Happy birthday, Mark!

I love birthdays -- and I love big, elaborate, showstoppingly delicious birthday meals.


One of the most festive and fun birthday lunches I have ever attended was in Paris, at a family friend's home. When the French celebrate, they really celebrate. I think we spent 4, no 5, hours at the table, finishing countless bottles of red wine and lingering over cheese, dessert, and le digestif (prunes in armagnac) until it was dark outside. So, so fun! This menu was my attempt to recreate that experience, although we barely finished 1 bottle of Riesling and had to take a break before tackling dessert... pathetic.


Although moules frites is one of my favorite meals ever, and I could eat a mountain of the blue cheese, pear, and endive salad, and the aioli was good enough to eat with a spoon, we all agreed that the chocolate torte was the best part of the meal.

I adore this recipe. I came across it in the New York Times a few years ago and it has become my go-to dessert to end a fancy meal or to celebrate something important. A traditional torte calls for good chocolate, lots of eggs and butter, sometimes ground nuts, and a scant amount of flour. This is all of those things, minus the nuts.

The torte comes together in no time, although I always find separating eggs to be a little tedious and nerve wracking. You end up with a batter that is glossy and luscious and light from the whipped egg whites. The torte puffs in the oven and then, during a stint in the refrigerator, falls.


Here is the thing about my torte: it looks like nothing special, crackle topped and bumpy and, as I mentioned, it falls after cooling due to the lack of chemical leavening. But no matter. Gilded with some loosely whipped cream, a slice of this torte is something extremely special. The outer edge is a little bit like traditional chocolate cake (a rich crumb from the flour) and the inside? The center is rich, fudgy, creamy, dense, something I would compare to a really amazing chocolate truffle.

Azo Family Chocolate Cake (via NYTimes)
10 servings

As with any recipe, the quality of the final product will depend on the quality of the ingredients, especially the butter and the chocolate. The flavor of the chocolate is front and center, so use something delicious. I am a fan of Callebaut and El Rey. I also usually serve this with berry coulis because I love the extra layer of flavor, but that is just gilding the lily.

8½ ounces (2 sticks plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, more for greasing pan
7 ounces best quality bittersweet chocolate (60 percent or higher cacao), chopped
5 large eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of sea salt
Whipped cream for serving

1. Place rack in top third of oven and heat to 400 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.

2. Finely chop chocolate (I use a serrated knife) and combine with butter. Melt in double boiler or microwave. Stir to combine.

3. Separate 5 eggs, keeping the yolks in one medium bowl and the egg whites in another (preferably the bowl of a stand mixer). It is important that not one speck of egg yolk remain in the egg whites, or they won't whip properly. I like to break the entire egg into a separate bowl and then separate by hand but you can use whatever method you like.

4. Add sugar to egg yolks. Add flour to egg yolk mixture and stir until just combined. Add chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.

5. Using a stand mixer (or electric mixer), whisk egg whites and salt until stiff (will form peaks) but not dry. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture just until blended. Pour into cake pan.

6. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool for 1 hour.

7. Wrap with foil and refrigerate until cake is firm and cold, at least 2 hours or overnight. Two hours before serving, remove cake from refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Slice (center of cake will be fudgy) and serve, if desired, with whipped cream.