To celebrate my very first blog post on my new blog I needed a cake. That said cake would include chocolate, was a no brainer. Chocolate belongs to every kind of celebration, even if it's just a virtual first birthday party, with me as the only guest.
Colourful sprinkles were a must aswell, because without them every cake is only half as beautiful. Of course the range of possible recipes is huge, and promply I found myself looking at pictures of the most beautiful tartes, the highest cakes and the most delicate cupcakes. But somehow things never go as planned. All of a sudden it was Karneval where I live and I was invited to my Grandparents house for Sunday afternoon. That I would bring some kind of baked goods was obvious, as this has been my departements for some time now. Even though my Grandparents enjoy everything I bake (as they are my grandparents), I know, that they prefer a ''classic'' cake to fancy cupcakes. So I decided on the Tuscan Chocolate & Almond Cake, which my Mom and I found in a new cookbook of hers. The cake is so easy and quick to make and really is very delicious. Because of the ground almonds it is extremely moist and has a wondeful almond-y aroma, which goes so well with the chocolate. My grandparents loved the cake so much so that I left them with half of it. And that's what makes a cake, or any baked good so special: Sharing it with loved ones, taking the time to sit together and eat. And this is what I hope to make of this little internet space I call mine now: Sharing recipes as well as sharing stories with as many lovely people as possible.
Chocolate & Almond Cake
Ingredients for a 24cm Springform pan
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250 g whole Almonds
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100 g semisweet Chocolate
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250 g soft unsalted Butter
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150 g white Sugar
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5 Eggs, separated
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1 pinch of Salt
- 250 g Couverture Chocolate for Coating (Milk or Semisweet)
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Coat the Springform with Butter and put it aside. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
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Grind the almonds and the chocolate together, for example with a mixer.
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Cream together the butter and the egg yolks as well as the sugar until light and creamy.
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Beat the eggwhites with the salt until stiff peaks form.
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Fold in the ground almonds and the ground chocolate under the butter and sugar mixture.
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Take one half of the eggwhites and carefully fold it under the almond mixture, then fold under the second half until everything is
combined.
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Put the batter in the prepared springform pan and even it out with a spatula or a knive.
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Bake it according to your oven for 45 to 60 minutes. To see whether the cake is done, take a dry spaghetti and prick the cake. If the
spaghetty comes out clean with only crumbs sticking to it, the cake is done.
- Let the cake cool completely and take it out of the pan.
- Slowly let the couverture melt on a double broiler and when it's melted completely, let it stand for about 10 minutes to cool.
- Put the cake on a wire rack with foil or a baking sheet under the wire rack and evenly spread the chocolate on the cake. Let the frosting dry and then you're ready to serve!
Enjoy!