Spicy in Southie

Invited to Chris' friend's grand loft for dinner in Southie, we brainstormed a delicious spicy chocolate torte for our dessert contribution. Then Chris actually went and found a recipe (bor-ring). I always wonder why my baking is rarely on target, perhaps it's this idea of a recipe...

• 10 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped (or use a bag of chips like we did)
  
• 7 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 5 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of salt
• Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Chris melted the butter and chocolate in the microwave and whisked it all up so quick we barely noticed he'd left the dinner table. When the cake came out of the springboard pan 20 minutes later (at 350º) we were speechless. Blade offered up a cooling rack as pattern for the dusting of powdered sugar (who has a flour sifter on hand besides Dame Martha?)

We paired a cool mango ice cream with the spicy chocolate, a suggestion from my friend Sherry who recently blended mint into mango sorbet to counteract a spicy torte.
Dinner was fabulous as well. I watched as Blade impressively tenderized pork cutlets with a real meat pounder. He proceeded to fry up the Schnitzel and top a chopped radicchio, lemon-thyme and tarragon salad. The barely-there salad dressing was the same concoction he used to pour over the pork: fork-smashed anchovies, lemon zest, olive oil and salt. Green onions sliced ultra thin added a little spice to the salty, lemony dish. I attempted a tinto de verano (sparkling lemonade and red wine) for everyone with dinner.