Want a slice?

I took a short break last weekend – no baking, no cooking and no blogging (hence sorry for the lack of blogposts and no replies on the comments…) But now I’ve re-charged and am back, hopefully I’ll be able to clear my backlog of recipes and travel posts soon. 😉

I am posting this recipe first (before any of my backlog recipes) due to The Home Bakers event. A Dark Chocolate-Almond Cake was chosen this time by Jocelyn from Riceball Eats.

So pretty, dusted with icing sugar, waiting to be eaten!

Maybe it’s because I over-mixed the batter or maybe it’s because I over-baked the cake, either way I found that my cake was a little dense and a little dry. Nevertheless, the chocolate taste is very intense – because I used Varlhona chocolate – which made the overall cake still very delicious.

Varlhona chocolate, which costs SGD 40 for 1 kg and can only in found in baking shops, is pretty expensive but absolutely worth the investment in my opinion. Most chocolate from regular supermarkets can never match up to the deep, intense and chocolatey flavour of Varlhona. And as this recipe uses a substantial amount of melted, dark chocolate, I think a good-quality one really makes a difference.

The dryness is compensated with a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

The author mentioned that no frosting is needed. Indeed, such an intense cake does not need anymore frosting as it would be too heavy on the palette. However, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and/or a drizzle of chocolate sauce would certainly take this cake to a higher level. I’m watching my diet ever since Christmas (the woes of overeating!) and though the tub of ice cream in my freezer is begging me to use it, I decided to endure and just use chocolate sauce instead.

Overall this cake is a little like a cross between the usual chocolate cake and a brownie – not very light but not very dense either. I’m not sure whether I will bake this cake again but if I ever have a friend who likes the texture of this kind of “confused” cake/brownie, I will definitely bake it for him/her.

Let’s head on to the step-by-step photos:

1) Melt some good-quality dark chocolate and butter together.	2) Add in salt and sugar to the egg whites and beat until stiff peaks formed.

The key into beating egg whites into stiff peaks is to ensure that your bowl and your mixer is dry and oil-free. Ensure that your egg whites have no trace of egg yolk, otherwise it will be difficult to beat up the egg whites. I found that cold eggs (straight from refrigerator) separate better while the egg whites and egg yolks whip up better at room temperature. So, I’d always separate them first then let them come to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.

3) Egg whites beaten to stiff peaks.	4) Beat egg yolks and sugar till thick and pale in colour.

I beat the egg whites then the egg yolks – this way, I don’t have to wash the beaters. However, if you beat the egg yolks and then the egg whites, you’ll need to wash and dry your beaters (unless you have a spare beater of course). Needless to say, I’ll always go for the easier route – beat the whites first and then the yolks 😉 However, with that being said, beaten egg whites shouldn’t be left aside for too long (like, more than 30 minutes) as it will collapse and all your air bubbles would be gone. So work quick!

5) Beat in the rum or any other liquor you like.	6) Pour in the cooled chocolate-butter mixture – I could really just lick the chocolate bowl clean!

7) Add in the ground almonds and flour and stir until incorporated.	8) Add in the stiff egg whites – 1/3 at a time and slowly fold it in.

9) Transfer into a grease and bottom-lined baking tin and bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.	10) The center of the cake should still come out a little sticky, but 1-inch away from the center of the cake should come out clean. Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a rack. The cake will finish baking through while cooling.

And serve!

Love it with a sprinkle of icing sugar and a drizzle of chocolate sauce – hope this chases away your Monday blues!

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Dark Chocolate-Almond Cake

Here’s the amount I used for a 7-inch cake (1/2 batch):

55 grams unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)
115 grams good quality dark chocolate, preferably more than 70% cocoa solids
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
25 grams + 50 grams caster sugar (1/8 cup + 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon dark rum
40 grams ground almond
3 tablespoons flour

I baked at 170 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.

For the full instructions, please head over to Jocelyn from Riceball Eats!

The other bakes by fellow Home Bakers can be found here!

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Happy baking!