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The black what?! Did you say beast? Yes, that's exactly what I said - it's actually the literal French translation of la Béte Noire. If you are a chocolate lover, you will totally understand why this dessert has such a crazy name; its dark, deep, intense, rich, silky and well, just beastly delicious!
I'm thinking of renaming this extraordinary dessert to The Little Black Dress - that doesn't sound quite as exotic, does it? how about in French; are you ready? la petite Robe Noire, oooooh! I like that much better! What do you think?
Seriously, this is one of the most amazing, yet most versatile desserts in my collection. Just like the proverbial little black dress, this dessert can be served in as many ways as your imagination can digress. I served it, this time, with Chocolate Velvet Sauce, a dollop of whipped cream, some tiny candy canes and a few holly leaves for a beautiful seasonal holiday dessert, but it can go a myriad of other ways; on top of a pool of Ridiculous Easy Salted Caramel Sauce or , alongside a scoop of Vanilla Bean Yogurt drizzled with Dulce de leche Sauce and sprinkled with Maple & Molasses Glazed Pecans. I've served it with fresh strawberries or raspberries, but any fresh seasonal fruit and a bit of whipped cream or créme fraiche would certainly be fabulous!
The preparation is quite simple, no mixer required, although you do need a springform pan. The only part of the prep that is out of the ordinary is the water bath used to bake the tart. A water bath is simply a large pan filled with hot water. The springform pan is wrapped with heavy-duty foil (to keep the water out) and placed in the water bath to bake. This allows the tart to bake very slowly, gently and evenly, keeping it moist and tender. A ganache is made while the tart is baking. Ganache may sound like a fancy word, but it's just cream and chocolate - that's it! The ganache is poured over the tart after it's baked and then cooled to form a deep dark smooth fudge topping, the pièce de résistance of this fine dessert!
La Béte Noire is an amazing special occasion dessert but there are just a few other things you need to know - expect groans of delight from this literal melt-in-your-mouth delight....... oh and you might even catch one of your guests picking up the plate and licking it clean when they think no one's looking - it's THAT good! Just don't say I didn't warn you! Enjoy!
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The Black Beast - la Béte Noire
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup sugar
- 9 tablespoons 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, diced
- 18 ounces bittersweet, not unsweetened or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used good quality chocolate chips)
- 6 large eggs
- For the ganache:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 8 ounces bittersweet, not unsweetened or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used good quality chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 10-inch-diameter springform pan with baking spray.Wrap 3 layers of heavy-duty foil around outside of pan, bringing foil to top of rim. Combine 1 cup water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk sugar syrup into chocolate; cool slightly. Add eggs to chocolate mixture and whisk until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Place cake pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan.
- Bake cake until center no longer moves when pan is gently shaken, about 45-50 minutes. Remove from water bath; transfer to rack. Cool completely in pan.
- For the ganache, bring whipping cream to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cake still in pan. Gently shake pan to distribute ganache evenly over top of cake. Refrigerate cake in pan until ganache is set, about 2 hours. Can be made ahead up to 2 days. Cover and keep refrigerated.
- Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake; release sides. Cut cake into wedges and serve with whipped cream and/or your choice of toppings.
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I made this recipe for my stressed coworkers, thirty-five of us, by cutting it into small cubes, covering each with a single raspberry filled and topped with a whipped cream flower. This 2 o'clock chocolate bite-sized beast killed many cravings.
That's great, Ray! Thanks for your review!
what a beautiful tart yum
Thank you for that correction! I'll have to figure out how to do that on my computer!
I must say this looks absolutly wonderful!!
But you Beast in french is writtent "bête" and note "bète" 🙂
"but I'm thinking of renaming this extraordinary dessert................." No,don't do that!Hehe.'The Black Beast' sounds so much cooler!
Fantastic recipe,I am noting down/bookmarking.You have a gorgeous blog,going to follow you for sure!
Thank you so much for sharing,and wishing you a Merry Christmas!:-)
Hi Claire, I'm so... happy that you enjoyed this - it is quite addictive at our house!
Hi Chris. I made this cake for our early Christmas dinner and oh wow. It was the richest chocolate cake I've ever made. Soooooo delicious. The black beast was a hit. Thanks so much for sharing it!
Thanks Kelly - I did dot my whipped cream with these really fun little balls of white and dark chocolate that I found at Trader Jo's!
Extraordinaire! Your Bête Noire is positively heavenly looking Chris... Beastly delicious indeed. And that ganache... I’m swooning ;0 Your presentation is delightful as well. The candy cane adds a lovely splash of red – and have you dotted your whipped cream with chocolate? Wonderful!
Extraordinaire! Your Bête Noire is positively heavenly looking Chris... Beastly delicious indeed. And that ganache... I’m swooning ;0 Your presentation is delightful as well. The candy cane adds a lovely splash of red – and have you dotted your whipped cream with chocolate? Wonderful!
Oh. Copy paste this link (www.myedibles.blogspot.com/2011/11/jingle-all-way-event-announcement.html) & mention its from my event - jingle all the way.
& for the logo, just save the pic from my page & upload it like any pic..
This is a smashing dish. Love the candy canes. Great pics and presentation.
Oh...that's looks so yumm.....can almost taste the chocolate.....
Gorgeous clicks!
Regards,
Manju
http://manjuseatingdelights.blogspot.com
Ooh I think it's too pretty to be called a beast! ha ha I would love a slice of this.
I think this is well... OMG gushworthy!!!! Oh, how I wish I had a piece here right now... totally my kind of dessert. Nicely done! And those photos are gorgeous once again (Thanks to Mr. CSF??")
I think that would work just fine- just grease your pan well before lining w/ parchment.
That would be worth all the spin classes it took to work off!
Oh my goodness this looks so delicious and so simple too! Who knew so few ingredients could make such a decadent dessert? 🙂 Thanks for sharing this..I can't wait to try it!
This looks delicious! would it be possible to make it without a springform pan? using parchment paper to line it instead?
Oh wow. I'm going to make this for Christmas dinner. There are only 10 of us but I think 3 desserts are ok for Christmas celebration. Yum!
Hello, the chocolate tart looks lovely.
I have to try your indian bread and the apple soup too.
See you later.
Sabina
I like the black beast cause It feels like something like that is awaking inside of me! Looks so delicious, I love your presentation!
Have a nice weekend!
Licking the screen comes to mind! This cake looks like a chocolate dream. A perfectly elegant dessert just in time for the holidays!
Have a great weekend!
Call it anything, it looks amazing, rich and chocolaty, I'd definitely call it perfection 🙂
Beautiful and decadent as usual! Is this similar to a flourless cake?
My guests would'nt have the chance to lick the plate clean. I woild give everyone a forkful and I would stash the rest!
Ok, so you know me and the chocolate thing. In the name of honesty I can't gushing on about how I want to dive into this.
But, I can say that it looks amazing. The tart itself is absolutely breathtakingly rich without even taking a bite. And your presentation is fantastic.
Since 'bette' can also be used as a slang for 'fool,' I opt for la petite robe noire as well.
Oh my! When my sweet tooth acts up and I crave chocolate this looks like the perfect recipe to satisfy both. And it is so pretty on the plate. I have been wanting to try your Salted Caramel Sauce as well. This sounds like the perfect ending to a light holiday meal.
omg...makes me droooooool...feel like grabbing thro my screen..:P
Tasty Appetite
Hello! I'm Kavi from India. I love browsing through food blogs & in a day, I visit around 40-50 blogs. And VERY few of them really make my mouth go "HAAAW"! Just thought you would like to know how I felt. 🙂 Not only are the pictures so-good-that-I-could-eat-my-computer-screen, but the recipe is also freakishly simple! Thanks for this!
-
Your fan from India,
Kavi (Edible Entertainment)
Would love it if you could participate in my ongoing events:
Jingle All The Way &
Microwave Easy Cooking
Oh my! Absolutely decadent!
You are such a busy bee creating the most bee-utiful food for your posts. I so appreciate the time and talent you share here. It's a treat to buzz by!
Oh wow, this looks downright sinful. I think I've just found the cake I will be making for my husband's birthday this year! Thanks!
Oh, this looks just divine!! I tried to click on the recipe for the salted caramel sauce, but it was not clickable, too bad, it looked really good. Caramel together with salt is very good, we just got some milk chocolate covered caramels sprinkled with sea salt. And I love chocolate dipped potato chips!
wouldn't click for me either
I'm hoping it's fixed as it just worked for me. If not, here is the link:
Beautiful pictures of a very moist and tasty chocolate cake!Although I'm not very fond of chocolate, I have serious cravings for this one!!
I love this already, la petite Robe Noire! Delicious and your pictures are lovely!
divine this is a amazing dish