Flourless Chocolate Cake

 This was made on one of our last few nights in Brazil last week. It is a dense, chocolatey cake, naturally free of flour. This was actually my first traditional flourless chocolate cake recipe - it wasn't quite as fast to make as I thought. With the help of the food processor, though, it ends up being pretty simple to put together. Especially if you have great company drinking coffee in the kitchen with you! Oh, I wish we lived near family all the time, not just while we were on vacation...
Overall, this is a great recipe. It bakes into a... well... "rustic-looking" cake, but nobody will mind. The cracked top shows a glimpse of the dark, silky inside. It is rich enough that ten people didn't finish the whole thing, but we enjoyed every bite! Both those people who don't eat gluten and those who do loved it. Be sure to use good-quality chocolate, as you will really be able to taste it in this recipe.
Enjoy!

Flourless Chocolate Cake
(ever-so-slightly adapted from  Gluten-Free Goddess)

16 oz. your favorite dark chocolate
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white  sugar
3/4 cup very hot strong coffee (or use espresso powder in very hot water)
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), room temperature, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
8 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare a 10-cup springform pan by lining the bottom with buttered parchment paper.
Break up the dark chocolate into pieces and pour the chocolate into the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until the chocolate breaks up into small bits. Add the sugar. Pulse until the chocolate and sugar turns into an even, sandy grain.
Pour the hot water or coffee slowly into the feed tube as you pulse again. Pulse until the chocolate is melted. Magic!
Add the butter pieces and the cocoa powder, and pulse to combine. Add the eggs and vanilla, and process till smooth. The batter will be liquid and creamy.
Pour the batter into the lined Springform pan. Wrap the outside of the whole pan with a big piece of foil. Bake at 350º F in the center of the oven, till puffed and cracked - about 55 to 65 minutes (this may take more time if you use a smaller pan, since the cake will be thicker.) Use a wooden toothpick to check the center of the cake; pick should emerge clean, with maybe a crumb.
Place the cake pan on a wire rack to cool. The cake will deflate. Don't worry! When cooled a bit, press down on it gently with a spatula to make it even, if you wish.
When the cake is completely cooled, release from pan. Serve in thin slices.
-about 15 servings