Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes

Oh just you wait.  Most of the day today was taken up with making this recipe and it was the best dessert EVER.  Of course that included three trips to the store to get the best chocolate available in town at the Huckleberries Health Food Market. It is shocking to spend $25.00 on chocolate and that did not include the other ingredients such as a pound of butter, a pint of cream plus other ingredients.  You see as I went along I kept thinking of ways to make this better and better.  It was amazing. 

 Later I went back to the store for three more packages to make the ganache.

Meanwhile, here's the recipe before the changes:

Found online and at the end are a few notes I made as the day went along:

From the menu of . . . McCormick and Schmick
190 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta
404-521-1236

600 Ashwood Parkway, Altanta
770-399-9900

Q: I have recently eaten at McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant. It has the most wonderful dessert. If at all possible, I would like to get the recipe for that dessert. It's called Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake With Raspberry Sauce.
- Jerrie Wright, Atlanta

A: Rex Horrell, executive chef at the restaurant at the CNN Center location, was happy to share the recipe for this dense, flourless chocolate cake. He recommends using very high-quality chocolate for best results.

Hands on time: 25 minutes (Ha!  All day is more like it) Total time: 1 hour and 25 minutes  Serves: 12 (Actually 24)

Ingredients:

2 cups (4 sticks) butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 eggs
6 egg yolks  Yes folks that IS 11 eggs in all.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees on a convection setting. In a saucepan, heat butter, milk and sugar to scalding, stirring frequently. Make sure butter is melted. Remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a bowl, whisk eggs and yolks together. Gradually whisk eggs into chocolate mixture, beating until completely combined.  (I skipped this next paragraph and used the Demarle Bouquet Tray 3 times).
Line an 8-by-2 1/2-inch springform pan with buttered parchment paper, making sure the paper circle comes up 1/2 inch on the side of the pan to seal. Pour batter into the pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. The sides will be puffy and slightly cracked. The center will be soupy but will set as it chills. Refrigerate overnight. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and release springform.

Chef Horrell bakes the cake in a convection oven. If using a conventional oven, bake at 350 degrees and add 20 to 30 minutes to the cooking time. The cake is served with a sweetened raspberry sauce

 Using great ingredients

 Including fresh eggs from our neighbor's chickens:

Today's notes:

Recipe and notes were found online and here are a few notes I made as the day went along:

Made 9-8-14 for Derrick and Kate and Ermyl.  Used Theo Chocolate because Kate cannot have Soy Lecithin.  Ermyl needs to do gluten free.  Dave needs raw dairy rather than homogenized so how do you make a high end chocolate dessert to suit all three of their diet restrictions?  Well thank goodness they can all eat eggs.  Whew!

Fill the shapes to the top…these don’t puff up. 

 Convection oven at 325 degrees for 18 minutes in Demarle bouquet tray.  Then cool for an hour before removing from tray.  Top with Ganache and whipping cream.  Then fresh Ogalala strawberries from the garden.

Ganache recipe:

3 - 3.5 ounce bars Theo's Dark Chocolate 70%

1/2 cup  plus 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream (no substitutes please)

Combine in a double boiler over hot water and heat until chocolate is melted.  Place a dollop in the center of each bouquet muffin.