Chocolate Tart with Walnuts and Coffee Cream

This crustless tart defies logic. It manages to taste as light like a sponge cake and as fudgy as a brownie all at the same time. The magical mixture, laced with toasted walnuts, spotlights the intensity of bittersweet chocolate, as do the chocolate-cherry glaze and coffee whipped cream.

Makes: One 8-inch cake for 10 to 12
Prep: 45 minutes
Total: 1½ hours, plus cooling

Ingredients:

Chocolate Tart with Walnuts and Coffee Cream:

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
All-purpose flour, for dusting
4 1⁄2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably 70 percent cocoa solids, chopped
5 large eggs, at room temperature
3⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2⁄3 cup cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 cup roughly chopped walnuts, toasted
Chocolate Pedro Ximénez Glaze (recipe below)
Coffee Cream (recipe below)

Chocolate Pedro Ximénez Glaze:

1⁄2 cup Pedro Ximénez sherry
1 tablespoon sugar
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably 70 percent cocoa solids, chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Coffee Cream:

1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee, preferably
Classic Nescafé

Preperation

For the Chocolate Pedro Ximénez Glaze:

Bring the Pedro Ximénez and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Boil until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Stir in the sherry reduction and the oil until smooth.

For the Coffee Cream:

Combine the cream and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then remove from the heat.
Whisk in the coffee until it is dissolved and the cream is evenly tan in color. Refrigerate until very cold, preferably overnight.

Whisk the cold cream by hand until very soft peaks form. Use immediately.

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 325oF. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan. Dust with flour and tap out excess.

Put the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Set over a saucepan of simmering water and melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from the saucepan. Add the butter, a tablespoon at a time, and stir until very smooth and well mixed. Let cool while you beat the eggs.

Using the whisk attachment in a stand mixer on medium-high speed, beat the eggs until well blended. Add the sugar, a little at a time so it doesn’t fly everywhere. Raise the speed to high and beat until the mixture is a pale cream color and has tripled in volume.

Transfer one-third of the beaten eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk gently until smooth. Add the remaining beaten eggs and very gently fold in with a spatula until incorporated. You don’t want to deflate the mixture.

Stir the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl, then sift over the chocolate mixture. Fold in the walnuts until evenly distributed.

Spread the batter in the pan. Tap the pan against the work surface to smooth and flatten the top.

Bake until the top looks dry and cracked and barely springs back when gently pressed with your fingertip, about 35 minutes.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan. Carefully invert the cake onto the rack and remove the bottom of the pan. Cool completely.

Let the chocolate glaze cool until just warm to the touch. Slowly pour over the cake on the rack (on the smooth bottom) in a circular motion to evenly coat the top and let drip down the sides.

When ready to serve, use a warm knife to cut the cake into wedges. Top each wedge with the whipped coffee cream. Serve immediately.