Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze... (2nd edition) And chocolate dipped strawberries

There’s more to life than chocolate, but not right now!

It is far beyond classics - chocolate is good for any and every occasion. Needless to say, the flourless chocolate cake has been on the "to do" list for quite a while now. It's in the oven as I write and the scents coming out of the kitchen are heavenly!

If you have made yourself a promise not to overindulge in sweets and desserts, but then you have an "emergency" or "life and death" kind of situation, you need to go for something that is that good! 

Ingredients for this chocolate indulgence:

* 340g/ 12 oz bittersweet chocolate

* 230g/ 2 sticks of butter + 3 tablespoons for the glaze

* 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

* 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

* 6 eggs

* 1 tablespoon heavy cream

* 1 tablespoon honey

* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder

Preheat the oven to 375 F/ 190 C degrees. Line the bottom of  a 9 inch/ 30 cm springform pan with parchment paper and grease it (I sprayed it with a bit of vegetable oil). Set a side.

Put the two thirds of the chocolate and 2 sticks/ 230 g of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Constantly stirring, melt the chocolate and the butter until no lumps are left and completely blended. Transfer to a large bowl, add sugar and mix well until the sugar dissolves. Adding one egg at a time, whisk the batter very well after each addition. Once the eggs are beaten in, sift the cocoa powder and mix the batter till cocoa is just blended.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the cake has risen and the top has formed a thin crust. Cool for about 10 minutes after removing from the oven when done and transfer to a plate. Cool the cake completely.

In the meantime prepare the glaze - melt the remaining chocolate and the 3 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Once blended, remove from the heat, add the cream, honey and vanilla and set aside to cool a little. Pour the glaze onto the centre of the cake. Using a spatula or a knife, smooth the glaze along the surface and let it drip a bit on the sides. Chill the cake to set the glaze and serve.

An upgrade of the cake - with dark chocolate dipped strawberries. An addition tried during Easter, 2012:

Bon appétit!