It’s a one layer cake. Rustic looking. Uneven. No frosting. No filling. But! Fabulous. FAB-YOOO-LICIOUS! The outside is lightly crispy, lightly crunchy, and the inside is soft, creamy, and rich. One tablespoon of flour holds the chocolate, sugar, eggs and butter together, and it’s a slice of candy more than a slice of cake. And it makes everything right with the world 🙂

The notes say this cake IMPROVES by freezing! So, it’s a make-ahead cake to boot!

The recipe for this cake can be found on pages 312-313 of Molly Wizenberg‘s novel, A Homemade Life—her recipe was adapted from the French cookbook Je Veux du Chocolat!, by Trish Deseine. Molly Wizenberg’s book is good, sweet read with lots of recipes.

Top photo is from Food52, and this photo is from Orangette, Molly Wizenberg’s food blog (no longer updated). Don’t cut the slices this big, though—this is a very rich cake!

Molly Wizenberg’s Winning-Hearts-and-Minds Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 7 oz. of good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped—like Scharffen Berger, or Ghirardelli 60% chips also work well, VERY well 🙂
• 7 oz. unsalted butter (1¾ sticks)
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour
• Lightly sweetened whipped cream, to serve

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Put the chocolate and the butter in a microwaveable bowl and zap for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until mixture is smooth.
3. Add sugar, and stir well, then set batter aside to cool for 5 minutes.
4. While the chocolate is cooling, prepare a high sided 8″ round cake pan—do not a layer cake pan; use a pan with at least a 2.5″ depth for baking, cake rises and falls.
   • Butter the pan, then line the bottom with a round piece of parchment paper cut to fit, then butter the paper, too.
5. To the chocolate mixture, add the eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
6. Add the one tablespoon of flour and mix well—the batter should be dark and silky.
7. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes.
8. Now, this is important: CHECK THE CAKE CAREFULLY! The top should be lightly crackled, the edges puffed, and the center JUST set.
9. Remove the properly baked cake from oven and cool on rack, in the pan, for 15 minutes.
10. Carefully tip cake out of pan, and then tip again, so the top side faces up, onto a serving plate.
11. Cool completely.

Serve small slices with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Then, sigh and moan. Repeat.

NOTE: Cake can be kept at room temperature, sealed in plastic for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

TO FREEZE: The taste and texture of this cake are actually improved by freezing. Try to make the cake far enough in advance that you can freeze it for a day or more. Allow another day for the cake to defrost and come to room temperature before serving. To freeze, wrap cake in plastic wrap and then in foil. Cake will keep, frozen, for a month. Allow to defrost, fully wrapped, for 24 hours before serving.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today—it was worth it, right?! 🙂