Anastasia's Flourless Chocolate Torte (original recipe courtesy of Monique Hooker)

recipe written by Anastasia 


Cake Ingredients
9 oz chocolate, bittersweet (68-70% cocoa)
1/2 lbs butter
8 egg yolks
1 C sugar, granulate
1 tsp vanilla or 2 T flavored liquer (e.g. gran marnier, kursch, dark rum, chambord, etc)
5 egg whites
1/3 C sugar, granulated


Raspberry Sauce Ingredients
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C water
handful of fresh raspberries (I'm sure frozen would be fine)
[Optional: two drunken splashes of flowery/fruity liqueur like St. Germain, my personal fave]
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.


Line bottom of 9" spring-form pan with round of parchment (simply greasing is not really sufficient, your pretty cake will still stick and become much less pretty). 

Melt butter and chocolate over low flame or double boiler until combined. Set aside to cool. Beat egg yolks and sugar until lightened in color and texture (will nearly double in size). Sugar crystals should be mostly dissolved. Add yolk mixture to chocolate, half at a time. Beat until homogeneous. In a clean, dry (this is critical, any amount of fat or yolk will prevent egg whites from fluffing) bowl, beat egg whites on med/low until small bubbles appear THEN add remaining 1/3 C sugar. Beat on high until stiff peaks form (i.e. the peaks hold their shape when you pull your whisk or beaters out of the solution; soft peaks droop over, stiff do not). Fold 1/3 of egg whites at a time into the chocolate mixture until a few white streaks are left. Its better to leave a few white spots than stir away all the bubbles you just spent an hour trapping in there. 

Pour into cake pan and even out. Bake for about 55 min or until a tester in the center comes out clean. There will be a crust and it will puff up substantially but this won't last for long. Run a knife around the edges to loosen (this is actually really important to prevent your cake from cracking). Let cool to room temp. Remove sides of pan and invert on a platter. Serve as is or with whipped cream or creme fraiche, or cover in berries, or dust with powdered sugar, or pour on ganache, OR drizzle raspberry sauce (see below).
  
Simmer the sauce ingredients until the berries have fallen apart and liquid has reduced to your desired thickness (note: will thicken with cooling). Strain, cool, serve.