My main criticism: not enough or really any heat. I'm not sure if it was my pasilla chiles in particular or the fact that I didn't use the seeds (typically the heat of a pepper is concentrated in the seeds). But, to my mind this recipe is flawed because pureeing the peppers is a tedious process for really no heat yield. Here's the recipe in photos:
1. Here are the 2 1/2 oz dried pasilla chiles on their cookie sheet waiting to go into my preheated 400 degree oven.
2. The chiles really only take a few minutes to go from very crunchy and hard to cut to pliable. Also, they have an amazing smell as they're heating.
Please, when you are working with chiles, even mild ones, wear gloves. This is not so important for your fingers as it is your eyes when you inevitably rub your eyes or worse put your contact in with hands that are "enchiladas." Ouch! As you can see I separated out the seeds and pulled the chiles into bits.
3. I covered the chiles with hot water and soaked them for about 7 minutes.
4. While the chiles were soaking, I chopped the POUND of chocolate. Yes, this huge amount of chocolate does make this cake very rich and chocolaty. Here's a tip so you don't get chocolate bits all over your kitchen: put the chopping board you're using inside a baking sheet with short walls. That way when bits go flying they'll stay inside the baking sheet where you can retrieve them as opposed to your floor.
Voila! It doesn't have to be perfect since it's all getting melted anyway.
5. OK, back to chile paste making. I drained the chiles and got rid of the water they soaked in (maybe this was a mistake---could the heat have been transferred to this water? Doubt it but possible.) Then I put them in the blender with 1/3 cup water.
It took about 5 tbsp of extra water to get this to a paste-like consistency.
7. Then I pushed this paste through a strainer. I got about 2/3 cup out of it, about double what the recipe calls for. This is the point where I finally, with the fear of burning my tongue in my heart, tasted the paste. It tasted sort of fruity and nutty, but really not spicy, kind of like mole. I made D try it. He agreed. Hrmm. OK, maybe it needs some Cayenne. I added a .25 tsp of Cayenne. Nothing. I added another .25 tsp. Still nothing. I added another 1/2 tsp. Still not much. But at this point I got nervous, thinking this was now 3 times what the recipe called for and that was only if you were using Ancho chiles, not Pasilla. Well, I won't make this mistake again. Keep adding chile until it tastes spicy. Here's the other issue: you now see what a pain making this chile paste is. Is it worth it? I couldn't really make out the fruity Pasilla flavor in the baked cake. Maybe you should just be adding Cayenne to your favorite chocolate cake recipe. I hate to say it but I don't think it did much aside from teach you how to make chile paste, which is admittedly pretty cool. You decide.
8. Moving right along. I put the chopped chocolate with the room temperature butter cut up into 1/2 in pieces in my make shift double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler, don't fret. Just put one pot on top of another, the bottom one should have a shallow layer of simmering water and the top should fit into the bottom pot without the bottom touching the water. If you don't have pots like this, just put a sauce pan or heat resistant bowl directly into a frying pan with simmering water or whatever you have. The point is not to use direct heat so as not to scorch the chocolate.
A general tip about room temperature butter: you can put sticks of butter straight from the fridge in to the microwave for 10 seconds at a time to get them to room temperature. Just be careful because they melt very quickly. Or you can put them on your radiator, but again, don't leave them very long or you'll have a mess.
Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted. Yum.
9. Now you're ready to separate the eggs. To save yourself some cursing, do this over a third bowl. I know, it's more dishes to wash, but it will keep your yolks yolks and your whites whites, even if you blunder with one egg. Whisk the 5 yolks, the 1/3 cup of pasilla paste, 1 1/2 tbs flour, and 2 tsp vanilla into the chocolate (which you've taken off the heat). Don't forget to add Cayenne to taste here.
10. Beat the 5 egg whites and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar into a frothy frenzy on high speed of an electric mixer and then add 1/2 cup dark brown sugar.
Beat until stiff peaks form. Try not to overbeat the whites. You'll know if you do because they'll get clumpy looking.
11. Take 1/3 of the egg whites and fold them into the chocolate mixture. This will help lighten the chocolate so that the overall batter will stay light and fluffy.
Once the 1/3 is nice and incorporated gently fold in the rest of the whites. The finished batter has the texture (and taste) of chocolate pudding.
12. I baked the cake for a lot longer than it said because I'm used to doing the knife test for doneness. I think I may have over-baked this cake because the edges came out very brownie-like and didn't have the delicious taste or texture of the inner cake. So, my advice would be to try and stick to the jiggle test. I also don't agree with the original recipe's refrigerating suggestions. I think this cake tasted the best heated in the microwave with a dollop of ice cream on top. It was decadent, a cross between an amazingly good brownie and flourless chocolate cake. I dusted some powdered sugar on top and a sliced strawberry to garnish.
