Commercial Hardware and Techniques (part 5) - Cream Whippers - 30-Second Chocolate Cake

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt:

4 oz (113g) chocolate (bittersweet preferably)

Add and thoroughly whisk together:

4 large (240g) eggs

6 tablespoons (80g) sugar

3 tablespoons (25g) flour

Pass the mixture through a strainer to remove any lumps and to filter out the chalazaes (the little white strands that attach the yolk to the egg white). Transfer to whipper and pressurize.

Spray mixture into a greased glass, ramekin, or whatever microwave-safe container you will cook it in, leaving at least the top third of the container empty. The first time you do this, I recommend using a clear glass so that you can see the cake rise and fall as it cooks.

Microwave for 30 seconds or until the foam has set. Flip onto a plate and dust with powdered sugar.

Powdered sugar is the bacon of the pastry world. It goes well with almost everything and is great for covering up things like tears or holes—in this case, covering up the Nutella filling.

For better-tasting results, try adding Nutella or Fluff: spray a thin layer of cake batter, drop a spoonful of filling into the center, and then spray more cake batter on top of and around the filling.

Note:

After cooking, cover in chocolate and do a small loopy white icing thing on the top, and you’ve got something close to commercial cream-filled cupcakes.

Notes

• Try spraying a thin layer of the batter onto a plate and cooking that. Peel it off the plate, coat the top with a layer of jam or whipped cream, and roll it up to create a log-shaped chocolate treat.

• To be fair, you can do a close approximation without using a whipper. Search online for “microwave chocolate cake.” I find that the iSi Whipper version produces a more uniform, spongier cake, though.

Unbaked: nonwhipped (left) and whipped (right).

Baked: nonwhipped (left) and whipped (right).