Death by Chocolate

Once upon a time, one of my favorite things to bake was brownies (okay, it still is). I vividly remember making my mom's brownie recipe. The whole family was around to reap the benefits. As I pulled the brownies out of the oven, they looked a lot flatter than usual. I forgot to add the flour! I thought they were ruined. My dad, however, the ever-knowing-chocolate-man, who would never even think about throwing away dessert, knew the secret was to simply rename what I had made to Flourless Chocolate Cake. I found this one on Epicurious and it was so amazing I actually made it two weeks in a row. It tastes moist and freshly baked even after a full week (if you can stand to wait that long to finish it). I served it with a Cabernet Blackberry sorbet which did a great job of cutting the chocolate. Blood orange would be delicious too.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
Epicurious.com

4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus additional for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375°F and butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line bottom with a round of wax paper and butter paper.

Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs and whisk well. Sift 1/2 cup cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate.

Dust cake with additional cocoa powder and serve with sorbet if desired. (Cake keeps, after being cooled completely, in an airtight container, 1 week.)