More than just Chocolate Cake

I've just finished reading a book by the author of the orangette blog Molly Wizenberg titled A HomeMade Life. It was great. She wrote about stories from her life and a recipe that went along with the story.but some of the recipes weren't so practical for say, a family or were a bit out-there (cabbage salad served with pistachios and chocolate???) i filtered through a few of them though, and the first one i tried was of course, the chocolate cake. She calls it the "winning hearts and minds cake" b/c it is so good and she's always made it for someone she wanted to impress. it's basically a flourless chocolate cake, so you know it's dense, creamy, and rich.

7 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
7 oz butter, cut into cubes
1 c plus 2 T granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 T flour
lightly sweetened whipped cream, for serving


preheat oven to 375 and butter an 8 inch round cake pan. line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter this too.

put chocolate and butter into microwave safe bowl. microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring often, until just smooth. when the mixture is smooth add the sugar, stirring well to combine. set batter aside for 5 minutes to cool.

add the eggs to the chocolate mixture, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. add the flour and stir to mix well. batter should be dark and silky.

pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes until the top is lightly cracked, the edges are puffed and the center of the cake looks set. the center should only jiggle slightyly, if at all, when done.


to remove the cake from the pan, let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes. then do a little dance with a couple of plates and dump the cake onto one plate, transferring back to another plate to get it right side up. or you can just serve it from the pan you baked it in.

**this cake gets better the next day if you put it, covered, in the fridge over night. or she says it also freezes well. it was good the first night, a little warm (bc i couldn't wait to let it cool completely) but it has been even better the next day and the next day b/c i wrapped it well and put it in the fridge. the texture improves with time!