Salted Flourless Chocolate Torte

I came up with this recipe, like many of my recipes, by mistake.  There were two types of butter in the fridge – one marked beurre doux, meaning “sweet,” and the other marked beurre demi-sel, or “half salted.”  Normally when making a chocolate flourless torte I would reach for the unsalted butter, but of course I happened to grab the salted butter instead.

This little mistake turned into a mystery.  Nobody could quite put their finger on the mysterious ingredient that they could taste in the torte.  Even I found a subtle flavor that I had never quite tasted before. I eventually realized that it was salt… but, in a good balancing sort of way.  The salted butter, mixed with the cassonade raw sugar, gave the torte an almost caramelly taste that worked in perfect harmony with the fine dark chocolate.

For this recipe use only the finest dark chocolate (at least 70%) and a good quality butter.  You can serve the torte while still slightly warm from the oven, but I prefer when it’s been chilled over night, becoming almost fudge-like.

Salted Flourless Chocolate Torte

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).  Butter a small cake mold (6-7 inch).

Melt the chocolate and the butter in a double boiler.  Set aside.

Using a cold metal bowl and an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they begin to thicken.  Continue to beat while gradually adding 1/4 cup sugar.  Beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks.

In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with the electric mixer.   Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until the mixture almost doubles in size and becomes a pale yellow color.  Stir in the vanilla and the chocolate/butter mixture.

With a rubber spatula, or metal spoon, gently fold a small part of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten the batter.  Fold in the remaining egg whites.  Do not over mix.

Pour the batter into the cake mold.  Bake for 30-40 minutes.  The top should be nice and cracked when finished.  Let cool before serving.