Tomorrow is the 35th Anniversary of my 21st Birthday!  It’s been a fun birthday weekend, we saw Mamma Mia – the stage musical – yesterday, today was Farmer’s Marketing, meeting the folks behind Happy Hal’s Jalapeno Relish, coffee with Nonna, a great homecooked dinner, and a totally decadent birthday cake!

Victor got the cake recipe from watching TV and embelished it with a Banana Caramel Sauce.  OMG!

Here’s the recipe.  make it, tonight! 🙂

Chocolate Cracked Earth

(Flourless Chocolate Cake) Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 stick unsalted butter
9 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
2 cups heavy cream, cold
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1-inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs – this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate; then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture.

Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.

While the cake is cooking, make the whipped cream. Whip the cream until it becomes light and fluffy.

Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners’ and the whipped cream.