Can I Have Another Piece of Aperol Flourless Chocolate Cake?

Any time is a good time for chocolate cake. Remember that Crowded House song from the 90’s, Can I have another piece of chocolate cake? My friend Jen and I played that song over and over again the summer we were fearless and fifteen. Chocolate cake has no season…it’s good ANY time of year.

The great thing about this time of year is that when you’re snowed-in…your pantry is most likely full of the staples that you need to make a chocolate cake.

When I told my husband that I had an idea to put a few tablespoons of Aperol (my favorite liqueur) in my batter…he said, “Are you sure about that?” “YES,” I said! I was absolutely positive that chocolate and orange go beautifully together and that Aperol would make the perfect accompaniment to my flourless concoction. I just knew it would work!

While you’re inspecting your pantry (and bar) to see if you have all the supplies you need to make Aperol Flourless Chocolate Cake, enjoy some of these classic chocolate scenes from Julie and Julia, Sex and the City and I Love Lucy to get you excited for that first chocolatey bite!

THIS scene from Sex and the City is one of my favorites. Miranda can’t stop herself from eating her homemade chocolate cake and decides to throw the cake in the trash. Best line…”Your good friend Miranda has just taken a piece of cake out of the garbage and eaten it. You will probably need this information when you check me into the Betty Crocker Clinic!”

You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say “nothing” I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It’s such a comfort.

After Ricky and Fred get upset about the girls’ spending, Lucy and Ethel go to work in a candy factory while the boys do the housework. Lucy and Ethel are stuffing their faces and clothing with chocolates while trying to keep up with a speedy conveyor belt.

http://youtu.be/8NPzLBSBzPI

Aperol Flourless Chocolate Cake

8 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter
3 T Aperol
1 1/4cups sugar
6 large eggs, separated
1 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
confectioners sugar for dusting

Put rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350. Generously butter 10 inch spring form pan. Butter and flour the pan.
Chop chocolate in small pieces and melt with butter over very low flame, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, Aperol and vanilla. Let cool for 5 minutes, then add egg yolks, one at a time. Sift cocoa and salt over chocolate mixture and whisk to combine.
In standing mixer, beat egg white at high speed until peaks form but are not yet stiff (you can add a tablespoon more sugar here to help it along). Gently fold into chocolate mixture using a spatula until evenly combined.
Pour batter into pan and bake 35-40 min or until cake forms thin crust on top. Remove before its sides move from pan.
Cool for ten minutes, invert on a plate then reinvert on cooling rack. If you have a little audience of children that can’t wait…don’t even bother inverting the cake.
Let cool completely before sifting powdered sugar over top.

Go on and ask, “Can I have another piece of chocolate cake?” You know the answer will be yes!