restaurant week- wednesday

thomas keller is a genius and bouchon bakery is one of those places we can't get enough of. if you're a regular reader, you know we have eaten at bouchon and bouchon bakery in las vegas and napa valley many many times - sometimes more than once in a singele day! rumor has it a bakery is coming to los angeles and we are anxiously awaiting it's arrival. it's hard to pick just one favorite item from a place like this so we decided on the bakery's signature chocolate bite. these small brownie cakes are baked in a mold to resemble the shape of a cork, "bouchon" in french. you can purchase the mold at williams-sonoma and they even sell a mix but why not make the recipe from scratch which is written in the bouchon cookbook. it's a beautiful book filled with inspiring photos and wonderful recipes for traditional french bistro fare. enjoy!

Chocolate Bouchons

(from Bouchon by Thomas Keller)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups plus 3 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

24 tbs unsalted butter, melted and slightly warm

6 oz semisweet chocolate, such as Valrhona 55%, chopped

confectioners' sugar for dusting

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. sift flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl. in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the eggs and sugar on medium speed for 3-5 minutes or until thick and pale. mix in the vanilla. on low speed, add 1/3 dry ingredients, then 1/3 butter and continue alternating with the remaining flour and butter. add the chocolate and mix to combine.

put the mold on a baking sheet. fill each mold about 2/3 full. bake 25 minutes or until the tops look set like a brownie and a cake tester comes out clean. transfer to a cooling rack. after a few minutes, invert and let the bouchons cool upside down in the molds, then lift the mold off. dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with ice cream is desired.