Flourless Chocolate Torte

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray an 8 inch round cake pan with non-stick pray. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Spray the paper and the sides of the pan and dust with 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder; set aside.

Place water in the bottom of a double boiler. Bring the water to a low bubble over low heat and place the empty sauce pan or double boiler top pan over the hot water pan. Add the bittersweet chocolate and butter to the pan and melt slowly. When the chocolate melts, blend in the butter until for forms a smooth mixture. Pour he chocolate mixture in a bowl to cool.

Combine the egg yolks, 4 tablespoons of the sugar, the coffee, vanilla and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix these ingredients with electric mixer on high speed for 4 minutes until the mixture is pale and thick. Slowly pour the cool chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, beating on medium speed for 1 minutes; set the mixture aside.

Using a clean bowl and mixer blades, beat the egg whites on medium high speed until the eggs are foamy. Slowly add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar to the egg whites and continue to beat until they form soft peaks. Scoop half the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture and gently blend with a large spoon. Add the remaining beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture and gently blend with a large spoon until there are no streaks remaining.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread out evenly. Bake the chocolate torte on the center oven rack for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean; don’t overcook! Cool the cake on a rack in the pan for 30 minutes. Run a knife around the rim of the cake and invert the cake onto a cake platter. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours.

Chocolate ganache icing:

Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips with the cream in a saucepan over low heat. Pour the mixture into a bowl and cool about 15 minutes. Whisk the chocolate mixture a little to thicken slightly. Remove the cake from the freezer and discard the plastic wrap. Place cake on a wire rack. Spread the chocolate ganache over the frozen cake starting from the top down. The cold cake will cause the chocolate to set quickly.