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murphnduff
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Prepare your pan: Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line the bottom of a 6-inch springform pan with 2 ½-to-3-inch sides [I’m using this] with parchment paper and coat the sides lightly with butter or nonstick spray. If you’re worried the springform may be leaky, wrap the outside of the pan tightly with a piece of foil. Place on a baking sheet.
Make the batter: Melt the chocolate and butter together in a large bowl in a microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each, or with the bowl set above a pot of barely simmering water on the stove. Remove from heat and whisk in half the sugar (¼ cup or 50 grams), the salt, and the cognac. Whisk in the yolks one at a time until smooth.
In a medium-large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until thickened like loose whipped cream then gradually add remaining ¼ cup (50 grams) sugar, beating the whole time, until soft peaks form. Spoon about ¼ of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and whisk them in; this lightens the batter. Add remaining egg whites to chocolate mixture, gently folding them in until there are no egg white streaks remaining.
Bake the cake: Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the center is domed, only moves slightly when the pan is wiggled, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out batter-free (some gooey crumbs are fine). Transfer to a cooling rack and while you can cool it completely in the pan, I’m convinced you get better flakes on top if you loosen the springform sides when it’s halfway cooled. First run a knife around the sides to loosen the cake anywhere it’s stuck. The cake deflates as it cools and the center will sink slightly.
To serve and/or make ahead: I prefer this cake fully cold so I transfer it to the fridge to cool the rest of the way, about an hour or two. Dust with powdered sugar and serve in small wedges with cream and berries, if you wish. Cake keeps for a week in the fridge, although this is inconceivable to us, and longer in the freezer.
Notes:
Can I use a non-springform 6-inch cake pan with shorter (i.e. 2-inch) sides? Yes-and-no. Yes, you can. I tested it several times. But the cake mushrooms over the top of the pan, meaning that while it hasn’t spilled over for me, it still could. But mostly what happens is that the edges of this muffin top become more dry and want to break off the cake, and you don’t get the same nice flaky-topped texture you see here.
Is bittersweet (72%-ish) or semisweet (60%-ish) better here? Both work. While I’m not a big fan of super-bitter chocolate cakes, since there’s less chocolate here than most flourless cakes, it can definitely handle more bitter chocolate without making a bitter cake.
Can I beat the egg whites by hand? You could! It’s definitely a big arm workout but I believe in you. (Not me, you.)
Can I double this? Absolutely. For a bigger cake for bigger celebrations, you can bake it in a 9-inch springform. It should take 35 to 40 minutes.
Source note: While it’s not where I started with this recipe [I took a flourless chocolate cake I liked, reduced the chocolate and separated the eggs, as I do here], this cake turns out to share a lower-chocolate, high-lift camaraderie with Richard Sax’s wonderful Chocolate Cloud Cake — consider this a hat tip of appreciation!