Lavender Flourless Chocolate Cake, with lavender infused whipped cream
A Lavender Phase
You are going to fall in love with this light and airy, yet fudgy, rich and decadent flourless chocolate cake infused with lavender as much as I did. It only takes 6 ingredients and a bit more than an hour to prep and bake this amazing cake. The contrast of textures is what makes it so interesting; rich and decadent on the inside with a thin and crispy shell on the top. And it’s naturally gluten-free. The addition of lavender makes this cake perfect for any spring or summer gathering. And I promise the flavor is floral and mellow and perfectly balanced. Everything about this cake is sensational!
One of the things I love most about this cake is how unpretentious it is, and still it causes a commotion when it’s out of the oven and, most importantly, when someone takes a bite of it. It’s kind of unreal how a few simple ingredients mixed in two bowls by hand create such a rich and decadent texture and flavor. No layers or frostings or different components. I can imagine you making this cake at any time, as a last minute dessert or to have a quick sweet bite on the weekend.
Now let’s talk about the lavender. I’m simply obsessed with it right now. And I have to admit there was a time that I would never add lavender to my food. I understand you can want a perfume that smells like cake, but a cake that tastes like perfume? No way! Thank you very much! One day though, I discovered a whole new sealed bag of lavender that was in my kitchen. I decided it was time I tackle the whole cooking with lavender thing. Just for myself, you know, not because I needed to use that bag after I have bought it : )
The first recipe I developed was my Honey Lavender Scones. They’re super delicious and the combination of lavender and hibiscus was the highlight of the recipe. After that, I couldn’t stop thinking of the many flavors I could combine with lavender and the many ways I could add it to the recipes. Please don't get me started! So far this month I have made 3, including this cake. So don’t worry, I did the dirty job so you don’t end up with perfume tasting sweets. You are more than welcome!
Infusing heavy cream with lavender
Making infusions is a matter of layering. You need to infuse whatever you want to infuse through different steps to have the perfect taste. If you mistreat the herb, leave, seed or bark you are using you are running the risk of releasing its bitter notes and making your food taste really bad, or evaporating its essentials oils and making your food taste like nothing at all. That’s why you’ll notice in the recipe that I added lavender at different points of the cooking process, to release different notes of the lavender and infuse the cream with their particular taste.
Making lavender sugar
Making lavender sugar is a very straightforward process. You just need to mix some sugar, usually about ½ a cup, with lavender buds, between 2 to 3 tablespoons, depending on how strong or subtle you want it, in a food processor or grind both in a mortar. Rub this with 1 to 1 ½ cups of sugar and store to use in any tea, coffee or even another recipe that you want to add the lavender touch. I prefer the food processor method because it’s easier. For this recipe I grind all the needed sugar with the lavender because it’s only a bit more than ½ cup, which is the minimum amount of sugar needed to properly cut the lavender into it. Either way, always pass it through a sieve to remove large buds which can taste grassy if bitten.
How to make this Flourless Lavender Chocolate Cake
If you are going to do the Lavender Whipped Cream, I highly recommend you start by infusing the cream, because you need it to be chilled for whipping. The time to make and bake the cake is enough for the cream to chill.
Next, melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips with the butter so the mixture has time to cool down.
Follow by separating the eggs so they get to room temperature while you prep everything else. A fast way to separate eggs is to open and drop in a bowl and then scoop by hand the yolk from the bowl and transfer it to another one.
Line your springform pan with parchment paper at the bottom and rub butter through the inside walls. You can make the cake in a regular cake pan or pie dish and cut it directly from it. You can try to remove it from the pan as you would do with any other cake but you are risking crumbling the beautiful and delicate top too much.
Make the lavender sugar as stated in the recipe and as I talked about earlier.
Gather the rest of the ingredients.
Mix by hand the yolks with the chocolate mixture and add vanilla and salt.
Beat the egg whites and add the sugar gradually following the recipe instructions below.
Fold the egg whites with the chocolate mixture until batter looks homogeneous.
Transfer to pan and bake. Cool down and dust cocoa powder on top if desired. Remember that the cake will come out tall and it will deflate while loosing the heat, that’s the beauty of it.
While the cake is cooling down, strain the cream and whip it until light and fluffy for serving over cake.
So, are you ready to enter a lavender phase like me? Or are you already in it? Nevertheless, I know you are going to love this amazing cake! What do you think? Share it with me in the comments below...
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Lavender Flourless Chocolate Cake with lavender infused whipped cream
Ingredients
Lavender Flourless Chocolate Cake
◯ Butter – 6 TBSP
◯ Semi sweet chocolate chips – 12 oz (see notes)
◯ Raw sugar – ½ cup + 2 TBSP
◯ Dried edible lavender - 2 TBSP
◯ Large organic eggs – 6, separated and at room temperature (see notes for a tip on egg yolks)
◯ Vanilla extract – 1 Tsp
◯ Pinch of salt
◯ Cocoa powder for dusting after baked, optional
Lavender Whipped Cream
◯ Heavy whipping cream - 1 cup
◯ Dried edible lavender - 1 ½ TBSP, divided in 3 equal parts
◯ Confectioner’s sugar, ideally sifted - ¼ cup
Details
Yield:
a 9” springform cake pan
Total time:
2 hours
Active time:
20 minutes to prep the cake, 10 minutes to make the whipped cream
Baking time:
45 minutes
Equipment:
9” sprinform pan, stand mixer or handheld electric mixer, large bowls or double boiler, parchment paper (optional)
Steps
Prep the cream for the lavender whipped cream (if using):
Serve just ½ cup of the heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan. Add to the remaining heavy cream in the measuring cup ½ tablespoon of the lavender. Heat over medium-low heat. When it starts simmering add the second ½ tablespoon of lavender. Let it simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Let it cool down to loose the steam and then chill in the fridge for at least an hour or while you are making the cake.
To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 300°. Grease the sides and bottom of an 8” or 9” springform pan. If you have parchment paper on hand, cut a piece the same size of your pan and line the bottom.
Place a large ceramic or glass bowl over a skillet and fill the skillet half way thru with water. Melt butter in bowl. As soon as butter has melted add the 12 ounces of chocolate chips. Stir until melted. Set aside to cool down.
In the meantime, place the ½ cup plus the 2 tablespoons of sugar in the bowl of a food processor and add the 2 tablespoons of lavender. Pulse various times until most of the lavender has been finely chopped, about 10 pulses of 5 to 8 seconds. The sugar will have a very fine grain. Take care of not pulsing the sugar so much that it pulverizes. Transfer to a large bowl or deep plate and with your hands rub the sugar with the lavender for a couple of minutes. Pass sugar through a sieve to remove uncut lavender buds. Set aside.
Beat the 6 egg whites either using a stand mixer or using a hand electric mixer in medium-high speed (#6 on the Kitchen Aid) just until soft peaks form, about two minutes. Slowly add the lavender sugar while still beating, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat just until the sugar has fully incorporated and the egg whites are fluffy but still are not on the meringue stage, about a minute. Set aside.
To the now cooled down chocolate, add the 6 egg yolks, vanilla, and the pinch of salt and stir together.
Add ⅓ of the sugar-egg whites mixture to the chocolate-egg yolk mixture and very gently stir together. Add ⅓ more of the egg whites and this time gently mix in a folding motion until all the egg whites have incorporated, being careful of not deflating the whites too much. Add the remaining ⅓ of egg whites and repeat.
Pour the cake batter in the springform pan and bake for 45 minutes. Remember that at the end the cake will be tall and puffy but it will deflate and crack on top once you take it out of the oven. Let it cool down completely before releasing from the pan.
You can serve the cake in the bottom of the springform pan, placing it over a nice serving plate to prevent crumbling the cake too much. If you want, try to carefully separate the cake from the parchment paper below using a big silicon spatula or turn the cake upside down into a plate, remove the paper and then turn it over again into your serving plate.
Dust with plenty cocoa powder for serving and spoon some lavender whipped cream on top and some fresh berries if desired.
To make the lavender whipped cream:
Take the out the chilled cream and add the remaining ½ tablespoon of lavender. Stir until all lavender buds seem under the cream. Let it sit for 1 minute.
Strain the cream. If mixing with a stand mixer or hand electric mixer, use the wire attachment to beat in medium speed (#4 in the Kitchen Aid) for about two minutes, until the the cream looks thicker and fuller and wires start to leave some indentation behind. Decrease speed and slowly add the ¼ cup of sifted confectioner’s sugar while mixing, one or two tablespoons at a time. Return to original speed and beat for 1 more minute, until stiffer and indentations appear to be deeper. Do not over mix or you will end up with butter. Spoon over cake.
If doing the whipped cream by hand, use a hand whisk to beat vigorously for a few minutes, until it’s thick and bubbly and you see shallow indentations from the wires. Start adding the confectioner’s sugar, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, while gently mixing to prevent spatters. As soon as you have added all the sugar increase beating speed and mix until cream is thick and frothy. This process should take about 10 minutes.
