I'm in the process of sorting through clothes and books and whatnot at my house, tired of the excess clutter, so that I can donate the things I don't need anymore. I even weeded through my cookbooks (and gave some away, too ... gasp!) but counted 113 that are still staying with me because I can't bear to part with them.

Now, does anyone with 113 cookbooks really need another addition to the family? Of course not! Am I still going to buy a new one next week and have it autographed at an author appearance on Monday night? Absolutely!

The fabulous Joan Nathan — cookbook author extraordinaire, hostess of the PBS series Jewish Cooking in America, winner of two James Beard awards (consummate honors in the food world), New York Times contributor — is coming to Ann Arbor and will be speaking with moderator Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman's at the Jewish Book Festival at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Jewish Community Center. Her 10th cookbook, "Quiches, Kugels and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France" -- is being published today. (Yay!)

One of the many perks of writing for AnnArbor.com is that I was able to borrow an advance copy of Joan's book in order to prepare some of the recipes. Everything — and I mean everything -- sounds luscious! This book combines two of my very favorite cuisines, Jewish and French; how could I choose between the North African-influenced salads, the traditional European specialties with French twists, the potato or chicken dishes, the sweets? Decisions are not my strong suit, and this book caused my brain to hurt because there were too many options vying for the honor of being first.

But then there was some clarity: a 400-year-old recipe for a chocolate almond cake. Beautiful in its simplicity, no exotic ingredients, no specialty equipment required. This was something everyone would adore and anyone could make. And so, make it I did.

Truth be told, I was feeling lazy Saturday as I baked. The recipe calls for separating the eggs and beating the whites until they hold stiff peaks. Well, I was at Tom's that morning. He doesn't have an electric mixer, I forgot to bring mine with me and I was not particularly inclined to whip those whites into a froth with my own scrawny arms. I also didn't have confectioners' sugar, so I melted some extra chocolate to make a rich ganache (chocolate and cream) to frost the cake with instead of making a glaze. It's still French, so I didn't compromise the integrity of the recipe!

The house smelled amazing as we waited for our chocolate-y almond concoction to bake -- if only I could capture that aroma in words! While the cake was still slightly warm, because I was impatient to get to the eating part of this adventure, I spread the frosting over the top. As I cut into it almost immediately afterwards (I had to take pictures first), the cake was dense and moist and fudgy. The very first bite of warm chocolate dessert brought this response from Tom: "This is exquisite!" He also noted that instead of those microwaveable individual-sized molten chocolate cakes that are now being advertised to women as a quick fix for all problems, this cake is all anyone might ever need for solace and happiness. He even said: "You should call this 'chocolate orgasm cake,' except that AnnArbor.com likely wouldn't want that written in the title for the post!"

So here is the consummate recipe for chocolate cake, with much gratitude offered to Nathan for sharing it with us all -- truly, there are no adequate words to convey my appreciation! Be sure to stop by the Jewish Book Festival on Monday night to thank her yourself, and to buy a copy of the cookbook so that you can make all the other astounding and delicious dishes featured in it, as well.

Chocolate Almond Cake

Cake:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
8 1-ounce squares semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 tablespoon prepared coffee
1-1/4 cups finely chopped roasted almonds
3/4 cup flour

Frosting:
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon half-and-half
2 tablespoons prepared coffee

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan or a 9-inch round cake pan.

Place the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and cream together until fluffy.

Add the salt. Stir in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the melted chocolate, the coffee, the almonds and the flour.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cake cool for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a rack until slightly warm.

Place cake on a serving platter.

Make the frosting: Place the chocolate chips, half-and-half and coffee into a small saucepan.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted together and smooth.

With a spoon, spread frosting over just the top of the cake. Let cool for a few minutes, because you won't be able to wait longer than that.

Cut into the cake, serving small portions because it is very rich. Smile, sigh, close your eyes and luxuriate in the experience.

Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures in the kitchen. The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured next to the blog's title) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here. Check out her blog -- Food Floozie -- in which she cooks, reviews restaurants and generally enthuses and effuses over all things food-related. Or send an e-mail to yentamary@gmail.com.