there are two types of people: those that share recipes and those that guard them. i fall into the the first category, but only because if something is delicious, i immediately want to go tell it on the mountain. the world needs recipe keepers, too. kfc stores the colonel's spice recipe in a high tech safe in louisville, kentucky. they also enlist some bizarre security measures to be certain none of their suppliers can entirely decipher the formula. i may have incentive to guard a recipe if it was worth several million dollars. alas, i have only one recipe worth protecting: my chocolate cake. the only reason i would keep it to myself is because i've become a bit of a cake celebrity in certain circles. it's possible the sole reason i am invited to social events is due to the likelihood i will bring the cake. i also know a bevy of inappropriate jokes. i suppose that is just the icing, though. here's to hoping my tasteless humor will be my saving grace. in honor of recipe sharing, my chocolate cake:
warm chocolate almond torte
(serves 10-12)
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70%), chopped
1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 eggs, separated
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup very finely ground almonds (use food processor to grind, or mortar & pestle)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
powdered sugar (for dusting)
place an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350.
grease a 10 inch spring form pan with butter and line with parchment paper. grease parchment and flour the pan and parchment.
melt the chocolate and butter together in a double broiler or a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. set aside to cool until just barely warm.
in a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and both sugars until pale, about 1 minute. whisk the cooled chocolate to the egg yolk mixture and then gently fold in the flour & ground almonds.
using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or a handheld mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form and hold.
gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until just combined. pour the batter into the prepared pan & bake until just set, about 25 minutes, give or take. let the cake cool for 10-20 minutes on a rack. runa knife around the edge before releasing the spring form pan. dust with powdered sugar. serve warm.
notes
* it is pretty much unthinkable to serve this cake without ice cream
* the cake will keep at room temperature for up to three days
* i like to play around with the chocolate in this cake. sometimes i use a combination of bittersweet and semisweet, but i always use the best quality chocolate i can get my hands on.
*oh, how i wish i could claim this recipe is all mine! the truth is, it is an adaptation of the deep, dark, practically flourless chocolate cake served at chez panisse in berkeley.