La Bête Noire

I made this delicious cake for the first time. It turned out beautifully. It is incredibly rich, so I served it it very small pieces. Someone stuck their spoon right in the middle to try a bite, so instead of my cake, I have a picture of the other little Bête Noire at my house.

La Bête Noire
or
The Black Beast
16 Servings

Cake

1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
9 tablespoons unsalted butter
18 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 large eggs

Ganache

1 cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
lightly sweetened whipped cream

For Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 10-inch diameter springform pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment round; butter parchment. Wrap 3 layers of heavy-duty foil around the outside of pan, bringing foil to top of rim. Combine 1 cup water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk sugar syrup into chocolate; cool slightly. Add eggs to chocolate mixture and whisk until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Place cake pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan.
Bake cake until center no longer moves when pan is gently shaken, about 50 minutes. Remove from water bath; transfer to rack. Cool completely in pan.

For Ganache:
Bring whipping cream to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cake in pan. Gently shake pan to distribute ganache evenly over top of cake. Refregerate cake in pan until ganache is set, about 2 hours.

To Serve:
Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake; release sides. Cut cake into wedges and serve with whipped cream.