Today's Chocolate Cake is not your everyday chocolate cake. It's made with rum, chocolate, cocoa powder (cocoa powder replaces flour) and figs, and it's exquisite. This cake is moist and creamy (think of flourless chocolate cake). Chocolate Cake gets its hearty flavor from the figs, mission figs to be exact, which are stewed in dark rum. When you throw a double dose of chocolate and butter you have a cake to die for.

A little fig fact: According to the "Food Lover's Tiptionary," by Sharon Tyler Herbst, figs were brought to North America by the Spanish Franciscan missionaries who came to set up Catholic missions in Southern California. Hence, the name Mission figs.

Lucy Hirsh of Murrysville requested today's recipe. And a thank you to Mary Myers of Upper St. Clair, who sent the recipe.

CHOCOLATE CAKE (WITH FIGS)

• 1 1/4 cup Mission figs
  
• 1/3 cup dark rum
  
• 1/3 cup water
  
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate
  
• 1 cup unsalted butter
  
• 6 large eggs
  
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
  
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Adjust oven rack to middle level.

Remove small stem from each fig. Slice figs. In small saucepan combine figs, rum and water. Bring to boil; reduce heat, simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until figs are tender and soft. Set aside.

Cut chocolate into small pieces. Melt chocolate with butter in top of double boiler. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Beat eggs in mixing bowl, with sugar and cocoa until evenly blended. Stir in chocolate and fig mixtures, mix well.

Grease 9-inch springform pan, line bottom with circle of parchment paper or foil. Pour batter into pan and level with spatula. Bake 40 minutes. (Top should rise level, but cake will be soft in center.) Cool to room temperature on wire rack. Chill several hours. Loosen edge of cake. Remove from pan. Remove parchment. Place on serving plate. Serve with softly whipped cream. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Note: Once the figs were softened in the rum and cooled we gave them a few whirls in a food processor. Also we melted the chocolate and butter in the microwave, not a double boiler.