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Recipe Of The Month: Hot Chocolate Cake

This dense and luscious semi-cooked cake, which contains no baking powder, is best prepared ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake.

Pistachio-and-Eggnog Milk Sauce
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
4 medium egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar (less if using eggnog, to taste)
1/2 quart eggnog or whipping cream
1 quart milk
1 vanilla bean, split

Roast pistachios at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, chop, and let cool. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a nonreactive bowl. Set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring eggnog, milk, and vanilla bean to a boil. Remove bean. Then, whisking continuously, slowly pour milk mixture into egg yolk mixture.

Add half of pistachios and puree in a blender. Return mixture to saucepan over medium heat and stir until it coats back of a metal spoon. Strain, stir in rest of pistachios, and chill.

Raspberry Sauce
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 cinnamon stick
1/2 to 1 tablespoon kirsch (cherry brandy)

Put sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. Set aside. In another saucepan, combine remaining ingredients and boil, stirring, for 5 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and puree berry mixture in a blender. Strain, combine with sugar syrup, and chill.

Cake
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup unsalted butter
4 eggs
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons amaretto (almond liqueur)

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. In a mixing bowl, whip eggs and egg yolks until frothy and fold into chocolate. Sift flour and sugar together and fold into chocolate. Fold in amaretto. Butter and flour eight 6-ounce (or six 8-ounce) ramekins, brioche molds, or custard cups, fill with batter, and refrigerate for 2 to 48 hours.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake cakes for 15 minutes (outer edge should be slightly crusty, centers quite creamy). Unmold at once and serve hot, accompanied by pistachio and raspberry sauces. Serve 6 to 8