Ah, chocolate. The ancient Aztecs believed it was a source of wisdom, and an aphrodisiac. Montezuma, last ruler of the Aztec empire, drank his chocolate from a gold goblet!  Today, we buy only organic chocolate, because non-organic chocolate has more pesticides applied than any other crop except for cotton (which is number one).  And when you buy organic chocolate, you are assured that growers, pickers and producers get a fair trade wage. There’s nothing, no guilt to spoil your eating pleasure….

This recipe is a gift from our kitchen so you can make an organic flourless chocolate torte at home. Yes, we’ll be making tortes for pickup (see details on last page of this newsletter) and, as always, we’ll have slices available for a portion-control indulgence. Jeff, one of our wonderful bakers, says that despite the fact this recipe has so few ingredients, it’s a bit temperamental, so follow the directions…. (I made this with a food processor, and it didn’t have quite the lift compared to using an electric mixer.)

Makes about 15 richly chocolate, decadent slices. It freezes beautifully, too

3 C organic, fair-trade chocolate chips	GANACHE TOPPING
½ lb grass-fed, unsalted butter (2 sticks)	1/2 C organic, grass-fed heavy cream
6 farm-fresh eggs	1 C organic, fair-trade chocolate chips
1 Tbsp vanilla extract	raspberries, flowers, etc. for decoration

Put ingredients on the kitchen counter and bring them to room temperature before using. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan (I used the paper wrappers from the butter to grease my pan. I also used a 9-inch pie plate, and that worked, too).
Stir or whisk chocolate and butter in heavy saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove pot from heat. Cool to lukewarm, stirring often. Transfer chocolate to mixer bowl. With paddle attachment, beat chocolate on medium-low speed for 8-10 minutes. Then add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add vanilla extract.

Spoon batter into prepared springform pan and bake until the top barely jiggles and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs, about 35 minutes. Turn off oven and let cake remain inside oven for 30 minutes; then cool torte in pan on rack. Using small knife, cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove pan sides. Torte will fall as it cools but don’t worry as it will be covered with ganache. (When I made this in a pie plate, I didn’t remove it from the plate at all – served it in wedges like a pie. Which meant I also didn’t spread ganache on sides of torte.)

To make the ganache, bring heavy cream to boil in a small pot, remove from heat, add chocolate chips and whisk until melted. Let cool for 20 minutes, or until ganache thickens slightly. Pour ½ C evenly over torte and spread thinly over top and sides of cake with a frosting spatula. Freeze for 3 minutes. Pour remaining glaze over cake; smooth sides and top. Place cake on platter. Chill until glaze is firm, about 2 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; store at room temperature.) Garnish with chocolate shavings or leaves. Serve at room temperature. Garnish or not, simply with a few raspberries, a flower or two, some chocolate curls or a dollop of whipped cream (to use up the remaining heavy cream).