A little earlier this year, I was tinkering around with a flourless chocolate cake recipe. Fast-forward a few months, and I was trying to think of a fun way to make a chocolate fondant-like situation. I envisioned this dainty but tall chocolate cake, similar to a molten lava cake, but firmer. I wanted this to be an item that could be served at a cafe, ideally with a latte or earl grey tea. While I do own smaller baking ramekins, I wanted the cakes to have a very distinct, but fancy-looking shape. And while rummaging through my equipment shelves, I realized that I purchased these silicone canele molds years ago, and basically used them once and never again. A canale is a French pastry, similar to a custard, that is based in this slightly taller, grooved mold, resulting in these spongy, custardy, almost cake-like confections that are really caramelized on the exterior. I still remember having a canele for the first time at Melisse restaurant in Santa Monica, and literally having no clue what they were or what they were supposed to taste like. In the case of this recipe, these are strictly flourless chocolate cakes. I baked them in a canele mold, just because I like the appearance, but they are not caneles nor would I claim that they are(I don’t need the French to cancel me like that).

This recipe is pretty simple in terms of actual ingredients used. They are 100% gluten-free, relying strictly on chocolate and eggs to firm up/set the cakes. I do use semi sweet and dark chocolate in my batter, but if you want to use all semi-sweet, take out 1/4 cup of the sugar, and if you want to use all dark chocolate, add 2 more tbsp sugar. I use silicone canele molds specifically, because then I can freeze my cakes solid, and then unmold them easily without accidentally smushing down or hammering the cakes during that process. The end result was fudgy, rich, and perfect with whipped cream or ice cream. You can definitely eat these on their own, but if you do not like dense, chocolate cake, these might be almost too much on their own. That being said, the end result hit the nail on the head in terms of what I was aiming for from an aesthetic standpoint(besides a small air pocket that formed in each cake due to baking at too long at too high of a heat, but I scaled the below recipe to account for/prevent that from happening for yours!). These are a relatively quick bake, but since unmolding the cakes require you to freeze them solid for easier unmolding, I’d recommend making these the day before you intend to serve them.

Makes 8 flourless chocolate cakes:
7oz dark chocolate
7oz semi sweet chocolate
6tbsp unsalted butter
3 eggs
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
a pinch of salt

Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter. Once the chocolate and butter are melted and mixed together, keep the bowl warm. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt until frothy and combined. Fold the egg mixture into the melted chocolate to form your batter. Line 8 silicone canele molds with melted butter. Divvy the batter between the molds. Bake the cakes at 375 degrees F for 12 minutes. Freeze the cakes solid and unmold while still frozen to keep the shape of the cakes intact.