egg whites; beat until the whites hold a point but are not stiff or dry.
• 11 fold a few large spoonfuls of the whites into the chocolate mixture.
• 12 then add the chocolate mixture to the whites and fold together gently only until incorporated.
• 13 gently turn the mixture into the prepared pan.
• 14 bake for 2 ¼ hours; during baking the cake will rise and then sink; it will sink more in the middle than on the edges; that is as it should be.
• 15 remove from the oven and without waiting, cover the cake with an inverted serving plate.
• 16 hold the pan and the plate firmly together, and turn them over.
• 17 the sugar coating in the pan forms a crust and the cake will slide out of the pan easily.
• 18 serve while still hot; if desired, cover the top of the cake generously with powdered sugar, sprinkling it on through a fine strainer held over the cake; brush excess sugar off the plate.
• 19 *when cutting the cake it will crumble a bit as you cut through the bottom crisp crust; don’t try to cut thin slices; do try to cut with a serrated knife.
• 20 *may top with chilled whipped cream.