Chocolate makes me happy. I dug out this absolutely decadent cake recipe for all of my fellow chocolate lovers out there. It's extremely fast and simple to make. I've divided the recipe in 3 parts to make it much clearer to read.

Ingredients

Cake 

• 2 x 8 oz.  packages semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups butter (or margarine)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup half and half cream (or light cream)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 large eggs

Rich Chocolate Glaze

• 1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder
  
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Garnish

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven at 350°F, grease a 10" x 3" springfoam pan. For the cake, heat the chocolate chips, butter, sugar, cream, vanilla extract and salt together on low-heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is completely smooth. In a separate bowl, beat all the eggs using a whisk or fork. Do this lightly, and preferably not with a beater to ensure you reach the correct consistency for the cake. Next, slowly stir in the chocolate mixture to the eggs until they are well blended together. Pour the batter into the springfoam pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until you can insert a toothpick in the cake and it comes out clean.

Remove the cake and place on a wire rack till it has cooled. Once it has, remove from pan and place in the fridge to chill completely. After chilling the cake, take it out and place it on a cake plate with wax strips beneath it. Next, prepare the cake glaze as follows: heat the chocolate chips, sugar and milk over low heat till a smooth consistency is reached. Remove from heat and let the glaze reach room temperature. Once this is done, spread the glaze all over the cake, letting it drip on the wax paper placed below if need be. 

Refrigerate the cake once glaze has been neatly spread. Right before serving, prepare the garnish by whipping the cream, sugar and vanilla together. Place whipped cream mixture in a piping bag and decorate as you please. The cake can be stored in the refrigerator.

Turned out to be a real treat! - especially when served with warm milk, coffee or tea.