My Favorite Thing to Make: Flourless Chocolate Cake

I have a request for you. There's a certain question that I'm asked over and over, and I wish that I could never be asked it again. The question is:

"What is your favorite thing to make?"

Do people ask painters what their favorite paint color is? Musicians what their favorite note is? Carpenters their favorite tool? Then why, why are people always asking cooks to play favorites?

You see, as soon as I declare a favorite, it's overtaken by a new love. I love sauteeing greens. But then again, I love roasting beets -- I love drizzling those red balls with oil, sprinking them with salt, and photographing the beautiful packet in my mind before I seal up the foil and toss those lovelies into a 425 degree oven.

I love getting an incredible sear on a duck breast; but before that, I love scoring the skin, rendering that fat (and of course saving that fat for later use). I love unsheathing my sharpee and writing "Duck Fat, 11/25" on the container. I love taking my tongs to the breasts, turning them, but then I love squeezing the duck with my fingers to ensure that it's cooked a perfect medium-rare. I love looking around to make sure no one's looking, then licking my fingers after to getting that salty duck fat flavor. In fact, sometimes I prefer gibbling (my dad's made up word for eating the yummy little bits that never make it to the table) more than a fussy seated dinner.

I love that I'm not cooking in a restaurant, but at home, where I can take my time, love the process, lick my fingers, and watch you enjoy it too. I never have to worry about the authorities coming in and making me wear plastic gloves. If you wouldn't kiss me, you shouldn't eat with me, as I've kissed your dinner several times before it gets to you.

I love slicing the duck and arranging it on top of the jerusalem artichoke puree and next to the sauteed shredded Brussels leaves. Oh I love the gratification of making a sauce, in this case a sour cherry sauce, but I think I love making the chicken stock that goes into that sauce even more. I love taking the cooled stock from the fridge to the freezer, scraping the fat from the top and shaking the container a bit to confirm that it's a jiggly, gelatinous goo. Stockeriffic.

I love grinding black pepper onto something, anything, and I love loosening the peppermill ot make those fresh-ground pepper bits a bit bigger. I love taking a big three-fingered pinch of kosher salt. Sometimes I even love doing dishes, though I love my dishwasher more.

I love going to KFC and ordering a bucket; what a guilty road-trip pleasure. I do not love the feeling I have about half an hour after I eat those chicken pieces, and I don't like the disappointment I feel when I have their biscuits.

My friend Nikki loves the sounds of a champagne bottle popping; she thinks it's best sound in the world. It's up there, for sure.

I love going to my local Chocolate and Beer shop (What a combo! Only three blocks away! Am I the luckiest girl in the world or what?), and talking with the Chocolate Man about his favorite chocolate bars, making an expensive selection and savoring it all week. I love melting chocolate on a double boiler.

I adore my butchers; I collect them like a 4-year old collects stuffed animals. Although I love them all, I favor certain ones from time to time, then put them back in rotation. I love speaking to my French butcher who is twice my age (and many times my knowledge), about blood sausages. I love my Brooklyn-Italian butchers accent, I love that he can take it or leave it, I appreciate how much he enjoys explaining things to me, even when there's a long line, grabbing primals from the walk-in to illustrate his point when words fail. I love going back to the shop the next day and letting them know how much I enjoyed their meat.

So what's my favorite thing to cook? Short ribs. Foie gras. Chocolate pudding. Creme caramel. Quince paste. Oatmeal-cherry cookies. Mussels. Gribenes. Corned beef and cabbage. Collards. I don't know, what do you feel like eating? Today, I love reheating Thanksgiving leftovers. And eating them for breakfast.

Tomorrow, it might just be chocolate cake.


Favorite Flourless Chocolate Cake
Makes 10 to 12 servings

I recently gave a baking class to a woman who was eager to make a baked ham; if you've done it, you know that there's nothing to it (do you love that? I do). Like most pieces of protein, it's about the selection process; choose a good quality, pre-cooked (yes, precooked) piece of smoked ham, reheat and glaze. Nothing to it.

But I think if my student was asked, she'd have to say that her favorite part of this class was the chocolate cake we made. I know she brought it to Thanksgiving and I'm dying to hear what her family thought. I see her fifty years into the future, making this for her Grandkids. It might just be their favorite thing she makes.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder
6 large eggs
Three-fingered pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
Vanilla ice cream, or a tall glass of milk, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch springform or cake pan. Line bottom with parchment paper; butter and flour pan (this will be the most challenging part of the recipe, trust me).

2. Melt butter in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add chocolate chips and turn heat to low; after 5 minutes, remove from heat and stir until chips have melted.

3. Mix sugar and cocoa in large bowl. Add eggs; whisk until well blended. Add vanilla and salt. Whisk in chocolate-butter mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.

4. Place springform/cake pan on a baking sheet and bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on cooling rack. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Release pan sides if in springform, or if you've used a cake pan, invert cake, remove parchment, and place on a serving palte. Cut cake into wedges and serve.