Life is Rich

Maybe the newspaper headlines have succeeded in yanking a bit of joy from my spirit, but yesterday I woke up ready to fight back!  If everyone is suffering from becoming "poor" then I had better find a way back to "rich"!  I jumped out of bed and headed to the kitchen to make what was soon to become the creamiest, thickest, richest gateau au chocolate in the world (or at least in my world)!  If you too are ready to fight back, put your apron on and get busy!

 Rags to Riches Chocolate Cake!

Ingredients:

10 oz ScharggenBerger bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

7 oz butter, salted or unsalted, cut into pieces

5 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

Butter a 9" springform pan and dust it with cocoa powder.  If you doubt that your springform pan is water-tight, wrap the outside with aluminum foil, making sure it goes all the way up to the outer rim.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler (or microwave), stirring until smooth. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar, then whisk in the melted chocolate until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and cover the top of the pan tightly with a sheet of foil.  Put the pan into a larger baking pan/roasting pan and add enough hot water to come about half way up the outside of the cake pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  The cake will be done when it feels just set, like quivering chocolate pudding.  If you touch the center, your finger should be clean.

Remove the cake from the water bath and remove the foil.  Let it cool on a cooling rack.

Serve thin wedges of this very rich cake at room temperature.  Cocoa dusted raspberries on the side add a nice touch.

Close your eyes and take a bite---life is rich!