Birthday Cake 2020 is a Dark Chocolate Truffle Cake. It’s a very rich cake, intense with deep chocolate flavors, smooth and velvety. It’s also fairly easy to make and it’s flourless (yes, gluten-free). It’s a lovely way to celebrate my and my husband’s birthdays.

Matt is the guy who claimed to not like dessert when we first met, but now will eat cookies for breakfast. The guy who holds my sweaty hand any time of day and night, and supports me unconditionally. The guy who’s the best designer I’ve ever met, and his eye for beauty is unparalelled (ahem). The guy who my entire family loves to their cores, and he loves them right back. The guy who gives me butterflies and joy. And the guy who really, really likes chocolate truffles.
So this year’s birthday cake is a very luxurious truffle cake. One forkful tastes like a dark chocolate truffle. It’s pure chocolate decadence, not marred by nuts or liqueurs or fruit or crunchy toppings (all of which I love, but there’s a time and place for everything). It’s made with very few but very high-quality ingredients: dark chocolate (spring for the best kind you can afford), salted butter (French, if you please), eggs, vanilla, and espresso powder – which is made into a coffee syrup (with water, sugar, and salt) and further intensifies the rich chocolate flavor.

I topped our cake with cocoa powder and edible flowers, but it would also pair very wel...