To celebrate my father’s birthday, we made this flourless chocolate cake. Simple recipe, with a few twists- namely the coffee liquor on the inside and candied nuts and bacon as a garnish. Bacon and chocolate, how can you go wrong?

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line bottom of 8 inch spring form pan with parchment paper. Grease sides with butter. Wrap the outside of pan with tinfoil, and prepare a larger roasting pan (this will later contain a water bath in which you will place the cake pan.)
2. Set a pot of water simmering to melt 1 lb. of chocolate (dark) and 2 sticks of butter in a double boiler (a metal bowl over simmering water).
3. Whisk 8 eggs on high speed in an electric mixer until they double in size, about 5 min.
4. Remove chocolate from the double boiler. Incorporate 1/3 of the fluffed eggs into the chocolate with a spatula, gently gently. Add the rest and fold the egg into the chocolate until there are no streaks.
5. Pour the chocolate batter into the springform pan. Place the cake pan and roasting pan in the oven. Heat the water remaining in the double boiler to a full boil and pour the water around the outside of the cake pan into the roasting pan. 
6. Bake for 22-25 min. or until the inside of the cake registers an instant-read thermometer at 140 degrees. You don’t want to overbake.
7. Remove cake and set to cool on wire rack. Refrigerate overnight.
8. 30 min. before serving, remove cake pan and invert cake onto a sheet of waxed paper. Peel off parchment, and reinvert cake onto a serving platter.