SHF #27 : chocolate by brand : individual butterless chocolate cakes

This is my first participation to Sugar High Friday, a blogging game created by Jennifer, the Domestic Goddess, and this time organized by David Leibovitz, Un Américain à Paris, lover of good food and chocolate connaisseur. David invited us to make a chocolate dessert using a brand we'd proceed to describe.

Living in France, I sometimes use Cémoi organic and fair trade dessert chocolate, which isn't always available where I shop. It is really great for baking as it has 64% cocoa and also gives me a good conscience, which is perfect when one idulges in a piece of chocolate heaven...

OK, I'll confess I also use Nestlé, which I'm told isn't so conscience-absolving. I particularly appreciate their dessert milk chocolate, also to be eaten as is, as it is rich in cocoa and not overly sweet, perfect for chipping. They also have a good strong(er) dessert chocolate (Corsé, the dark brown) which is better than their regular one.

But on to today's chocolate, Lindt Dessert 70% cocoa. I feel grateful for Lindt because their chocolate is generally good and is made according to high standards, without being too pricey (at least in France). I sometimes use their Dégustation chocolate in desserts too, as some famous TV cooks advise us (wink in the general direction of Nigella and Jamie). But they have created this dessert chocolate a few years ago, and it is less powerful than the degustation one, but still has a strong cocoa flavour and isn't very sweet. It has a great texture when melted and gives a good chocolate flavour to any dessert without the slight hint of acidity of its slender brother. It is a bit cheaper too and comes in 200g bars.

I have chosen a recipe from Show Chocolat by Estérelle Payany, fellow blogger and cookbook author. I have halved the proportions and used individual tartlet tins as there were only three of us. I have added some candied orange peel and served these babies with a basic orange and cinnamon salad.
This is a great recipe when you have no scales, as Ester informs us, since you use the crème fraîche pot to measure the other ingredients as well, like you do to make a yogurt cake with children. It has no butter, so is very light in texture and perfect as a pudding. I made it even lighter using low-fat (15%) crème.

All you need is:

150g chocolate, melted
a 200ml tub of crème fraîche
4 eggs, separated
a tubful of sugar
a tubful of flour
half a sachet baking powder

optional : candied peel, diced

Preheat the oven on 180°C.
Pour the crème into a mixing bowl, and add the egg yolks. Beat to mix.
Rinse the tub out, dry it and add the sugar, then the flour and baking powder to the crème, beating in between additions. Add the peel if using.
Now whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt or a splash of plain vinegar until firm (or until you lose patience, your KA won't help much if you halve the protortions and only have two whites...)
Add the whites to the batter and pour into a prepared tin. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes (less if using individual shapes), an inserted tester should come out relatively clean.

The oranges I just peeled and sprinkled with cinnamon. The cakes were tender yet firm, the crust slightly crunchy. This was delicious, but I doubt it keeps well. That shouldn't be a problem though;). Thanks Ester for the recipe, and thanks David for organizing this round of SHF.