passover + birthday = chocolate flourless cake

growing up,

my mom always made matzoh

fun.

i remember peanut butter

and jelly on matzoh

(which was really just

a minor switch from the 

peanut butter and jelly 

on cinnamon bread

i ate everyday),

matzoh spread with butter

and sprinkled with salt

and matzoh brei, or fried,

matzoh, which my mom

would cook scrambled

like eggs, or let set

into a round and cut into

wedges - we would then

sprinkle with salt and pepper

or cinnamon and sugar.

(i'll have to give you 

the very simple recipe

for matzoh brei soon.)

i was lucky.

i never really thought of

matzoh as a bad thing,

a punishment, something

you just tolerate. i actually -

and i think my sisters could 

attest to this for themselves, too -

was kind of excited to

see the box.

and, like, matzoh,

passover desserts never

really were a threat,

something that we had

to get through, or forget

what other sweets tasted

like to enjoy.

so, when

it came to light that

larry's mom, barbara's, birthday

coincided with the first

night of passover,

it seemed more like a

make-a-good-birthday-cake

mission,

than

make-a-decent-passover-dessert

challenge.

i wanted a cake

that would feel like an

indulgence, as birthdays

should be,

not tolerable torture.

luckily after a small 

amount of searching, 

i knew that all i had

to do, was call my mom

for her foolproof, 

never been disputed

chocolate flourless cake.

like most flourless

chocolate cake recipes,

this one was not hard to

put together,

all you need is a

springform pan,

eggs,

almonds,

sugar,

butter,

and of course,

chocolate.

but, this one was my mom's

and it came with notes,

transcribed to me over the phone,

like, 10.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate -

i have a note here to take 30 chips

out of the ghirardelli bag. 

this helped

tremendously because otherwise, 

i would have 

a) gotten to work chopping 

bulk chocolate, which is not hard 

but leaves you

with tiny melting shards everywhere

or

b) conceded to buy morsels, but 

then i would have pulled out 

the scale for careful weighing.

she assured me that

i would be fine.

when i asked questions,

she said,

brooke, you will not 

mess this up and they

will love it.

(that was a challenge 

and reassurance all 

rolled into one.)

but she was right.

even after using probably

a smaller bowl than i should

have to melt the butter, chocolate

and sugar together.

and even after not learning

my lesson and using probably

a smaller bowl than i should

have to beat the eggs,

i still didn't mess it up.

once blended and poured

into an almond-crumb lined

pan, neither of those things mattered.

the cake-to-be

went into the oven

looking thick and glossy

and in less

than 10 minutes,

made our house smell like

a chocolate factory.

it sat overnight -

can you beat that? -

and the next day,

after the seder,

i pulled out the springform

pan, expecting 10 seconds of 

work:

remove sides,

remove bottom,

place on cake plate,

top with confectioners' sugar.

it didn't quite go as planned -

i struggled a bit removing the

sides - as you can see. and it

took three spatulas, both of 

larry's hands

and both of mine,

to remove the bottom of the pan

and transfer to the cake plate.

and i was tired and worried,

and kind of panicky 

about the whole thing.

by the time it was sprinkled

with sugar, and served

with one candle in the center.

thoughts like, 

i've ruined barbara's birthday

and 

i should know my limits,

swirled around in my head

as everyone sang and

larry's dad, bob, busied

himself picking 

all the crumbs, a casualty

of the transfering troubles,

off the floor.

(and here's the thing:

i know i'm crazy

because i mean it

when i say that my style

is rustic, that it's not about

being beautiful or sleek,

but about being delicious

and homey. but still, when it's 

for someone, do you really want

it to look like you threw shlop on

a plate and said: 

here, happy birthday?)

but then larry,

started cutting wedges,

and i distracted myself

from the humility by

taking pictures.

when i looked up,

everyone was eating,

no scratch that. 

everyone was licking

their forks and finishing

their plates and saying

how delicious it was, and

some, even asking for

seconds of the incredibly

rich dessert.

so in the end,

barbara had a good birthday cake,

thank goodness.

it was a great celebration

cake and, now i know,

a good one when you're 

interested in impressing

someone or a whole group

of someones -

any time of year.

and my mom was right,

even if my version is

not winning any

beauty pagent awards,

i couldn't mess it up

and they did love it.

my mom's flourless chocolate cake

i'm usually a big fan of chopping my own chocolate, but after following my mom's recipe exactly and using morsels - i say save yourself the time and pick up a bag. also, when buying chips, i, like my mom, love ghiradelli's bittersweet. where we differ, however, is in our ovens: my mom has a nice new one that cooked the cake in the 45 minutes called for in the recipe, mine, old and ornery, had it puffed and cracked in 35 minutes, so keep an eye on it. one last thing, i've since figured out my mistake and why it was so hard to remove from the pan and i feel pretty dumb because it's one of the tips i gave back in february. correct instructions are in the recipe, below.

1 small handful blanched and slivered almonds

10.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate morsels

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

10 tablespoons butter (1 1/4 sticks)

5 large eggs

confectioners' sugar

heat oven to 350˚f. in food processor, pulse almonds just until ground, making sure not to grind into a paste; remove and reserve 1 tablespoon ground almonds. lightly spray bottom and sides of 8- or 9-inch springform pan (mine is 9 inches) with cooking spray; dust pan with remaing ground almonds. gently pat out excess almonds.

in double boiler or large heatproof bowl set over simmering water on low heat, melt together chocolate, butter and sugar, stirring until mixture is melted and sugar is dissolved; take off heat and set aside.

in medium bowl, whisk eggs and reserved 1 tablespoon ground almonds 30 seconds, or until well combined. transfer 1/2 cup chocolate mixture to small bowl; working quickly, beat in 1/2 cup egg mixture. once well combined, pour chocolate-egg mixture back into chocolate mixture; working quickly, fold remaining egg mixture into remaining chocolate mixture to combine. smooth top.

place springform pan on baking sheet. bake 35-45 minutes or until top is set and beginning to crack. remove from oven; using a sharp knife, carefully separate cake from pan. place on wire rack and let cool completely.

when it is time to serve: remove cake from pan; place on cake plate or serving platter; place confectioners' sugar in sieve and pat sieve to dust cake.