BOCA NEGRA

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper; butter the paper. Put the cake pan in a shallow roasting pan, fill with water (about 1/3 of the way), and preheat. You want the water fully heated when you put the pan in to bake. Put the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl; and keep close at hand. In a 2-quart saucepan, mix 1 cup of the sugar and the bourbon and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a full boil. Immediately pour the hot syrup over the chocolate and stir with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Piece by piece, stir the butter into the chocolate mixture, making certain that each piece of butter is melted before you add another. Put the eggs and the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until the eggs thicken slightly. Beating with the whisk, add the eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until well blended. Gently whisk in the flour. (If you want to make the cake batter in a food processor, put the chocolate in the work bowl of the processor. Bring all of the sugar and the bourbon to a full boil and pour the syrup into the processor work bowl; process until the mixture is completely blended, about 12 seconds. With the machine running, add the butter in pieces, followed by the eggs, one at a time, and then the flour. Process an additional 15 seconds before turning the batter into the prepared pan.) Baking the cake: Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, running your spatula over the top to smooth it. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come about 1 inch up the sides of the cake pan. Bake the cake for about 30 minutes, at which point the top will have a thin, dry crust. WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Set edges and loss of glossy shine on top surface. Remove the cake pan from its water bath, wipe the pan dry, and cover the top of the cake with a sheet of plastic wrap. Invert the cake onto a flat plate, peel off the parchment and quickly but gently invert again onto a serving platter; remove the plastic. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature with the chilled white chocolate cream. Storing: Once cooled, the cake can be covered with plastic and kept at room temperature for 1 day or refrigerated for up to 3 days; bring to room temperature before serving. For longer storage, wrap the cake airtight and freeze it; it will keep for up to a month. Thaw overnight, still wrapped, in the refrigerator. Tip from Milt & Karen Whitmer: Removing cake from pan: When it comes out of the oven, we put the pan on a towel just to get the water off the bottom. We have a large flat platter ready with a large piece of parchment paper on it. We put the paper and platter on top of the pan and flip it. Then remove the pan. We freeze the boca negra on the platter and parchment and when it is firm (or even frozen) we flip it back and peel the paper off. You can use whichever side of the cake you want!