My, my, things have been busy.  I haven't posted a recipe in months.  Oh, I've done plenty of baking, but life keeps distracting me from the important business of recording recipes.  This must stop!  Herewith, a recipe for Valentine's Day.  

My love for all things chocolate is well-documented - if chocolate ever becomes a controlled substance, this blog will probably serve as evidence that I am a pusher.  So you can imagine that when I came across this recipe, of which Dorie Greenspan over at the NYT said "this cake is completely about the chocolate", I got goosebumps.  

The bottom layer is flourless chocolate cake: dense and brownie-like.  The middle layer is a strongly-flavored chocolate mousse.  And just the drive the point home, it's topped with a generous drift of cocoa powder.  Oh chocolate, you never let me down.

Notes

This is not the place to cheap out on the chocolate - use the best you can find, because it will be front and center.  

The bottom layer is intentionally very dense.  If you prefer a more "cake-like" experience, you can substitute the cake from Puck instead.  

As noted, the finished cake can be stored for a day or two in the refrigerator.  Beyond that, the ways of chocolate mousse are such that the cake will become soggy and the mousse may start to weep.  You wouldn't want that, would you?  Maybe you'd better have a second slice while it's still good.

Inspiration

I first saw this recipe on the New York Times site, as "Lisbon Chocolate Cake".  It was provided by Dorie Greenspan, in an attempt to duplicate a cake she tasted in Lisbon that became the high point of her vacation.  I didn't do much to the recipe except cut down the size.