Chocolate Almond Cake
Here is a fantastic chocolate dessert recipe that would do Julia Child proud. It might seem daunting, but it is well worth the effort and time spent. Prepare this chocolate dessert recipe with love, and it will show in every delicious bite!
Cooking Time50 min
Ingredients
- unsalted butter or margarine for greasing pans
- unbleached flour or Passover potato starch for dusting pans
- 9 ounce imported semi-sweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cup (scant) sugar
- 6 eggs, separated, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup strained, freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon cognac
- 1 1/2 teaspoon unbleached flour or potato starch
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
- 1 teaspoon grated orange rind
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 9 ounce blanched almonds, finely ground
- unsweetened cocoa powder or confectioners' sugar for dusting the cake
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- Grease the bottoms and sides of 2 (9x1.5-inch) round pans. Line the pans with waxed paper, and grease the waxed paper. Dust with flour or potato starch, then invert the pans and tap to shake out excess.
- Place the chocolate on the top of a double boiler, cover, and set over simmering water until melted. Let cool.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter or margarine at medium speed, adding the sugar gradually until the mixture is pale and bubbles appear, approximately 10 minutes.
- While still beating, add 1 egg yolk at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Lower the speed and beat in the cooled chocolate and orange juice.
- With a large rubber spatula, mix in the cocoa powder, cognac, flour or potato starch, lemon rind, orange rind, vanilla extract, and almonds.
- In a clean, dry bowl, beat the egg whites at high speed, until stiff.
- Fold half of the whites into the batter with a rubber spatula.
- Repeat with another quarter of the whites, then reverse the process, pouring the batter over the whites. Gradually fold the two batters together, making a motion like a figure eight, until all the whites have disappeared.
- Divide batter equally between the two pans, and smooth the tops.
- Bake both cakes on the center rack of the oven, not touching, for 50 minutes.
- Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes on wire racks in the pans, then invert the cakes onto the racks, peel off the waxed paper, and cool completely.
- Refrigerate.
- To serve: Sprinkle with cocoa powder or confectioners' sugar and slide the cakes onto a serving platter. Makes 2 9-inch cakes, each serving 10 to 12.