Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 325u00b0F. Butter and flour a 10-inch-diameter springform pan.

2. 2

   Put the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler so it's over, not in or even touching, the water. While the water simmers gently below, stir the chocolate and butter together until it's all melted and smooth. The reasons not to microwave this mixture or melt it more directly [just flat out dumped in a pot and heated over a flame, for instance] are numerous, but chiefest of them is that you will overheat the mix, which is a very bad thing when you get to the next step:.

3. 3

   With a big whisk, mix the eggs and refined sugar in a large bowl by hand until everything is well blended and beginning to thicken. Next, sift the flour, salt and baking powder over the egg mixture and, still using the whisk, fold and stir it all together. Now, gradually, add in the chocolate mixture-gently folding it in about 1/4 cup at a time. [This cautious process also helps control the temperature-if the chocolate is too hot, it will start cooking the eggs and ruin the whole thing.].

4. 4

   Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. [At this point it is permissible to leave a little batter in the pan, so that, once the cake is in the oven, you can scrape out the bowl with a spatula, lick the spatula and exclaim, man, oh, man.] Put the cake in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. When the 20 minutes passes, loosely cover the cake with foil-don't tuck it down tightly, just lay the foil across the top of the pan.

5. 5

   Bake the cake about 30 minutes longer. Test it, near the center. The tester should come out with a few moist crumbs-not with a glob of raw dough, but not dry either. If necessary, leave the cake in the oven a few minutes more and re-test at intervals.

6. 6

   Take the cake out of the oven; put it on a rack, still in the springform pan, and remove the foil. The cake will be rather puffy and a little of it may cling to the foil-don't panic! That happens. Walk away for now. As the cake cools, it will fall and flatten out.

7. 7

   When the cake is completely cool, slide a knife around the edge, then gently release and remove the pan sides.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.