Almond Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

175g dark cooking chocolate, broken into pieces 160g butter 125g soft brown sugar 4 egg yolks 4 egg whites 25g castor sugar Combined: 1 tsp vanilla essence 1/2 tsp chocolate essence 1/2 tsp coffee essence 90g self-raising flour, sifted 75g ground almonds Method Grease, line and grease a 29x11cm loaf pan. Preheat oven to 180°C. Melt chocolate over boiling water. When melted, remove and set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar until creamy light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each one is added. Stir in melted chocolate and combined essences. Beat until well blended. Fold in sifted flour and stir in ground almonds to mix. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form then beat in sugar until mixture is light and just stiff. Gently fold in by hand the beaten egg white into the chocolate mixture until well blended. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 10 minutes then reduce to 170°C and continue to bake for 45–50 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Cool cake in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.