3/4 lb Unsalted butter 2 2/3 c Semisweet chocolate chips c Milk 7 Egg yolks Whipped heavy cream for -topping Melt the butter over low heat and allow it to cool to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut a round of waxed paper to fit the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Butter the sides of the pan and one side of the waxed paper. Place the paper in the pan, butter side up. In a saucepan over very low heat, heat the chocolate and milk, stirring constantly, just until the chocolate is melted. You will note that at every step the batter for this cake smells better than it did at the last one. Pour the mixture into the large bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on low speed, just to smooth out any bitzy lumps of chocolate. With the mixer running at low speed, add about a seventh of the melted butter (a shy 1/4 cup) and beat at low speed unly until the butter is fully absorbed. Then add an egg yolk and beat, at low speed, just until the mixture has fully absorbed it. Don't raise the speed of the mixer, because we don't want to beat in any air. It's not supposed to be a fluffy cake, it's supposed to be a fudgy lump of goo. Continue to alternate additions of butter and egg yolk until all are used up, scraping the bowl with a ribber spatula and beating after each addition only until incorporated. When the mixture is smooth, pour it into the prepared pan. Set the pan on a cookie sheet (despite my wonderful improvement it still might weep a bit). Put the whole thing in the oven (not near the top). Bake for 25 minutes. It will be soupy in the middle and look like a mistake, but unless you forgot to turn the oven on, it is done. The cake will not have risen so as you'd notice. Allow it to cool on a rack, then refrigerate a few hours, until firm. It may be kept refrigerated a day or two. When ready to serve, cut around the side of the pan with a small, sharp knife and release and remove the side of the pan. Cover the dessert with a flat plate and invert. Carefully (it takes a bit of doing) pry up and remove the bottom of the pan and the waxed paper. Decorate with whipped cream. (I like to make a simple lattice pattern that lets the dark, dark chocolate show through.) Serves 12. "Caramel Knowledge" by Al Sicherman. -----
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