this entry IS ABOUT chocolate cake

first the story behind this cake:

one sunday past i was watching a jacques pepin cooking show and he did this cake. sadly i dozed off in the middle of the recipe and only had a vague idea of what went into it. i wanted to try and make it when i woke up so i remembered what i could and faked the rest. and thus 'somewhat made-up chocolate cake' was born. this is a very small but rich cake. it can be baked in a medium ramekin or in 3-4 small ones (the cake in the photo is 6" in diameter and 1" high). it is flourless, and has a not quite cake, not quite pudding, not quite souffle texture to it. serves two comfortably. i usually use orange zest with it but any citrus would work. probably a substitution of brandy or balsamic vinegar for the vanilla might also work well or some sort of red wine. i'd have to defer to elise or allie who know wines much better than i do on which might work.

now the recipe

somewhat made-up chocolate cake
serves 2 well, 4 ok and 1 if you dont want to share

melt in microwave or slowly on stove...
5oz chocolate (you can buy a 5.5 oz package of ghiradelli squares at the grocery store in the chocolate aisle. i use dark 60%)
1tsp vanilla
2tbl brown or turbindo sugar
4oz butter
1tsp corn starch
grated orange peel from one medium orange
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add 4 egg yolks (temper eggs first by spooning some hot chocolate mixture into eggs)
whip until thick and pour in ramekin

350 degree oven
25-30 minutes or until top is spongy and done looking