An excellent chocolate cake from my master Pierre Hermé
The texture and the flavor make this pound cake one of my favorites
And with such a simple recipe, there is no question that you must try it!!
A few pieces of advice:
A real treat that you need to try right away
Source of the recipe
A recipe from the book "Chocolate Desserts"
A very good book of recipes, by world renowned chef Pierre Hermé
To purchase the book online:
The recipe is on page 5
In the book, this cake is titled "Gâteau de Suzy"
Modifications to the original recipe
I modified only a few things...
● I use less sugar: ⅔ Cup or 160 g instead of 200 g ( 7 oz )
The chocolate
For the Dark Chocolate (¼ lbs or 113 g), I chose the Valrhona brand. Pierre Hermé recommends the "Guanaja" chocolate
1. 
Use a doubleboiler to melt
Scanpan Saucepan
Calphalon Nonstick Sauce Pan
Large Mixing Bowls, Stainless Steel
KitchenAid Silicone Spatula Set
2. Melt on low heat, while stirring
3. Once melted, set aside
4. In a mixing bowl, mix with a spatula the Butter (1 Cup or 250 g) and the Sugar (⅔ Cup or 160 g). The butter should be soft, but not liquid and hot
5. You may use either a stand mixer (like a Kitchen Aid appliance) or an electric beater
Polyglass Spatula
KitchenAid 7-Quart Stand Mixer
Hand Mixer
6. Add the Eggs (4) one by one and mix
7. Before adding the Dark Chocolate, make sure it's not too hot : its temperature should be below 80 °F / 25 °C
8. Pour in the Dark Chocolate and mix
9. You may use either a wire whip, or a stand mixer, or an electric beater
10. The batter thickens : to avoid lumps, you may use an electric beater
Digital Laser Infrared Thermometer
DeBuyer Whisk
11. Sift the Flour (½ Cup or 70 g) and mix
Sifter for Baking
Large Stainless Steel Fine Mesh Strainer
12. The batter is quite thick, and that's OK for now
The pan
13. For the pan, I recommend a metallic pan as it will slightly crust the cake and will make its texture better
Non-Stick Round Cake Pan, 7-Inch (18 cm)
Non-Stick Round Cake Pan, 8-Inch (20 cm)
Cuisinart Nonstick Bakeware 9-1/2-Inch
Sunflower Oil Cooking Spray
16. Pour in the batter and flatten it with a spoon or with an offset Icing Spatula
Matfer Bourgeat Pastry Bags
Wilton Offset Spatula
17. 
Bake in preheated oven at 360 °F / 180 °C for about 30 minutes
Perforated Baking Pan
Silicone Baking Mat
18. After baking, unmold and cool down on a rack
19. You may sift Icing Sugar
Round Cooling Rack
Nonstick Cooling Rack
That's it! Bon appétit!!
excellent recipe
Excellent recipe
An excellent step by step receipe !