This cranberry sauce is a family favorite because it combines the brightness of orange juice and zest with the warmth of ginger, cloves, and brown sugar. Use frozen cranberries instead if you can’t locate fresh ones; boil them for an additional few minutes. Make this in advance to relieve some stress on the big day!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 10 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 9-inch cake |
Ingredients
- 18 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 4 teaspoons white sugar
- 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.
- Melt semisweet chocolate and unsalted butter together in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula, until chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Remove from heat.
- Beat eggs and sugar together in a bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer until pale and very thick, 5 to 10 minutes. Sift in flour, cayenne, and salt; whisk to combine.
- Pour 1/4 of egg mixture into chocolate mixture; stir to combine. Pour chocolate mixture into remaining egg mixture and stir until cake batter is combined. Pour batter into prepared cake pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until just barely set, with a jiggle below the surface, 14 to 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature, wrap in aluminum foil, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
- If you want to remove your cake from the pan for presentation, just set it in a pan of hot water for a minute and it will pop right out.
- Please note the addition of a raspberry coulis when using the magazine version of this recipe.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 333 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 26 g |
| Cholesterol | 103 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Sodium | 43 mg |
| Sugars | 23 g |
| Fat | 25 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I have been making this cake since 2014 and it is still the best chocolate decadence cake recipe I have come across, truly thankful Chef John!
Gross. I knew as I was making it that there was not enough sweetness being added
Delicious as usual, thank you Chef John! My oven runs a little cool, so I baked at 430 for 15 mins. This will be my go to dessert for dinner parties and special occasions. A chocolate lovers dream!
I used dark chocolate. It was brilliant!!! Very rich. Served with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. It was a hit!
This recipe is so good! The raspberry sauce is a must to pair with this dessert otherwise the chocolate is a bit too much.
This is absolutely divine! So rich and decedent yet simple to make. Recipe is so on point. Our family loved this cake so much, there were no leftovers! Thanks Chef John.
My sister-in-law has celiac disease. She invited us to dinner, so I wanted to bring a dessert she could enjoy. This is one for the ages. I would make this again and again. We gobbled it up. The four of us had no trouble eating half the cake. Yum! Chocolatey, rich and delicious with the raspberry sauce. Thanks for the tip.
Followed the exact recipe, came out perfect. Used it with raspberry sauce recipe.
YUMM!!! This is wonderful!!! As per another reviewer, I used Hershey bars for the chocolate and it came out great!!! I also made Chef John’s Raspberry Sauce (except that I used Blackberries, as we prefer them) WOW!!! Will absolutely make again and again!
Wonderful served warm with ice cream
I made it Gluten Free by replacing the regular flour with gluten free flour. I couldn’t wait to eat it so we cooled for 15 minutes, ran a knife around the pan and inverted it on a plate. Topped slices with real whipped cream. Fantastic recipe.
Made as written. Directions were spot on. Used Ghirardelli Baking Bar Semi-Sweet Chocolate which is about 50% cocoa per their website. Using an electric mixer on high settings, it took about 8 minutes to bring the egg mixture to a pale and very thick state. Whisking this mixture would seemingly take quite a bit longer and be a workout. Perhaps not a guilt free indulgence but well worth every pleasurable bite. Made the “Fresh Raspberry Sauce” to compliment this dessert, and had vanilla frozen yogurt for anyone wanting to add a scoop. Thank you, Chef John.
I make this dessert a lot, the whole family and the people I work with love it. Thanks Chef John
Perfect. Made exactly per recipe, along with the raspberry sauce. Just delightful, unexpected and flavorful. Chef John never fails me.
mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Great recipe. Everyone loved it especially the side of strawberry sorbet.
I only had 16 oz of chocolate in my pantry but I did not even adjust any of the other ingredients at all and it came out like a dream from chocolate heaven. I only had Ghirardelli chocolate which has always been a disappointment to me but it worked out wonderfully….it must have been the 10 Tablespoon butter-infusion….I mean, how can that fail?
Chef John is truly amazing. This was super easy to make and turned out perfectly. Instead of fruit, I used home made whip cream. Great recipe. Thank you!
this was soooo delish
Absolutely delicious! I thought this was restaurant quality. I served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries.
This cake is definitely rich, but since I love chocolate, I don’t mind a bit. It’s wonderful. If you’re serving it as a post-dinner dessert, maybe lighten up on the dinner.