Gluten Free Chocolate Snowball Cake
This rich gluten free dessert is baked in a bowl, chilled, and inverted onto a platter. Whipped cream snowflake stars get piped all over the outside. It's a surprisingly easy dessert to master. Makes one 8-inch snowball, serves 10 to 12.
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 574kcal
Ingredients
Cake:
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 cup strong coffee hot
- 1 cup less 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¾ pound 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 6 eggs lightly beaten
Frosting:
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a medium (5- to 6-cup, about 8-inch diameter) stainless steel bowl with aluminum foil so the foil overlaps the bowl 3 or 4 inches.
- Put the chocolate in a saucepan. Pour the coffee over, which will melt some of the chocolate. Place over medium-low heat, add the sugar and stir with a wire whisk to dissolve the sugar and any unmelted chocolate. Add the butter gradually, a dollop at a time, whisking until the butter is incorporated before adding the next dollop. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Slowly whisk the beaten eggs into the chocolate mixture. Pour through a strainer into the foil-lined bowl. Discard any firm bits of egg that remain in the strainer. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, until the batter rises and a cracked top crust forms. The mixture will still jiggle like molded gelatinr. (Resist the urge to bake it a little more-- the butter and chocolate will be solid when cold.)
- Let the cake cool. Fold the overlapping foil over the top, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, keeping the cake in the bowl.
To frost and serve:
- Remove the plastic wrap from the bowl. Pull the overlapping foil away from the cake. The cake will have fallen in the center--to make the top flat and even, press the raised outer edges down. Or trim the extra height with a knife, reserving the scraps for indulgent snacks. Place a flat serving plate or cardboard circle over the bowl and invert. Gently remove the foil.
- Whip the cream with the sugar and the vanilla until the cream comes to soft peaks that hold their shape. Put the cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe stars, covering the dome completely.
Nutrition
Calories: 574kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 47g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 185mg | Sodium: 49mg | Potassium: 230mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 1279IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 2mg