Tiny But Intense Chocolate Cake

 Ingredients:

6 TBS butter (plus more for pan)
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 C light brown sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 sea salt
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)

To Finish:

1/2 C whipping cream
2 tsp granulated sugar

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a 6-inch round springform pan with a circle of parchment paper. Generously butter sides of pan and parchment round.

In a small saucepan, melt your butter over medium heat, stirring for even cooking. After the butter melts, it will hiss and spatter a bit as the water cooks off, and then fragrant brown bits will form at the bottom of the saucepan. The whole process will take about 3 minutes. Quickly remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it is melted and smooth. Cool the chocolate mixture to lukewarm, a process that can be sped up by transferring the mixture from the hot saucepan to a small bowl set in a puddle of cold or ice water. If quick-cooling the chocolate like this, be sure to stir it every minute or two for even cooling. 

With an electric mixer, beat egg yolks, brown sugar, and vanilla together until the mixture thickens and takens on a, frankly, kind-of icky pale-yellow-brown color. Slowly beat in the lukewarm chocolate mixture, and a pretty color will return. The mixture will become very thick but loosen significantly once we add the egg-whites. 

Wipe clean, wash, and dry your electric beater(s), and beat egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until firm peaks form. Add a pinch of cinnamon if using. Stir one-third of egg-white mixture into chocolate mixture. Fold the remaining two-thirds in gently, trying to keep the batter as light as possible. Pour into the prepared pan, and bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until it is puffed with a lovely dome on top (which you shouldn't get too attached to), and a tester or skewer comes out clean or with just a couple crumbs attached. 

To Serve

Let cool on rack for 10 minutes--it will immediately begin to sink in the middle--then run a knife around the cake to make sure it's not stuck to the pan, and release the springform sides. Let it cool the rest of the way on its base. Once it's cool, flip out onto a plate or second rack, remove parchment round (if it's stuck) from the bottom, and flip cake back onto a small plate. To serve, beat whipping cream with granulated sugar until soft peaks forms. Dust cake with confectioners' sugar and dollop with whipped cream and berries.