Chocolate Cake with Ganache Glaze

So if you took it upon yourself to make that rich, decadent, and oh-so-easy ganache that we posted about a few days ago, but you were wondering just what to do with it... well, look no further. This is just the chocolate cake that would love a heaping helping of ganache glaze.

Susan Loomis called this chocolate pound cake, or quatre quarts au chocolat, in her French Farmhouse Cookbook, but it little resembles a poundcake to us. It comes closer to a flourless chocolate cake in its rich chocolate flavor. It really is moist, satisfying, and rather impressive.

We made the delicious (and did I mention easy??) ganache the day before. A quick reheat and it was ready to be poured over the cooled cake at a moment's notice.

I think we may have underbaked the center of this cake just a wee bit, but fortunately the cake didn't suffer. Instead, it was a little like a molten chocolate cake. Hmmm... Now I'm feeling sad that I have no leftovers!

Chocolate Cake with Ganache Glaze

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• pinch of sea salt

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature, separated

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1/2 batch ganache

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan, place it inside, and butter and flour it as well.

2. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl.

3. In a large bowl, beat together egg yolks with all but 1 tablespoon of the sugar until they are foamy and pale yellow and have doubled in volume. Beat in the vanilla extract. Sprinkle the flour and cocoa mixture over the egg yolk mixture and whisk it in quickly until it is just mixed.

4. Add the butter bit by bit, beating continuously, until all is combined.

5. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites with the pinch of salt until they are white and foamy but still quite liquid. Gradually sprinkle the reserved 1 tablespoon sugar into the egg whites, whisking constantly until they are whiter and slightly firmer, but still this side of forming soft peaks.

6. Fold one fourth of the egg whites into the batter. Then add the remaining whites and fold in until they are fully incorporated.

7. Turn the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven until the cake springs back when touched, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes, then loosen the edge of the springform pan. After 15 minutes, remove the cake from the pan and let cool thoroughly on a wire rack.

8. If ganache has been refrigerated, warm gently in saucepan until smooth and liquid-y. Put cake on rack over a rimmed cookie sheet. Pour warm ganache over center cooled cake and push towards edges with a spatula so that ganache coats the top and sides of cake evenly. Let cool in fridge until firm.