chocolate cake #1

In honour of my flatmate's declaration that he was having a birthday weekend rather than simply a birthday, I did my part by making his birthday cake a day late. With an international holiday to save for, cakes are my current gift of choice. I bulked up his present with a block of his favourite chocolate and some coffee for the plunger to enjoy on his day off. After taking some chocolate cake related twitter advice, Laura suggested Nigella's Guinness cake, which is next on my to-do list!

On the basis of availability of ingredients alone, I went with Kimberley's best chocolate birthday cake. Using 85% cocoa Lindt dark chocolate, it was deliciously bitter - almost as bitter as I was when my eyes got assaulted this afternoon by a couple aggressively pashing while waiting to cross the road. The cake was also fudgey, rich and luscious - everything a chocolate cake should be. Because it uses ground almonds, it is also gluten free, which is a bonus if you or your favourite friends are that way inclined. It would make a delectable dessert, especially sidled up with berries and yoghurt, but it also stands brilliantly alone. Happy Birthday Aidan!

Chocolate Almond Cake  from jumping tangents
180g dark chocolate (make it the best you can, at least 70% cocoa)
175g softened butter
125g unrefined sugar (I just used raw)
200g ground almonds
4 eggs, separated

Icing:
100g dark chocolate and 100g butter

Heat oven to 150*C. Line a 25cm springform pan with baking paper, and grease the sides.
Break the chocolate into pieces, and melt in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Don't boil the water or you'll burn the chocolate. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until soft and creamy. Add  the ground almonds, egg yolks and melted chocolate. Mix thoroughly then set aside.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then add them to the cake mixture and fold everything together with a big metal spoon (be careful not to break the air in the egg whites).
Pour mixture into the cake tin and bake for 35 minutes. The middle will be squishy, allow to cool a little before removing from the tin.
To make the icing, melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl, then drizzle over the cake and leave to set.
As you can see I garnished this one with fresh mint, but you could do what you like really. It's a chocolate lovers dream, and it's just so good.