This cake has been my favorite dessert and my baking specialty for the last fifteen years. Yep, you read that correctly. Fifteen years. Ever since it appeared as the “Dish of the Year” in Bon Appetit’s January 1999 issue, I’ve been hooked. This is not really a cake you can just whip up any time you feel like it (I mean, you can…but its a lot of work). It is totally worth the effort though. Seriously worth the effort.

Please read through the ENTIRE recipe and directions before starting. A lot of the success of this cake relies on precise timing.

Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Line the bottom of pan with parchment or wax paper. Wrap outside with tin foil.

Melt chocolate and butter in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Once melted, remove from heat and cool to lukewarm, stirring often.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using an  electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 6 Tbps. sugar until very thick and pale (about 3 minutes).

Fold lukewarm chocolate into yolk mixture, then fold in vanilla.

Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.

Gradually add remaining sugar to egg whites and beat until medium peaks form.

Fold whites into the chocolate mixture in three sets.

Pour batter into pan.

Bake cake about 50 minutes until top is puffed up and cracked. A tester inserted into center should come out with moist crumbs. Cool cake in pan on a rack, the cake will fall. Once cake is cooled, gently press down the crusty top to make an evenly thick cake.

Use a small knife to cut around the pan sides to loosen the cake. Place a 9-inch diameter cardboard round on top of the cake. Invert (flip) onto the cardboard bottom and peel off the paper.

Whew! Now that the cake is done, it’s time for the fun part: ganache!! The ganache takes about 4 minutes to make, so make sure you have all your ingredients ready!

Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in medium saucepan, then remove from heat.  Add chocolate and whisk until smooth.

Place cake on a rack over a baking sheet and spread 1/2 cup of the ganache smoothly over the top and sides of the cake. Freeze cake until almost set (3-5 minutes).

Pour the remaining glaze over the cake, smoothing the sides and the top. Place cake on desired platter or plate and chill until glaze is firm (about 1 hour). Serve cake at room temperature. This serves 10-12 people and is very decadent. I wouldn’t suggest you serve large pieces, but I’ll be so proud if you can take down a large slice of this baby! ENJOY!