Flourless chocolate and pear spoon cake recipe

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter, for greasing
• 10 ounces (283 g) 72% cacao chocolate, chopped
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (44 g) Dutch cocoa powder
• ½ cup (118 ml) heavy cream
• 4 large whole eggs plus 4 large egg whites
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1¼ cups (250 g) sugar
• 2 ripe but firm pears, peeled, cored, and sliced ⅛ inch thick
• 1 recipe Crème Anglaise

1. Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Butter a 2-quart oval baking dish.
2. Combine the chocolate and cocoa powder in a heatproof bowl.
3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the heavy cream until steam rises from the surface and it is hot to the touch but not yet simmering, about 5 minutes. Pour the cream over the chocolate and cocoa powder and cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap; set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites with the salt. Beat on medium speed until frothy. With the motor running, slowly sprinkle in ¾ cup of the sugar. Once you have added all the sugar, increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until soft, silky peaks form, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
5. Combine the whole eggs and the remaining ½ cup sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with a whisk until light and creamy looking; you can use an electric mixer for this step if you want.
6. Uncover the chocolate mixture and whisk the chocolate and cream until no streaks of cream or unmelted chocolate chunks remain. If needed, rewarm the chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring well in between each interval, to melt any chocolate chunks.
7. Fold the chocolate into the whole-egg mixture until no streaks of egg remain. Fold in the egg whites in three additions, incorporating the egg whites until the batter is smooth and consistently chocolatey.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared dish and gently tap the pan on the counter twice to dislodge any air bubbles. Smooth the top of the batter with an offset spatula and gently fan the sliced pears over the whole cake.
9. Bake the cake without opening the oven door for 30 minutes. Then rotate the cake and continue to bake about 30 minutes more, until the sides of the cake have risen up and begun to crack, and the center of the cake is set but remains a little jiggly. Turn the oven off and crack the door open. Let the cake rest in the oven for 20 minutes before serving it. Serve a scoop of the warm cake with a generous pour of cold crème anglaise.