Birthday cake originally uploaded by jasclo.

Mmmmmmm. Cake. Ingredients include bittersweet chocolate, butter, flour, sugar, eggs, 2 cups of Starbucks coffee. The following recipe is from the cookbook "Spago Chocolate." Fudgy Chocolate Cake This wonderfully moist, fudgy cake can be made in a 10-inch bundt pan, as below, or in two 9x5x3 loaf pans (baking time would be 35 to 40 minutes). We first tasted this cake when Jean-Paul De Sourdie, a caterer in New York, brought it as a gift. We liked it so much we decided that, with our minor additions, it belonged in the Spago repertoire. Equipment: 10-inch bundt pan, sifter, medium heatproof bowl, electric mixer with large bowl, 10-inch cardboard round. (Jasclo note: I just use a big round plate. Just make sure the cake will fit on whatever you use. And remember you'll need some room for the chocolate glaze.) Ingredients: 2 c. all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces 8 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 2 eggs 2 cups granulated sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 cups cold coffee 3 tablespoons Kahlua or Grand Marnier (Jasclo note: I use Kahlua) 1. Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Butter or coat with vegetable spray a 10-inch bundt pan, making certain you coat all the ridges plus the inner tube. If the pan does not have a nonstick coating, dust it with flour, tapping out any exess. Set aside. (Jasclo note: Mine has a nonstick coating, but the cake sticks unless I coat it with flour.) 2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. (Jasclo note: I used to sift the flour until I realized the flour bag says presifted. So I've stopped. And I haven't noticed a difference. I just combine the flour, soda and salt and mix it together with a fork.) 3. In a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally. When almost melted, turn off the heat and let melt completely. (Jasclo note: HAHA. I totally use the microwave. It takes about two or three 30-second heatings. Stir between each heating.) 4. In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle or beaters, whip the eggs. On low speed, gradually pour in the sugar and continue to beat until well incorporated, raising the speed when all the sugar has been incorporated. On low speed, scrape in the melted chocolate mixture, add the vanilla and mix well. (Jasclo note: I actually do all of this.) 5. Alernate adding the flour mixture and the coffee, starting and ending with the flour mixture (three additions of flour and two of coffee). Do the additions on low speed and then turn the speed to high. Stop the machine occasionally and scrape around the bowl and under the beaters. Add the Grand Marnier or Kahlua and beat just till combined. 6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, distributing it evenly around the pan (tap the pan to level the batter). Bake until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert onto a 10-inch cardboard round and return to the rack to cool completely. (Jasclo note: Or invert it onto your plate. Whatever.) 7. To serve, cut the cake into slices and serve with a dollop of whipped cream. Scatter a few fresh raspberries or slices strawberries around the cake. Or spoon a little of the chocolate glaze onto a plate and set the cake slice on top. (Jasclo note: I just pour it on the cake. And no raspberries. Strawberries maybe. But definitely no raspberries.) Chocolate Glaze A glaze differs from a frosting in that it is poured over a cake. It has a shiny glossiness when it sets. A glaze has many uses. Before frosting a cake that's not completely smooth, we pour a glaze over, let it set and then frost. The frosting then will be much smoother and give the cake a more professional look. When the glaze becomes slightly firm, it can also be rolled into small truffles or piped two cookies as a filling. Equipment: 2 medium heatproof bowls, whisk, fine-mesh strainer Ingredients: 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces 3 ounces (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 1/3 cup light corn syrup 1. In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate and butter and set over a pan of simmering water. Do not let the botton of the bowl touch the water or the chocolate may burn. Let melt almost completely, turn off the heat, and let the mixture continue to melt, stirring occasionally. (Jasclo note: Yep, you got it. I use the microwave.) 2. Whisk in the corn syrup until smooth. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean medium bowl and reserve, covered, in a warm spot until needed.