Flourless Chocolate Torte

Yield: One 10-inch cake

Time: Less than 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces bittersweet cooking chocolate
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus
• ½ cup blanched almonds, finely ground [optional]
• ½ tsp vanilla or other extract [e.g., orange, almond, mint] or 1 tsp flavored liqueur of your choice
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and butter a 10-inch springform pan. [If no springform pan, then use a 10-inch round baking pan, lining bottom with a round of wax paper]. Separate eggs.
   

2. Melt chocolate with butter in a double boiler or in microwave, stirring until smooth. While chocolate is melting, beat egg whites until stiff. Remove chocolate mixture from heat and whisk in sugar. Add egg yolks and whisk well. Stir in ground almonds if using. Sift cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Fold in egg whites.
   

3. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 35 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and remove from pan onto serving plate. Dust cake with cocoa powder or confectioner's sugar. (Cake keeps, after being cooled completely, in an airtight container, 1 week.)
   

Notes: [1] Very nice served with berries, fresh whipped cream, or sorbet. [2] When halving recipe, reduce baking time to 25 minutes. [3] If pressed for time or just lazy, don't bother with separating the eggs, just beat and add to chocolate-sugar mixture.

Source: Gourmet Magazine via Epicurious.com, with my own adjustments.