But, on occasion, we attend swankier soirees. Staffed home parties that still make me feel like a kid in heels playing dress up. In their hospitality, the hosts offer wine or the dreaded cocktail, then unwisely set me loose in their lovely, breakable homes.

So far, we've made it through these parties alive. In fact, we generally enjoy ourselves. Once, in a house decorated entirely in pristine white to highlight the owner's art collection, I made it to dessert without committing any major social faux pas.

Then it happened.

I aimed their decadent chocolate cake at my mouth but, somehow, it flew off the fork (the correct fork, mind you), ricocheted off my lap and landed splat on the white carpeting under the dining table. Since this was not a food slopping kind of party, I discreetly tried to scoot the dropped cake toward me to wrap it in my napkin, unnoticed.

Problem is, chocolate cake doesn't scoot. So, instead of leaving my kind hosts with one bite of cake under the table, I left them with a giant chocolate smudge pointing right to my chair and positively identifying me as the cake-slopping culprit.

I wonder why I've never been invited back?

Meantime, I make myself this cake adapted from a recipe by chocolate genius Alice Medrich. Don't be alarmed if your cake cracks and collapses in the middle. Just push down the edges, cover imperfections with frosting and enjoy.

Chocolate Pecan Cake

FROSTING

1 stick butter

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup light corn syrup

CAKE

4 eggs, separated

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

11/2 sticks butter, melted

1 cup finely ground pecans

2 tablespoons flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Microwave all frosting ingredients together until just melted. Stir until smooth and set aside until cooled to frosting consistency (about the time it takes for the cake to be ready).

To make cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, stir together egg yolks with 1/2 cup of sugar by hand. Stir in chocolate, butter, pecans and flour; set aside. In bowl of electric mixer, beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Slowly add remaining sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff. Fold whites into chocolate-butter mixture then pour into greased and floured 9-inch springform pan. Bake 40 minutes or until done, cake tests with moist crumb. Let cool in pan, release onto plate and frost. Makes 8 servings.

E-mail maryjo@saucycook.com