Preheat oven to 325°.

Break chocolate into small pieces and put in a saucepan with water. Over a low flame, melt the chocolate, stirring with a whisk or silicon spatula to prevent burning. When it is mostly melted (and it won’t take long, maybe 2–3 minutes), take off heat, stir until the last lumps melt into the rest, then pour into a mixing bowl. No need to wash your saucepan yet; just put it aside.

Add eggs 1 by 1 to the chocolate, mixing with the whisk after each egg. Then using the chocolate saucepan, melt butter over a low flame, being careful not to let it sizzle and brown. As soon as the butter is melted, add it to the chocolate and eggs mixture.

Then, in quick succession, add sugar, honey and spices and stir these in.

Add flour last, in 3 or 4 batches, sprinkling it on top. Using the whisk, push the powdery ingredients against the side of the bowl to help break up any lumps as you blend.

Then, the last ingredient—but an important one: a pinch of salt. Just a pinch brings out the flavors of the other ingredients.

Pour the batter into a buttered 9-inch spring-form pan. (Note: Other pan sizes will work, with slight adjustments in baking time.) Place in the preheated oven for 12–15 minutes. This cake needs to be only “just” done. It’s perfect when the knife test in the middle of the cake comes out with a bit of batter still clinging. Once the cake cools, its texture will be perfect: super moist with a bubble here and there. The honey in the batter gives the cake an

appealing sheen.

There is both honey and sugar in this cake. Honey gives flavor, but loses much of its sweetness when cooked.