Grapefruit raspberry flourless chocolate cake

So many changes have been happening behind the scenes here at DfB that I've been waiting and waiting to have time to properly write about, but alas--that is all going to have to wait again for another post. Today, however, I'm being a good blogger: here's a recipe for Valentine's Day (or, you know, any day). And uncharacteristically, I'm actually posting it before Valentine's Day has already come and gone. Ah, #thelittlevictories.

This is a (gluten-free) recipe that I developed for my monthly Anthology Magazine Blog partnership (past posts for Anthology can be found here and here). Lately, I've been finding the desserts I make to be more and more maximalist (like this set of miniature quar-tarts that I never managed to post here). Maybe it's because I find myself with so little time in the kitchen these days that when I do go and design a dessert, I feel as though it has to, you know, somehow encompass the whole world. All this of course goes against my very nature of wanting to practice restraint with desserts--too much, after all, is too much. So I'm always really thankful when my time to design a recipe for Anthology rolls around each month. Given Anthology's wonderfully restrained nature, it's the perfect external force to require me to strip down my flavor instincts to the bare beauty of "simple" complexity, to let the bold flavors of a few carefully picked ingredients shine on their own. Anyways, click through to Anthology for the recipe, more description about the recipe, and more photos.

In the meantime, I'm really hoping to be able to steal some time somewhere to wrap up 2013 and talk about all of the big changes that have been going on already in the short time that has been 2014. Hopefully soon!

Read on for recipe....

Grapefruit raspberry flourless chocolate cake

Makes one 9-inch round cake

12 oz. (340 g) bittersweet chocolate (68-72%), chopped

1 cup + 2 Tbspn (228 g) coconut oil

½ tspn salt

¾ cup + ¼ cup sugar

6 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tspn vanilla extract

3-4 medium grapefruit

1 oro blanco

1 punnet raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with a parchment paper round.

Combine the chopped chocolate and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over simmering water. Stir just until melted and combined. Remove from heat, stir in salt and ¾ cup sugar. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until light. Gradually add the remaining ¼ cup sugar and continue whisking until the mixture is very frothy. Mix in the vanilla extract.

Slowly pour the melted chocolate into the eggs, stirring constantly. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Place the cake pan into a hot water bath, with the water reaching about half-way up the sides. Cover the top of the pan tightly with foil.

Bake the cake for 75 to 80 minutes, until the cake appears set and your finger comes away clean when you lightly touch the top. Remove the cake from the oven and from the water bath. Let cool completely on a wire rack. (The cake will shrink away from the edges when it cools.)

Right before serving, segment the grapefruits and oro blanco and arrange the segments on top of the cake. Add raspberries.

Chocolate cake is an adaptation inspired by David Lebovitz’s chocolate orbit cake from Room for Dessert.