Keep it Simple

Today my family got together to celebrate my Mom's birthday. My big sister prepared a Mediterranean meal inspired by the cuisine she encountered living in Istanbul: cucumber, tomato, and onion salad, eggplant stuffed with feta and lamb, and Turkish rice.
I was bringing dessert. I needed to make something quick because I was going to be spending my day helping Christopher paint his living room before the celebration.
One of my Mom's favorite life philosophies is "keep it simple." She truly feels many of the best things in life are the simplest and she lives by these words. Given the time crunch I was under, I borrowed this concept when choosing a dessert.
If there are two desserts that are almost as simple as making a boxed cake mix they are cheesecake and flourless chocolate cake. Labor intensive sweet treats are no competition for either of these one bowl classics. Trust me i've tried, and these classics always win. Flourless chocolate cake is the all time most requested recipe on Bon Appetit magazine's website and is one step easier than cheesecake since there's no graham cracker crust to be made. The recipe is only 4 ingredients long, one of which is optional which makes this recipe easy on the wallet which is something everyone is conscious of these days.
If don't know your way around the kitchen and want to bring something to a party that everyone will rave about, flourless chocolate cake is the recipe for you. If you only learn to make one dessert, this should be the one. In fact it's so easy I memorized the recipe, there's nothing to it.
The following recipe is for America's test Kitchen Ultimate Flourless Chocolate cake (I forgot to take a picture but I borrowed one from another site.)
1 pound semi sweet chocolate
2 sticks unsalted butter
1/4 c. strongly brewed coffee
8 eggs
-Preheat oven, to 325 degrees. Adjust rack to lower middle position.
-Crack 8 eggs and place them in a electric mixer. Mix at medium speed for 5 minutes until mixture becomes very frothy.
-Take two 8 oz boxes of semi sweet (sweetened) chocolate, unwrap the squares and break them apart and put them into a microwaveable bowl. Microwave the squares in 20 second increments stirring in between until almost melted. Add two sticks of butter cut into 1" pieces and continue microwaving process until melted. Add 1/4 c. strongly brewed coffee (I have instant granules in my pantry so I can quickly add coffee to recipes,) stir. Coffee is an optional ingredient but adds depth to the chocolaty taste in most recipes. Slowly fold in egg mixture until throughly combined.
-Put mixture into an 8" springform pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray and has parchment paper lining the bottom. Cover the entire outside of the pan with foil and place 8" pan into a larger leak proof pan.
-Microwave about 2 cups of water until boiling and pour into the sides of the larger pan half way up the sides (exactly half way is key!) being careful not to get the 8" cake pan filled with batter wet.
-Bake 22-25 minutes until the middle of the cake registers at 140 degrees and the edges of the cake have a brownie like consistency (middle will look undercooked but will firm up during cooling process.)
-Let cake cool. For best results refrigerate overnight. Unmold cake, sprinkle with cocoa powder or powdered sugar. Serve with whipped cream and fresh fruit garnish.