Flourless Chocolate Cake

• 3 cups semisweet baking chocolate chips
• 1 ½ cup unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 ⅓ cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 8 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
• Powdered sugar for dusting
• 1 ½ cup maple syrup

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. Prepare the pan. Trim a piece of parchment paper so that it fits the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch springform pan by cutting it into a circle. Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper, and coat the entire pan with butter.
3. Melt the butter and chocolate together: Pour water into a large pot until halfway full, then heat to a simmer. Turn off the heat as soon as the water is simmering, then cover the saucepan with a wide heatproof bowl. Pour the butter and chocolate into the bowl and whisk until the chocolate melts completely.
4. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate in a liquid measuring cup in the microwave by heating it for a minute and then swirling it several times until the butter and chocolate are melted.
5. Pour the finished batter into the pan. After the chocolate has melted, set the bowl on the counter and gradually mix in the kosher salt, maple syrup, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract.
6. Add the eggs and egg yolk and whisk until combined. Using a spatula, level the batter into an even layer after pouring it into the prepared pan.
7. Make a double boiler or water bath. Encircle the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Pour boiling water over it in a big pan (such as a 9 x 13 baking dish).
8. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the middle is still a little wobbly and a thin crust has formed. The ideal interior temperature is 150°F.
9. Allow the pan to cool on a cooling rack for approximately one hour, or until it reaches room temperature. Our favorite method to serve it is fudgy, so you may chill it for an hour or serve it right away. Keep in the refrigerator for three days.
10. Carefully remove the parchment off the bottom of the cake after inverting it onto a dish.
11. Dust the cake with cocoa powder after transferring it back onto a serving plate. Sprinkle it with sugar powder.

Crème Brûlée

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• 4 large egg yolks
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 10 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 4 tablespoons sugar (2 teaspoons per ramekin)

1. Place six 4-ounce ramekins in a 9x13 baking dish and preheat the oven to 325°F. Split the vanilla bean in half, then use the dull (non-cutting) side of a paring knife to scrape off the seeds.
2. Put heavy cream, 4 tablespoons sugar, vanilla bean pod, vanilla bean seeds, and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook until it starts to simmer over medium heat. To allow the vanilla bean to infuse into the cream, infuse it and leave it for fifteen minutes.
3. Whisk the eggs with the sugar after separating them. In a mixing bowl, separate the yolks and whisk in the remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar.
4. Avoid mixing the sugar and eggs too soon before adding the warm cream since the sugar will bind to the water in the egg yolks and cause lumps. Whisk the sugar into the eggs after separating the whites into a measuring glass.
5. Mix the yolks with the cream after tempering them. Continuously whisk the yolks and slowly add one ladle of hot cream in a thin stream. Add the vanilla essence to the egg mixture after gradually adding the remaining cream.
6. Discard the vanilla bean pod and strain the mixture into a second mixing bowl using a fine mesh sieve.
7. Pour the custard into the ramekins until they are about three-quarters of the way full, or just up to the inside rim.
8. Place the pan containing the custards in the oven and bake for 38 to 40 minutes in a hot water bath. The crème brûlée should spring back slightly and have a consistent jiggle in the center when it's done.
9. Cool the custards by taking the baking dish containing the custards out of the oven and placing it on a wire cooling rack. Allow the custards to cool in the water until your fingers can safely grasp the ramekins by their rims. Allow each custard to sit on the cooling rack for approximately fifteen additional minutes after taking it out of the water bath.
10. Before serving, cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 4 days.
11. Apply 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar equally over the custards to brûlée them.
12. Light a torch and move the flame over the surface until a crisp caramel crust forms on the sugar. After adding another teaspoon of sugar to each custard, brûlée the top once more. After two minutes, serve the crème brûlée within twenty minutes.