Chocolate framboise torte

There is a small bakery in Kingston -- Pan Chancho -- which makes the best breads and pastries in the county. It's the sister of the long-standing Chez Piggy restaurant, begun by the late Zal Yanovsky (also formerly of the Lovin' Spoonful) and Rose Richardson. Their repertoire ranges from oversize lemon currant rolls dripping with sinfully sweet icing to olive-rosemary sourdough puckered with crisp pockets to creamy pumpkin pie with tiny marzipan pumpkins. And it includes the most divine -- rich -- decadent -- delicious chocolate framboise torte. I never thought of it as something which could come out of a home kitchen, but last week we tried the recipe from the Chez Piggy cookbook. It was perfect. Rich and chocolatey, and sweet with raspberry purée. It's fit for a king and surprisingly easy to make.

Oh, and it takes 12 eggs. Incredible.

Chocolate framboise torte with fresh raspberry purée (mildly adapted from The Chez Piggy Cookbook, page 223)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups fresh raspberries
• 2 tbsp Cointreau, Triple Sec or Grand Marnier
• 1 cup strong hot coffee
• 8 oz. semisweet chocolate
• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
• 6 eggs plus 6 egg yolks (at room temperature)

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 325 F and fully line an 8 inch springform with parchment paper.
• Melt all the chocolate in a double boiler. Remove from heat.
• In a large, heavy pot (I used my Le Creuset), melt the butter with the sugar. Remove from heat, and add the liqueur, coffee, melted chocolate, and half of the raspberries. Stir until mixture is smooth.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs and the egg yolks until frothy. Whisk the eggs into the chocolate mixture until it thickens. 
• Pour batter into pan, and place the pan on a cookie sheet to catch leaks. Bake for one hour. After removing it from the oven, let cool for 20-30 minutes before taking it out of the pan in order to let the torte set in the center. Refrigerate until completely cool.

• Purée the remainder of the raspberries and spread over the torte. Be sure to keep in the fridge and serve small slices -- chocolate overload is entirely possible.